Album cover for Red Yarn’s Backyard Bop
There is… a lot going on in the world right now — death, destruction, anger, systemic injustice made manifest. And so I completely understand someone’s surface-level reaction to the idea of posting a video for a song titled “Jump for Joy” at this point.
Red Yarn (aka Portland, Oregon’s Andy Furgeson) gets it, too. He’s releasing his sixth album, Backyard Bop, on August 7th, and when he wrote the leadoff single “Jump for Joy” in January 2020, the world (at least in the United States) looked a lot different than it does as summer officially kicks off. At the time, Furgeson says, “I was thinking about the power of activism and my responsibility to spread joy from my position of privilege… I had no idea what the world would look like just six months later. Now, in this moment of pandemic and civil unrest, I'm more aware than ever that I have a duty as a privileged white male artist to use my small but mighty platform for good.”
So, yes, on the one hand this video is a silly little thing, featuring Furgeson’s trademark puppets as the crew for the video. (Furgeson assures me that it was filmed in a socially-distanced manner by Lake Karavias, also known round these parts as the ringleader of the Big World Audio Theater.) But with a chorus featuring the lyrics “Stand right up, raise your voice, get up with me, and jump for joy!,” the rockabilly song has a social activist heart that puts it in good company with recent releases from artists like the Okee Dokee Brothers, Alastair Moock, and Alphabet Rockers (not to mention legends like Ella Jenkins, Pete Seeger, and Raffi). And most activists will tell you that there’s got to be a bit of joy alongside the hard work of social change.
Anyway, I’m happy to present the world-premiere of the video. You can listen to “Jump for Joy” wherever your family streams music here, or also via the player following the video below.
Red Yarn - “Jump for Joy” [YouTube]
