A beautiful, deeply spiritual exhale from the soul, Joy Oladokun’s achingly intimate “questions, chaos, & faith” is at once a heartfelt elegy for a friend and a vulnerable reflection on life itself.
“Questions, Chaos & Faith” – Joy Oladokun
I have traveled all the world looking for songs and girls and God…
A beautiful, deeply spiritual exhale from the soul, Joy Oladokun’s latest single is at once a heartfelt elegy for a friend and a vulnerable reflection on life itself.
The Nashville-based singer/songwriter contemplates what it means to be alive – and where we go when we leave here – in “questions, chaos, & faith,” a soul-stirring song that boils our existence – or at least, Oladokun’s philosophy on our existence – down to three pillars: “Nothing is certain, everything changes, we’re spirit and bone marching to the grave,” Oladokun sings, her voice intimate and unwavering. “There are no answers. There are only questions, chaos, and faith…”
We will never have all the answers to life’s big questions – why we’re here, what happens to our souls, the existence of a higher power, and so on – but in these four very special minutes, Oladokun seems to make peace with some of her own inner demons, accept that which she cannot change or know, and pay homage to a dearly departed friend.
She sings candidly and freely, her diaristic lyrics painting powerful images as her warm acoustic guitar and lush orchestral strings create breathtaking harmonies all around her:
When my friend Casey died
I didn’t drive home for the funeral
I was prostrate, as they say to higher minds
Went to my dorm and cried
because I still believed in heaven
And I was sure I wouldn’t see her when I die
Nothing is certain
Everything changes
We’re spirit and bone
marching to the grave
There are no answers
There are only questions, chaos, and faith
“I wrote ‘Questions, Chaos, & Faith’ one day during a two week period in which I told everyone I work with to leave me alone,” Oladokun tells Atwood Magazine. “The past few years of releasing and touring albums have been amazing, but moving that fast hasn’t allowed me much time for reflection. ‘Questions, Chaos, & Faith’ is a result of time spent playing video games, watching documentaries on YouTube, and realizing that I can’t outrun my grief.”
“This song is special to me, not only because it honors an old friend, but because I challenged myself to write and produce it alone. I wanted to make sure that every word and sound came from my heart. The process was therapeutic. I hope listening to it is as well.”
I bought a zombie game
I only play it in the daylight
I’m evolving, but I’m still a bit afraid
Scared of the end of days
Sometimes I swear I see them coming
But everyone around me’s
still running the race
“questions, chaos, & faith” is a powerfully cathartic release, and one that brings us closer than ever to Oladokun as she dips her toes, and then dives headfirst into life’s deeper waters.
This song itself does not see her directly wrestling with God or religion, but one can imagine the long road she took to get where she is now. This song is in a way the aftermath of some very heavy reflections – a spiritually intense journey Oladokun had to take on her own.
“I don’t know what I believe about the after life,” she posted last week. “I do know that in this life Casey Hayes made a desert town feel like a garden and an outcast feel like they belonged.”
Nothing is certain, everything changes
We’re spirit and bone
marching to the grave
There are no answers
There are only questions, chaos, and faith
I have loved and lost and found another way to carry on…
With only questions, chaos, and faith, there is no guarantee that Oladokun will ever see her friend again. This song, then, is a permanent and lasting tribute to that special light in her life – and as much as it helped Oladokun to write it, now that it’s out, it can be just as healing and helpful to those grieving their own loved ones.
Because ultimately, “questions, chaos & faith” reminds us that we don’t have all the answers, and we don’t know what’s going on in this life. We can either accept those truths and try to live our best lives, or… well, I don’t want to consider the alternative.
Thank you, Joy Oladokun, for this tender, touching song.
I have traveled all the world
looking for songs and girls and God
Cut my teeth and bruised my chin
Learned to own up when I’m wrong
I have loved and lost and found
another way to carry on
It don’t make much sense right now
It might not make sense when I’m gone
Nothing is certain
Everything changes
We’re spirit and bone
marching to the grave
There are no answers
There are only questions, chaos, and faith
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“Questions, Chaos & Faith” – Joy Oladokun
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