Emerald City

Credits:
Producer - JoJo Nieves
Lyrics - JoJo Nieves
Strings Arrangement - JoJo Nieves, Kyle Preston
Vocals, Guitars, Bass - JoJo Nieves
Drums - Andrew Lapinid

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Emerald City is a love letter to Seattle, the city I call home. It's an ode to the constant push and pull of living in a place that's always changing, for better and for worse. The lyrics and production aim to capture that unique feeling—the energy, the challenges, and the enduring beauty of this evolving city.

This particular track also marks a significant milestone in my career as a producer. It was the first time I composed a strings arrangement for a song. I've always been captivated by how strings can elevate modern pop tracks, and bringing that vision to life with Emerald City was a truly rewarding experience. My initial arrangement was masterfully iterated and refined by the brilliant composer Kyle Preston, who helped shape it into what you hear today.

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Lyrics

Verse 1:
December 2016
First of the month I arrive on the scene
Two thousand miles up the West Coast
Trading the sunshine for rainclouds and dormant volcanoes

Verse 2:
Oh, I've been warned
That all of the best things aren't here anymore
They've all been exchanged for towers of glass
Expensive apartments and daycares for dogs and cats

Chorus:
But call me a little nostalgic for
Holding onto a silver line
Let crumbling bridges and empires of business
Try to turn out the lights
This Emerald City still shines

Verse 3:
Sometimes I just drive around
For no other purpose than to wonder out loud
What it must have felt like to not think about
How the price to belong here rose higher than the buildings downtown

Verse 4:
Heard a ghost once in Pioneer Square
Ask to itself how it ended up there
How its dreams of discovering mountains of gold
Were swallowed by the fire and now live in the tunnels below