KEEP SURVIVING (3/5/2021)
ABOUT THE SONG
I wrote the song a year before the pandemic happened and released it coincidentally around the one year anniversary of the pandemic. I wrote it on a particularly bad weekend when I was feeling alone and stuck with myself.
The lines “I guessed the riddle wrong/ I waited way too long” sting every time I sing them. I’m referring to the music industry and how there’s no one clear path to success. It’s not a straight line, but more like that windy game they always have at the pediatrician’s office. And while I’m usually happy with where I am in my career and grateful for the lessons I’ve learned along the way, I more often than not fall into a rut of “oh what if I had just done this thing at this time and I hadn’t screwed up this other thing and why couldn’t I have just popped out of my mom with masters in piano whyyyyyy”. I know I speak for so many of us when I say a lot of times I just feel like I’ve fallen short and I’m never going to really get where I’m trying to go. YET.
YET.
There is always something that keeps me going. Keeps me motivated. There is always something that gives me hope, whether it’s a fan online saying they enjoyed a song, or performing on stage to a phenomenal audience with equally phenomenal performers, or just the simple kindness of a friend or stranger saying “Hey, you got this. Don’t give up.” Sometimes it comes from the meditative pleasure of practicing the same part of a song over and over again until I get it right. We all have to find a reason to keep going. For me, my biggest take-away from this hell cycle of a year has been to appreciate the small victories throughout the day and to stop. feeling. guilty. all. the. damn. time. Stop feeling guilty about mistakes you’ve made in the past that you can’t change but you can learn from. Stop feeling guilty about enjoying a sunny hour or two at the lake when you should be inside working on SOMETHING. Stop feeling guilty for your failures and instead focus on gratitude.
Anyway. That was a tangent. I tend to go off on those quite often.
Do what you gotta do. Just keep going. Keep trying. Keep surviving.
xo,
Kat
CREDITS
Written and performed by Kat Robichaud. Produced, recorded, and mixed by Mark McKee. Keys: Brendan Getzell. Drums: RJ Pal. Bass: Tim Baker. Guitars and synths: Mark McKee. Cello: Ken Oak. Mastered by Piper Payne at Infrasonic Studios. Music video shot and edited by John Adams.
SPECIAL THANK YOU
Emilio Racinez, Rick Kinnaird, NJ + Morrisa, Douglas A. Gwyn, Harrison Scroggins, Laura Reznikov, Ian Bennett, Charles Cross, Alex Eros, Gabriel Milian, David Carlstrom, Lloyd Taylor, Andy Cargile, Jerome Moisand, and to all of Kat’s Patreon members for making this recording possible. xo
LYRICS
Here in the darkness/ I can feel your light/ Like a thread pulling me
Saving me from my own mind/ It’s a hard place to be in
It’s harder to describe/ I’m ok when I’m with you
When I’m trapped inside
I guessed the riddle wrong/ I waited way too long
I’m holding on, I’m holding on/ There’s no end to the falling
I keep falling over and over again/ You keep calling
It’s the only thing/ It’s all I need to keep surviving
Keep surviving
I don’t want to ask for help/ I don’t want to beg
I don’t want to focus on the negative
I want to be the hero/ Of this Nickelodeon
But I’m cast better as the villain
I guessed the riddle wrong/ I waited way too long
I’m holding on, I’m holding on
There’s no end to the falling/ I keep falling over and over again
You keep calling / It’s the only thing
It’s all I need to keep surviving
Keep surviving
One hand reaching in/ Safely on my feet and then
The ground is dropping out, crumbling/ And I’m racing to the end
And I’m clashing and impulsive/ I don’t think before I jump
And now I’m falling/ Always falling, I keep falling
Keep on falling, keep surviving
Keep surviving
I guessed the riddle wrong/ I waited way too long
I’m holding on, I’m holding on
I guessed the riddle wrong/ I waited way too long
I’m holding on, I’m holding on/ There’s no end to the falling
I keep falling over and over again/ You keep calling
It’s the only thing/ It’s all I need to keep surviving
Keep surviving
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xo,
Kat
