Jeremy Parsons’ new EP Life is a quietly powerful meditation on survival, memory, and purpose. In just five songs, Parsons manages to distill the chaos and confusion of the pandemic years into a lyrical conversation that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant. His gift lies in turning plain speech into poetry—not the kind of poetry that demands attention, but the kind that slips into the listener’s bones and lingers.
The opening track, “Tickin’,” serves as a thesis. Time is a constant presence, both companion and adversary. Parsons sings of the clock on the wall with a matter-of-fact tone, never melodramatic, but insistent enough to remind us that none of us can outrun it. The lyric “It’s not wasted if you choose to learn” is a quiet revelation, encapsulating his worldview: mistakes and detours can still yield meaning if we are willing to see them as lessons. This ability to find wisdom in the ordinary is one of Parsons’ greatest strengths.
“The Garden” offers an image as old as scripture and as intimate as family. Parsons grew up the son of a horticulturist, and that lived experience infuses the lyric with authenticity. He asks: “What’s growing there in your garden? / Does it wither when you’re feeling blue?” The question is gentle, almost pastoral, but it cuts to the heart of human resilience. Growth, he reminds us, isn’t just about external circumstances—it’s about how we nurture our inner lives. The repeated line “I hope that means you are too” becomes not only a refrain, but a prayer of encouragement.
The EP’s most autobiographical moment comes with “Who Was I.” Here Parsons holds a mirror to his younger self: 25 years old, restless, high, uncertain, measuring himself against the benchmarks of his parents’ generation. “Sometimes I wonder who’s chasing who, me or the dream” captures the precariousness of ambition, its ability to sustain and to wound. He doesn’t romanticize those years—he simply tells the truth. The power of this song lies in its honesty, and in its refusal to edit the past into something more flattering.
“Humanity” broadens the scope, shifting from personal reflection to social critique. Parsons observes a world in conflict, where voices shout past one another and empathy seems in short supply. “I saw that humanity was dying inside them / With no plan to save them from themselves” is a stark lyric, yet the song resists cynicism. Instead, Parsons frames the problem as a choice—reminding us, through his words, that compassion is never out of reach.
The closing track, “Life Worth Dyin’ For,” ties the record together with grace and conviction. It is Parsons’ declaration of gratitude for a life lived fully: with love, laughter, failure, and renewal. The chorus—“Oh I lived a life worth dying for”—isn’t boastful, but humble, an offering of contentment. It leaves the listener with a sense of closure, not only for the EP but for the chapter of life that inspired it.
With Life, Jeremy Parsons has crafted a work that feels like a diary left open for anyone to read. The lyrics are unadorned, but their sincerity is their strength. This is music that doesn’t demand to be heard so much as it invites you to sit with it, reflect, and perhaps, in the process, better understand your own journey.
–Annie Morrison
