Week in Pop: Hoop, Sabri, Sarah Clanton

Post Author: Sjimon Gompers

Sarah Clanton

Sarah Clanton & cello; photographed by Jeremy Ryan.

Nashville based artist Sarah Clanton emerges from performance work in the South’s classical orchestra scenes with news of an upcoming album arriving later this year. Building from blueprints of song composition innovations for cello & vocal pop constructions, Clanton works from baroque foundations that evolve out of the traditional framework into new creative forms. Presenting the world premiere for “Slow It Down”, Sarah Clanton sends the world a request to temper the tempo of our collective roll to take time for ourselves & loved ones around us. The strings & soul-calming atmosphere shares some ancient wisdom as a public serve announcement of love & care to appreciate & live in the moment of today (amid the hectic itineraries of our contemporary times).
“Slow It Down” is a gentle reminder to take the time to enjoy & get more out of the moments we hurry past in life. Sarah Clanton’s song breaks the cycles & systems of business day routines with a word of pause for thought that entertains the notion to embrace life’s moments for as long as we can. Clanton’s cello strings stretch out & underscore the emotional & sentimental theme of slowing down the gears of the clock as further illustrated lyrically; maybe if we took our time, time wouldn’t move so fast. “Slow It Down” is a ballad of carpe diem where sublime moments are cherished forever in an attempt to chrystalize the most precious memories into something that edges on the infinite. Sarah Clanton’s the seasons both past & present mixing up vintage bound photo album keepsakes with our modern day media feeds that seek to capture the temporal into the eternity of digital algorithms & the like. “Slow It Down” allows the very cadence & auras from these treasured moments to linger for as long as we wish, as Sarah sings with a heartfelt determination to do everything to not let the best parts of our lives pass us by.

Sarah Clanton provided the following thoughts on the inspirations behind the new single “Slowing Down”:

I heard a statistic on NPR and I believe it was on the episode appropriately titled “Slowing Down”, that our minds wander away from the present moment almost half of the time. Forty-seven percent of our lives are spent not living in the present moment! We have a unique trait as humans to let our minds wander and imagine, but sometimes it acts against us. Why is it so hard for us to stop and smell the roses? “Slow it Down” is a song I wrote with Kenny Fleetwood in April of 2017 as a feel good, positive reminder that Hey, I am alive! Isn’t that amazing?! Soak it up! My hope is that “Slow It Down” can be a light or big hug that brings comfort, a smile, a deep breath—it’s a feel-good song for everyone, a friendly reminder to guide us back to the present moment.

Lyrics for Sarah Clanton’s “Slow It Down”:

(v.1)
Jump into the water do a cannonball to make the biggest splash
Close your eyes enjoy the ride we’ll run until we run right out of gas
(pre)
We all stay so busy
Letting all the best parts pass
Maybe if we took our time
Time wouldn’t move so fast
(chorus)
Dance in the rain
Before it’s over
Find someone to love you
Who holds you closer
Life is a moment so
Don’t ever let it go
Slow it down
(v.2)
Holding on to seasons like a lightnin’ bug that’s bound to fly away
Taller than the trees we grow, the breeze kissin’ our elbows as we sway
pre
chorus

Listen to more from Sarah Clanton via Spotify.