Mid-May

Notes

Index:

- Song Backstory

- Credits

- NFT Backstory

- Energetic Exchange

- Lyrics

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Song Backstory:

I wrote this song with my good friend Teddy Roxpin in January 2022 in Highland Park, Los Angeles. I had been living away from my home town of Vancouver, Canada for the better part of a decade, and didn't know if I was ever going to move back. I transitioned over the pandemic, and since my family was really starting to come online around my new trans identity, I achingly missed them for what felt like the entire decade compiled into the span of just a few months.

I had this newfound insistent urge to move home; to be with the mountains, the trees, and the oceans of the Pacific North-West - and to be with my mom, my dad, and my sister again. It was incredible to witness this pivotal transformation within myself where I went from not knowing if I was ever going to move home, to realizing that it was the only place I would ever truly have roots to ground me.

While I actually ended up moving home in early April of 2022, this song has become a time-capsule of that shift in my trajectory: I knew that I was going to move home at least by Mid-May. By now, I've been back in Vancouver for just over a year, and both my internal and external worlds are indeed more stable than they ever have been. It's beautiful to reflect, and to confirm that once again my intuition knew the best path forward: going right back to where I had started from.

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Credits:

Produced by Teddy Roxpin

Lyrics, Music + Vocals by Forrest Mortifee

Cover Art by Andy La

Mixed by Mark Hadley

Mastered by Will Borza

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NFT Backstory:

This drop is my second 1/1 Music NFT. My first was "Prophecy of the Morning Dew" (also produced by Teddy Roxpin), which was my genesis NFT, sold within those same weeks of moving home last April! I have since minted ~30 unique NFTs, with thousands of versions sitting in hundreds of wallets across the web3 ecosystem. I'm grateful for every collector - and I would love to continue cultivating the closeness that can come with 1/1 collector-artist bonds.

The reason I am minting this now is to provide a sneak-preview, as this song comes out on DSPs this Friday, June 16th, 2023. This is the same day that the "Museum of Forrest" drops; a multi-exhibit online gallery of my current body of work, that I've self-curated to portray my journey home.

Further, I've committed to releasing 1 song a month for the foreseeable future, both on DSPs, and as 1/1s. My intention in doing so is to scrub out my internal tube of self-expression so that my creative work can flow from me in a clear, clean, unblocked stream of personal artifacts. This will be the first of that series, and is my first solo release as Forrest Mortifee!

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Energetic Exchange:

The sale of this NFT will cover the following associated costs:

- Writer's Fee for Teddy [$500 USD]

- Writer's Fee for Forrest [$500 USD]

- Mix [$100 USD]

- Master [$100 USD]

- Cover Art [$150 USD]

- Playlist Pitching [$140 USD]

- Admin [$150 USD]

- Contingency [$100 USD]

TOTAL: $1740 USD (1ETH)

If you do choose to collect this song, I’d like to give you a massive THANK YOU! This expression of direct support and patronage is enabling my ongoing creative output. Not only does it encourage me morally (the importance of which is not to be underestimated), but it also gives me the tangible means to create more art for you to enjoy into the future. More is coming!

I’d also like to note that I was inspired to present this financial transparency after seeing Reí's (previously remcycles’) experiment here on Catalog - so thank you too! Perhaps this can be a sustainable compensation model that authentically reflects the expenses we as creators incur when delivering our final products to DSPs.

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Lyrics:

INTRO

I had to find home in myself to let love

VERSE 1

Yearning for home

I always thought that I would come across it

Like maybe its some place I’ll go

I don’t know

But I’m learning to know.

The way I see the world is different

Now I'm walking through it slowly-er

PRE-CHORUS

I see the sky reflected off laundromat windows, it’s more

Vivid in colour and yet somehow more softer and I

I realize my home is in the way I see myself

I realize my home is inescapably well

CHORUS

And I know Ima be okay by Sunday

And I know how to get back home by Mid-May

And I know Ima be okay by Sunday

Anyway, anyway

VERSE 2

There’s no forest in Big Sur

There’s no short cut to self-worth

There’s no lies you can disguise

That your body won’t surmise

There’s no heatstroke without sun

There’s no homesick without love

You see I had to let the light in

PRE-CHORUS

Let the sky reflect off the soul in my windows it’s more

Vivid with shadows and yet somehow more honest and I

I realize my home lies in the way I love myself

I realize my home is inescapably well

CHORUS

BRIDGE

Leaves curl up when the sun goes down

I curl up when there’s no one round

Roots run deep through the soil and ground

Gotta stay grounded

x4

CHORUS

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Thanks for reading, thanks for listening! And as always -

✰ collection optional ✰

☑︎ enjoyment encouraged ☑︎

xx

Forrest