After releasing “Walk With Me” in December, Joss Stone returns with a live version recorded at Blackbird Studio in Nashville.
“If I can’t perform live with you all right now, I at least wanted to make a version that felt like we were all in the same room. Sending you all an air hug right now,” the Grammy-winning UK singer tweeted.
The gospel-rooted song speaks to the importance of loving thy neighbor. Stone shared the story behind “Walk With Me” and how the message evolved in light of recent events.
“The song started out as a romantic song asking someone to walk through life with you, kind of like a wedding song if you will. When we got to working on it so much had happened that I couldn’t take my mind off,” she explained. “With the pandemic and what happened with George Floyd that unfortunately sparked so much violence it got me thinking that the problem is mostly with the ‘us and them’ attitude. That is the biggest killer — separation and judgment. Everyone needs to come together in order to survive this life in peace. Without togetherness nothing is OK.”
She added, “So I rewrote the song and I hope people take it in the way it was intended. When I speak of the ‘heroes’, I am speaking of the brave doctors and nurses that have given so much of their lives to help others have one. And when I speak of ‘our brothers and sisters that cannot breathe’, it is a reference to George Floyd and the many others who have suffered injustice and suffocation in any way, be that physical or emotional.
When I say ‘so take a hand’, I mean any hand, love everyone, we are in this life together. The only way things will get better is if we throw the divides and lines away and love each other regardless of color or job or health. The fix is not to make those lines thicker. Let’s walk together. Through it all.”
“Walk With Me” is Stone’s first solo single in three years.
Listen to “Walk With Me (Live From Blackbird Studio)” by Joss Stone below.
