Dennis Ellsworth is a master of perspective. The award-winning songwriter has a habit of looking backward and forward all at the same time; a regular denim-clad Janus, armed with a six-string. His songs often seem to have us either peering into the future from the context of golden-hued childhood or back in retrospect with the burden of hindsight.
His new single with backing band The Electric Stars — Dan Currie (guitar), Mike Montigny (bass), Roger Carter (organ), Mike Carver (drums), and Adam Gallant (percussion) — questions that perspective and whether we’re getting a clear picture of where we are at all.
Nothing is guaranteed, as far as Ellsworth’s new single is concerned. As Ellsworth points out that “Endless (Nowhere Else To Go)” is a song that is centered around feelings and memories, not to mention the value of being able to re-center oneself through the power of the Grateful Dead. Constantly being battered about by the 24-hour news cycle can be a real trip, but rather than being adrift on an ocean, Ellsworth compares it sloshing down a river; regardless of how wet we get, at least we know we’re headed in a single direction.
“And memory’s endless even when it kind of slips away,” he sings. “Some days your thoughts are just buzzing around your skull, And the river only knows it has to hold the banks, But even then sometimes there’s nowhere else to go.”
“It’s a song about the natural course life tends to take, no matter how much you try to steer it in any one direction,” says Ellis.
That sort of inevitability can give you an existential crisis if you can’t Hakuna Matata your way back between the lines. Ellsworth’s calm delivery of the song suggests he’s learned to keep his head above water.
“‘Endless’ is anchored in acceptance,” he continues. “The song talks about failure, but in a way that acknowledges that there’s often more than one chance to succeed. This song is about resilience and perseverance as it relates to the tiresome daily slog that can grind people down. Ultimately, it’s about being real.”
Ellsworth explains that the song grew out of the superabundance of trouble that has muddied the waters. Resilience be damned—sometimes, it’s best to make your way to shore and get your bearings (or in Ellsworth’s case, hunker down and toss on a little American Beauty). There will always be other days.
“Just trying to find some peace in what seemed like an unrelenting stream of bad news and bad views. Simplifying life a little. I think sometimes we forget that we control what we subject ourselves to,” says Ellsworth. “I needed to close the door on the sensationalist and news about death and widening divides and spend time inward.
“I guess the point is that life has great things to offer if we let it. The well is endless and the feelings are too, even when they’re not the focus… or long past. They still have a part to play in who we are or who we were or who we’ll be.”