With echoes of 70s Country-Rock groups like the Eagles and Jackson Browne, Ben Cottrill’s new single “Reno” borrows the soulful, raw energy of classic Motown and the modern drive of artists like James Bay, Adele and other retro inspired Soul-Pop artists. Van Morrison would feel at home in this number.
Reno has an underlying narrative woven throughout it’s “Soft-Rock”, Blues-tinged rhythms; the painful walk of navigating loss (“All the places your mother lived ‘til she died”), the breakneck passing of time (“the lines round your lips don’t age you a bit”), and a desperate optimism for something, anything better and more life giving (“Even if it’s a bust, we have somewhere we’re going to next).
Perhaps Reno is less of an surface-appearing love song, and more of a call to self-liberation and the creation of one’s own mythos. The weighty online presence of privileged travel-bloggers has surely cheapened the grand value of the “great escape”; packing your fears, ambitions and curiosities in a suitcase alongside for some hands-on exploration and revelation seeking. Regardless of whether this mission takes you out on the road or into the skies, it is not for the sake of posturing or recolonizing the less mauled pieces of the continent.
John Steinbeck was a believer in this concept, once writing a short “autobiographical” account of his travels across the United States in an RV with his poodle. “Travels With Charley” is insightful and thoughtfully written as most of Steinbeck’s works are, though with the caveat his children later claimed, accusing him of simply sitting in his RV parked at home and writing the entirety of the story without ever travelling. Does it matter if it ever really happened? Does it matter MORE if it happened and nobody ever knew about it?
Who’s to say. Perhaps the song has nothing to do with going anywhere physically, rather, simply letting your mind temporarily unravel for a sweet, short trip into the outer reaches of the dream. Maybe, thinking too hard about songs makes them less interesting and gives them more in common with a 12th grade book study than an enjoyable piece of music.
and gives them more in common with a 12th grade book study than an enjoyable piece of music.
I hope this song gives you whatever you need, even if for a single 3 minute and 57 second mental escape. Be free, my compatriots
~Benj
lyrics
Reno - Eb 110bpm
Ab/Eb - Eb x2
Verse 1
Eb - Ab/Eb
Is there a problem that you can’t address
Something beyond what your schedule reflects?
Gm - Ab - Gm - Ab
We could head off the hills in a bus
Like the kind made of plastic and rust
Eb/Bb - Ab
Even if its a bust, we have somewhere we’re going to next
Verse 2
Eb - Ab/Eb
Kona or Greece, I can’t keep track of these
All of the places your mother lived ‘til she died
Gm - Ab - Gm - Ab
The lines round your lips don’t age you a bit
No they don't age you a bit
Eb/Bb - Ab
There’s something bout feeling so much
That makes you a soldier inside
Chorus 1
Eb/Bb - Ab6 [x2]
Take a pocket that’s filled up with bills,
Grab a jacket with the diamonds and frills
Eb/Bb - Ebaug/A - Ab
Grab a pack and don’t ever look back at those hills
Ab - C/G - Fm - Eb
I’ll hold you til Reno, and then I’ll be holding you still
Eb - Ab/Eb - Ebmaj7 - Ab/Eb
Verse 3
Eb - Ab/Eb
Some brisk arrival in a parking lot diner
Hungry as hell, I aint seen anything finer
Gm - Ab - Gm - Ab
See how the flames take control of the skies
You and I are far apart but I’m gonna try
Its early but I can still tell, that my days aren’t behind her
Ab
No my days aren’t behind her
Chorus 2
Eb/Bb - Ab6 [x2]
Take a pocket that’s filled up with bills,
Grab a jacket with the diamonds and frills
Eb/Bb - Ebaug/A - Ab
Grab a pack and don’t ever look back at those hills
Chorus-Bridge
Ab - C/G - Fm x7
I’ll hold you til Reno, and then I’ll be holding you
I’ll hold you til Reno, and then I’ll be holding you
[breakdown]
I’ll hold you til Reno, and then I’ll be holding you
Holding you still, holding you still [band back in]
I’ll hold you til Reno, and then I’ll be holding you still
Chorus 3
Eb/Bb - Ab6 [x2]
Take a pocket that’s filled up with bills,
Grab a jacket with the diamonds and frills
Eb/Bb - Ebaug/A - Ab
Grab a pack and don’t ever look back at those hills
Ab - C/G - Fm x3 - Eb
I’ll hold you til Reno, and then I’ll be holding you
I’ll hold you til Reno, and then I’ll be holding you
I’ll hold you til Reno, and then I’ll be holding you still
Outro
Eb - Fm/Eb - Ebmaj7 - Fm7
You know that I will
credits
released October 25, 2022
Ben Cottrill - vocals, piano, guitar, trumpet
Dylan Weightman - drums
Kyler Pierce - pedal steel
Brandon Clark - bass
Bob Cottrill - Organ, claps
Brenda Cottrill - Choir vocals
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