Socrates famously said “The ancient Oracle said that I was the wisest of all the Greeks. It is because I alone, of all the Greeks, know that I know nothing.” It’s a sentiment echoed in the latest single from Dennis Ellsworth, who at the moment seems to be bottoming out on the bell curve of the Dunning–Kruger effect. Have a listen to “Anything At All.”
Self-awareness is not intrinsic to our species. Irony runs amok with the best of us. But with a good bit of hard work, and some harder knocks, we can recognize that maybe there’s just a bit more to this who existence schtick than we’ve really got a grasp on. Ellsworth, now a fully-fledge adult, looks back on his experiences with nostalgia and into the future wielding a double-edged sword of doubt and discovery.
“Ask me where I’m going and I’ll say I’m not sure. Ask me how I know and I’ll say I really don’t know anything at all,” sings Ellsworth, practically mirroring the Socratic Paradox some 2400 years later.
On a more nuts and bolts level, Ellsworth describes “‘Anything at All’ as “a song that takes place in the sunroom of your sub-conscience. It evokes feelings of floating or drifting in thought. It conjures ideas of nostalgia, how we love each other, how we elevate ourselves when we are replete with defeat and most of all, how we become better.”
And to be fair, while recognizing we all might be a little lost might be a small victory, it might not feel like that. But, as Ellsworth points out, we still have the benefit of knowing where we’ve been.
“[There is] perhaps a whiff of sadness at the memories of being a kid,” says Ellsworth. “Probably because looking back feels so nice sometimes but ultimately it’s a ruse because you can never return. Now I live that through my daughter.”
Dennis Ellsworth’s upcoming album Common Senseless will be released on September 27 via Pyramid Scheme Records. It is available to pre-order through his website on CD and LP beginning Friday, August 23rd.
Show Dates:
08.24.19 – Mount Stewart, PE @ Trailside Cafe
09.01.19 – Halifax, NS @ HUFF Waterfront Show
09.02.10 – Halifax, NS @ HUFF Carleton