#eight46

Opening up about the new thought-provoking track, which ticks in at exactly eight minutes and 46 seconds (the exact time George Floyd was held down before his life was abruptly taken), vocalist/guitarist Patrick Goray did not hold back.

“It took me a long time to piece together the chaos running through my head just trying to piece it together the right way to answer all the questions of why this had to happen. Why didn't anyone try to stop the cops from taking his life? What can we do to stand up and help,” says Goray. “When I first started to write words for this it was more about using phrases filled with hate, anger, and not understanding. I wasn't taking the time to step back and gather everything that was going on. After multiple renditions of writing the song we, as a band, finally found our voice. We finally felt that we found the right way to pay respect and still say what we needed to say strongly with a powerful message behind the song.”

Goray added, “When we created the video it was the same idea: Something powerful yet simple so you can grasp onto the words and emotions that we felt while writing it. We used the daffodils inside a Molotov throughout the video to symbolize change and rebirth of all destruction caused by us as humans. We also chose specific words like ‘love,’ ‘hate,’ ‘hope,’ ‘change,’ ‘fear,’ ‘pain,’ ‘life,’ ‘death,’ and ‘justice’ to help show that we have heard all your voices and we are here to stand up for what you believe in. The video ends with a shot of myself throwing a Molotov and not knowing where it goes to resemble not knowing when the next tragedy will happen in this world. We wanted this song to mean something more than just music and words scribbled on paper. With everything we created we feel we did this movement justice and [are] proud of what we said and did.”

The impassioned singer/songwriter went on to say, “Eight46” is more than just a song, it has so many symbolic easter eggs hidden within the title itself and the lyrics which, if you take the time to notice, will speak volumes. I even took a road trip from Chicago to visit George Floyd’s memorial in Minneapolis, Minnesota to soak in everything that I felt so strongly about. I felt I couldn’t just release this song without knowing where it all ended and where it all began. We took a lot of time to release this and respect all the underlining hate in civil justice. Everything we put together we wanted it to mean something more, including the way we phrased the song title by spelling out the number ‘eight’ to show the dramatic length it took to take a life and end it with ‘46′ to symbolize how quickly it ended (as well as being George Floyd's age at death).” 

Goray concludes, “The chorus' final statement of ‘Let them hear your voices proud as the new Daffodils’ helps grasp onto a daffodil, which symbolizes rebirth, a new beginning, spring and change -- an image that we feel voices the reason that something needs to change now. We wrote this song to help voice how we feel and to reach others that feel the same way. For standing up for what we believe in, even if sometimes [we] feel our voices don’t matter.”

To check out the mighty and important new single from EGxBH, be sure to look below. Afterward, if you’d like to make a donation to the Black Lives Matter movement, head here.