Singer/songwriter William Fitzsimmons captures the heavy weight of grief in his new single “Holding a Place for You” (feat. Bre Kennedy), an achingly intimate and hauntingly beautiful song of love, loss, and letting go.
Stream: “Holding A Place For You” – William Fitzsimmons ft. Bre Kennedy
I haven’t deleted my mom’s number from my phone.
And I don’t plan to; it’s been nearly seven year since she passed, but having her entry in my phone is comforting to me. I don’t dare call it – I never will; the number itself probably belongs to someone else now, and I don’t need to find that out. Simply knowing she’s in there, together with some other friends and relatives who have passed, makes me feel like I’m carrying her with me wherever I go, both in spirit and cellular form.
We all hold on to certain aspects of our loved ones, cherishing various items, activities, or in my case, a couple megabytes of data, that remind us of them long after they’ve left us. Some actions and behaviors are harmless and innocent, while others can prove debilitating to our health and well-being, keeping us from moving on and living our own fulfilling lives. Singer/songwriter William Fitzsimmons captures the heavy weight of grief in his new single “Holding a Place for You” featuring Bre Kennedy, an achingly intimate and hauntingly beautiful song of love, loss, and letting go.
I’m afraid
Someone’s gonna take it if I say
Something, something
Anyway
Nobody can ever make you stay
Darling, darling
Every day trying to hold it back
Everyone trying to tell me that
I can’t see the forest for the trees
Throw a rope off the deeper side
Finding out you were never mine
Trying to pull the sunlight from the leaves
Nothing hits harder than a loved one’s absence.
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Holding A Place For You,” William Fitzsimmons’ second song of the year and the latest single off his forthcoming studio album Incidental Contact, out later this year via Nettwerk Music Group. Following this past April’s “Amsterdam” (which will also feature on the upcoming album), “Holding A Place For You” is a spirited slow-burn sitting in that sonic sweet spot between indie folk and alternative rock.
Together with labelmate Bre Kennedy, Fitzsimmons crafts a dreamy, ambient, and brooding environment reminiscent of our favorite Death Cab for Cutie or City and Colour songs, luring listeners in with his hair-raising, whisper-like singing and steadily growing bolder and louder – until all of a sudden, the whispers are shouts, and those painful inner demons are expelled. The mantra-like chorus is as much a cathartic release as it is an intimate apology; a sacred spell bridging the world of the living with that of the dead. “I’m gonna have to stop holding a place for you,” Fitzsimmons confesses. “I’m gonna have to stop holding a place.”
Letting go does not mean losing.
Letting go does not mean forgetting.
Moving on is not a denial of our loved ones’ existence.
We can mourn and love the deceased with all our hearts while continuing to live our lives, and it’s in this song that Fitzsimmons strives to find and strike that balance, as elusive (and heartrending) as it may be.
There’s a way
Back into the river if we stray
Falling, falling
Any day
Every sky could break apart the grey
Darling, oh my darling
Every day trying to hold it back
Everyone trying to tell me that
I can’t see the forest for the trees
Throw a rope off the deeper side
Finding out you were never mine
Trying to pull the sunlight from the leaves
As Fitzsimmons and Kennedy explain, this song holds tremendous weight for both listeners and artists alike.
“Like phantom limb syndrome of the soul, we often have the tendency to hold onto the habits and presence of someone else even after they’re gone,” Fitzsimmons tells Atwood Magazine. “We find ourselves setting a place at the table where one is no longer needed. At some point we have to grieve and let go in order to move on.”
“When William and (producer) Marshall Altman asked me to feature on this song, I felt instantly connected to it,” Bre Kennedy adds. “‘Holding A Place for You’ is such a beautifully haunting song about unconditional love and memory, and this song found me when I needed to hear it.”
There is tremendous beauty in this song’s raw, unfiltered heartache. Granted, I won’t be deleting my mother’s number from my phone anytime soon, but to their credit, Fitzsimmons and Kennedy create a vessel through which we can all appreciate what it means to continue loving those who have passed, while simultaneously moving on in a healthy manner.
Stream “Holding A Place For You” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and – if you need it – let this song be your guide toward acceptance and letting go.
I’m gonna have to stop holding a place for you
I’m gonna have to stop holding a place
I’m gonna have to stop holding a place for you, ooh
I’m gonna have to stop holding a place
I’m gonna have to stop holding a place for you, ooh
I’m gonna have to stop holding a place
I’m gonna have to stop holding a place for you, ooh
I’m gonna have to stop holding a place
Holding a place…
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Stream: “Holding A Place For You” – William Fitzsimmons ft. Bre Kennedy
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