Eye Was Baptized
Welcome to the Eye Was Baptized (Music & Picture Show) for my song Baptized and Chapter 3 of my Pretty Dopamine Bullets visual album. Thank you for being here.
Chapter 1: Forever Free Salton Sea
Chapter 2: High Freqeuncy Ghost
Chapter 3: Eye Was Baptized
Chapter 4: WOVEN SOUL
Chapter 5: DOPAMINE QUEEN
CHAPTER 6: ATMOSPHERIc
I originally wrote Baptized and recorded an acoustic version in April 2020. It was amongst the first songs I had ever written. With a beginner's mind. Before being occupied with how a song should be. So, it just was. That was three years ago, from home in Bozeman, while we were all yearning for connection.
i had a dream not too long ago…that you were the one who stole my soul
Over the years playing it live and during the studio recording process, the song changed and evolved but always came back to its original point of view. It's about the power of words and the beautiful, terrifying vulnerability of trust. Maybe he, she or they is a lover, a friend, a teacher, a preacher...I won't say and you can decide. Either way, it's about falling backwards into someone's words and drowning in their arms. Intoxicated by another mind, soul or body. It's a beautiful thing but, as we all know, it doesn't always work out. We hurt. We learn. We heal. We move on and, like a scar that's hard to hide, it's now part of us. (Audio: Water & Sonar stems from Baptized)
you thought your secrets were safe with me but when i dream…i remember everything
I grew up in an Evangelical church and I've seen my share of water baptisms. Every Sunday morning a handful of people would come forward seeking redemption in the holy water. An act of faith for peace. I remember them in their Sunday best, falling backwards into the water. Seeking assurance for things hoped for and not seen. I understand the appeal of redemption but that kind of faith has never been easy for me. (Audio: Ian Fleming-inspired guitar stem from Baptized)
i fell backwards into your words…drowning in your arms
So, I was never baptized. At least not in that way. Instead, I choose to place my faith in love. Like a crow flies. No mind on the weather. Just holding my lucky feather. And, that vulnerability can feel like drowning.
I can't swim. I grew up in the mountains and deserts where water is scarce and easy to avoid. I've always been afraid of it. Especially the ocean. What I can't see. The undertow. The abyss. When I wrote Baptized and as we produced the track and created the visuals I kept coming back to capturing the sounds and feeling of sinking underwater - just out of reach of a savior and how there should be a warning left on the surface. A white flower. As a surrender...as a reminder...that you were water.
Baptized was produced and recorded over a 7-month period from August 2022 to February 2023 in Bozeman, MT and West Newbury, MA. Seven months for four minutes. It was my first time learning to settle into the experimentation and perfecting phases of creating art instead of rushing to the finish line. The pretty dopamine bullet that comes with getting the thing done and sharing it with the world. This new level of caring and detail felt uncomfortable and beyond my ability much of the time. I was truly out of my depth but with faith that, through the work, I'd finally learn to tread water.
Jake Fleming & Enrique Gonzales Müller... thank you for the music, teaching and friendship.
Cheers and thank you for being here. On to Chapter 4.