Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
From the album "A Dark Murmuration of Words" out now - emilybarker.com/words
I am a huge fan of West Australian author Tim Winton. This is not the first song I have written after reading one of his novels – my song ‘Disappear’ was written after reading his novel Dirt Music and included on my Despite the Snow album.
‘Ordinary’ was written after reading Breath. Like many of Winton’s novels, Breath is set in rural, coastal Western Australia and depicts the melancholy, ennui and apathy that bubbles under the surface of small-town life – especially prevalent in teenagers. The story follows the friendship of two such teenage boys as they transition to adulthood, connected by their passion for surfing. The way in which Winton describes the West Australian coastline ignites my own childhood memories: wandering a pearl white shore, looking out at an imposing sea with that primal feeling of being put in your place by the magnitude of the ocean. It explores heroism on a grand scale (surfing giant waves in Indonesia) versus the beauty of the day-to-day in which the ordinary is celebrated (smaller, safer, long peeler waves).
Reading this novel in the context of our climate crisis, it feels like a metaphor; a reminder to explore and cherish the small mysteries and beauties hidden in plain sight on our own doorsteps.
#ordinary #lyrics #adarkmurmurationofwords #lyricvideo
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From the album "A Dark Murmuration of Words" out now - emilybarker.com/words
I am a huge fan of West Australian author Tim Winton. This is not the first song I have written after reading one of his novels – my song ‘Disappear’ was written after reading his novel Dirt Music and included on my Despite the Snow album.
‘Ordinary’ was written after reading Breath. Like many of Winton’s novels, Breath is set in rural, coastal Western Australia and depicts the melancholy, ennui and apathy that bubbles under the surface of small-town life – especially prevalent in teenagers. The story follows the friendship of two such teenage boys as they transition to adulthood, connected by their passion for surfing. The way in which Winton describes the West Australian coastline ignites my own childhood memories: wandering a pearl white shore, looking out at an imposing sea with that primal feeling of being put in your place by the magnitude of the ocean. It explores heroism on a grand scale (surfing giant waves in Indonesia) versus the beauty of the day-to-day in which the ordinary is celebrated (smaller, safer, long peeler waves).
Reading this novel in the context of our climate crisis, it feels like a metaphor; a reminder to explore and cherish the small mysteries and beauties hidden in plain sight on our own doorsteps.
#ordinary #lyrics #adarkmurmurationofwords #lyricvideo
=========================================
Stay in touch:
Sign up to my newsletter: emilybarker.com/subscribe
emilybarker.com
facebook.com/emilybarkerhalo
twitter.com/emilybarkerhalo
instagram.com/emilybarkerhalo
