He certainly is. Or at least on the way back.
John Dunsö is out of Malmö, and formerly a guitarist in the pop band Billie the Vision and the Dancers.
His 2018 debut album was released under the moniker Traveling John and now six years later he returns with the second single of the year, ‘On my way’.
You can read the story from the title. The song is about having the courage to make those decisions that are crucial to you, even if it sometimes feels too late. I get you John. It took me seven and a half years of being edited to nothing to convince me I should set up my own blog and look at us now, we’re out-viewing Pitchfork.
Well, in my dreams, maybe.
So the focus is on John’s journey through life’s crossroads; a journey that is far from its final destination. (I wouldn’t have the nerve to say that but then again I’ve seen too many scary movies).
On the album cover (and featured here) he is 13 years old and had just started playing guitar, singing and writing music and dreamed of being on stage performing it. But because of low self-esteem and a lot of fears, it wasn’t until 18 years later, at the age of 31, that he first dared to stand in front of an audience with his own songs.
The way I took this song on board was to see it as a variation on Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ in which he analyses himself and the many facets of his own life, instead of the other folk in the bar, most of whom are losers in one way or another.
There’s a jauntiness on the trumpet that more than matches Joel’s harmonica and sets the song up for a rollercoaster ride in which he lays out his initial motivations –
“I’ve been broken and down for too long/and my dad played a tune with a young Paul Simon/I found a reason within/to go the same direction”…
and how he progressed…
“Now I give it a shot, gotta run ‘til I’m done to make up for the time that I lost/and starting today/though a rockier road is ahead I’m happy to say…I’m on my way”
There is indeed a rockier road ahead as the song then reveals but not enough to break his spirit and the song concludes with a slowly, determinately delivered final line, “I’m on my way.”
He’s a natural storyteller and even those that might think this sort of subject matter is a tad narcissistic would have to agree that his enthusiasm and catchy songwriting will prevail.
This summer John will embark on one of his annual garden tours around Sweden, with more music expected throughout the year.
Find him on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johndunsomusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johndunsomusic
