Sure, you can look through all the stuff that was recorded or released during 2020 and pick a song of the year of your choice. More or less everybody’s doing it. Still, the question remains - does it really signify the events or the mood prevalent in something that you can easily label as crap of a year.
But, then, even picking one that does is not such an easy task. Personally, the easiest way to do it is to instinctively go for one that you felt represents the hard times, when the light at the end of a tunnel looks like just a flicker of an almost burnt-out candle. And it all comes down to personal experiences and perception.
One such year here was 1998, all connected to personal doubts and the search to overcome them. At that time, the song that defined those experiences and the mood was ‘Evening Mass,’ penned by sadly late Robert Fisher, and recorded on his band’s (Willard Grant Conspiracy) album of the same year.
Yet, throughout the song and its lyrics, with all the despair it expresses, you get the feeling that there might be some light still left in that candle that still flickers at the end of the tunnel. That light was quite weak in 2020, hopefully, it will grow stronger in 2021.
Evening Mass
She comes alone every evening
Lights as many candles
As she can afford
500 empty seats along the aisle
1000 empty tears in every stain glass window
And, Oh, the Greedy come a calling
And, Oh, the Needy come up wanting again
And, Oh, the Desperate come a courting'
The Lord has come up
Empty again
Sweat stains on the mattress ticking
They're drunk inside a memory
40 watts dimly light
The motel bedroom
Where Gideon's words
Will not save them
And, Oh, the Greedy come a calling
And, Oh, the Needy come up wanting again
And, Oh, the Desperate come a courting'
The Lord has come up
Empty again
He comes alone every evening
Degenerates into his bottle
He's long since lost any meaning
1000 blows are just too many
For one man to absorb
And, Oh, the Greedy come a calling
And, Oh, the Needy come up wanting again
And, Oh, the Desperate come a courting'
The Lord has come up
Empty again
The Lord has come up
Empty again
The Lord has come up
Empty... again (Willard Grant Conspiracy - ‘Evening Mass,’ courtesy Genius.com)