A tender, aching acoustic folk ballad and an indie rock fever dream all in one, Sarah Klang and Fruit Bats’ “Last Forever” unpacks love’s complexities through a vulnerable, intimate, and emotionally charged lens.
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“Last Forever” – Sarah Klang ft. Fruit Bats
I’ve got two issues with you, and one of them is that you love me…
Easily one of the most intimate and provocative love songs I’ve ever heard, Sarah Klang and Fruit Bats’ “Last Forever” unpacks love’s complexities through a relatable and realistic lens while truly holding nothing back.
From the moment the track opens – tenderly, yet already in a state of heartache and reckoning – to its spirited, dramatic, and churning finale (where both parties are trying desperately to believe in ‘happily ever after’), Klang and Eric D. Johnson take our ears, minds, and souls on an intense and impassioned journey: One that hurts in the very best of ways.
That it resonates so deeply inside is a testament not just to both of their individual talents as songwriters and singers, but also (can’t believe I’m saying this) to the power of love, and its hold over our hearts; after all, we don’t necessarily get to choose who we fall in love with, or how we act when we’re deep in the thick of it; love is a strange and untamable beast, and you never know when you might fall prey.
I’ve got two issues with you
and one of them is that you love me
I can’t stand the way you
look at me when I’m mad
The way you smile and say we’re all right
Even though I know that I messed up
How come you always
let our good side shine through?
“This collaboration was an eye-opener to me because it immediately opened two creative worlds,” Klang, for whom this duet is a first, tells Atwood Magazine. “Suddenly there were two perspectives, and that is very new for me to have. To get to work with someone I admire so much was a dream come true, and I felt like it made me a stronger writer too.”
Atwood Magazine featured the Swedish Grammy winning singer and songwriter last year around the time of her fourth studio album’s release. “Cinematic and breathtaking, Mercedes is Sarah Klang’s emotionally-charged coming-of-age,” we wrote at the time.
“[She] is at her most vulnerable and her most vivid as, inspired by pregnancy and the birth of her first child, she dives headfirst into what it means to be human and what it means to be alive, here, today… Breathtakingly beautiful and achingly soulful, this album is sure to resonate with all who, like Klang, are on their own spiritual journeys.”
Fruit Bats’ Eric D. Johnson spills his soul in the track’s second verse, his voice a vessel of raw, aching, palpable emotion as he moves the song’s story forward, further reckoning with the highs and lows of love.
“When I cry you say you’re right, even though I know it’s all messed up,” he croons. “How come you always let our good side shine through?“
I’ve got two issues with me
and one of them is that I need you
I can’t stand the way I always
go back to where you are
When I cry you say you’re right
even though I know it’s all messed up
How come you always let
our good side shine through?
And it’s on that last note where everything changes, and a tender acoustic folk ballad becomes a sonically (and emotionally) charged indie rock fever dream.
“When Sarah and her writing partner, Theo Stocks, brought this sketch in, I was already all in on it going on the album,” Johnson tells Atwood. “The opening line: ‘I’ve got two issues with you, and one of them is that you love me…‘ just devastated me out of the gate. The song starts off as a lilting waltz, then turns into a chugging, desperate rock anthem and fades off into the sunset. When they suggested I sing a verse, and we turn it into a proper duet, I was honored and intimidated. I love that each verse comes from a different perspective – and then ends on intertwined stories about lovers trying to figure out the balance of life.”
Could our love last forever
Or is this just a thing people
say but it never comes true
I want to believe it like you
At just over three minutes and change, “Last Forever” may itself not last forever, but in that relatively short span of time, Sarah Klang and Fruit Bats successfully capture a very real kernel of truth about love and relationships:
That love is hard, but beautiful – and worth every tear shed, every bit of effort expended on it, every second spent making it come true.
Whether you yourself are deeply entrenched in the valley of love, or looking for someone to spend your life with, “Last Forever” is a spellbinding ode to love that will have you spilling your soul like your life depends on it.
Could our love last forever
Or is this just a thing people
say but it never comes true
I want to believe it like you, you, you
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“Last Forever” – Sarah Klang ft. Fruit Bats
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