Jordy Burns – Track by Track
Eora/Sydney-based indie-pop artist Jordy Burns walks us through her debut EP, Games:
Track 01: ‘Walls’
‘Walls’ is an expression from the heart that came from falling in and out of love. The person I was seeing convinced me that I was safe to open my heart to them, telling me they wanted what I wanted. As it turns out, as soon as I let down my guard, they quickly realised that they weren’t ready to move on from their last relationship. In saying that, they continued to stay with me and lead me on… It was a rollercoaster, to say the least.
They got me into poetry around the same time, and I began to explore metaphors in my writing, which felt more natural than previously. I remember playing the demo for them and finding it really strange how they loved the song despite knowing it was also about them and the pain they’d inflicted.
Track 02: ‘For Forever’
‘For Forever’ is about being in a beautiful heartfelt relationship with someone who wants to call it forever. Coming from a list of toxic, heartbroken relationships, my heart wasn’t ready for that sort of commitment. There were many ups and downs and we both knew things weren’t right but there was still so much love. I almost avoided seeing them so I could put off the hard conversation about how our goals weren’t aligned. This song is about loving someone with all your heart and not wanting to let them down.
Track 03: ‘Hear Me’
‘Hear Me’ is a bit of a love letter… I was falling in love with someone who wasn’t in a place to accept the love. We had a lovely connection but it was very complicated… I was falling head over heels, but she couldn’t see that. Her walls were up, and I thought I was just there for something fun, not long-term. Talking about it wasn’t getting through, so I wrote this song as a way of expressing how I felt, that I wasn’t messing around, that I really wanted to explore what we had and what we were. I wanted her to feel the love and commitment I felt so I put it into a song.
Track 04: ‘Keeping Score’
This is a song dedicated to a muse who kept leading my heart astray. I felt beaten, defeated and a little empty. I had written so many songs about her and was giving up on what was left of our relationship. She had this attitude that felt like a game of keeping score. From my perspective, I was the one losing most of the time, everything was on her terms, and I let it happen… in the end, we both did. I wrote this song at a turning point when I finally saw the light, understanding that I was the one who had to let go if I was ever going to be ok. That she was going to keep pulling me back in, but in the end, we were both missing out on the life we both wanted. In the end, it wasn’t the last love song I wrote about her… but it was the start of the end.
Track 05: ‘Second Chances’
‘Second Chances’ comes from a time in my life that was both liberating and devastating. I finally realised that I was in a very toxic relationship with a person who was never going to change. I was reflecting on some journaling and, like many tortured creatives, looked at what I’d written and saw some potential lyrics.
“You thought you’d never run out of second chances” was a line that really resonated with me. I remember being inspired while driving to meet a friend and pulling over every couple of minutes to write down lyrics as they came to me. I loved the song and how it sounded in my head, but it took a few re-writes with my producer, Luke, to find its way into the song it is today. (I even tried gigging it with my band a couple of years ago, first as a rock song, then tried funk too!). I finally feel like it encapsulates the original sound in my head from that first day.
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