Listening to Sarah Jordan’s “Paradise” for the first time feels like wrapping yourself in a thick, fuzzy, blanket that is heated to just the perfect temperature. Right from the first chorus, it oozes a feeling of warm and comforting happiness that envelops you fully in its glow. There’s something about Jordan’s light-hearted lyrical style and bright tone of voice that evokes these feelings of contented joy and urges you to continue listening.
“Floating off a cliff into a little land of mine/I get stuck on the hot sandy beaches of time/Down in my paradise/Where nobody’s calling me”
Reading like poetry, the lines are simple on the surface but complex in meaning. Supported by the gentle strumming of acoustic guitar, subtle percussion, and lightly layered background vocals, the lyrics are left to shine. Painting a water-color picture of her own personal paradise, she describes the contentment of finding peace within your own mind. It’s a place that is untouched by the outside world, where memories fade in and out of one another and the “visitor” holds complete control.
“I met my match years ago in a chorus room / You told me I should sing like I speak so now I do / Down in my paradise /But I hear you calling me / Now I can’t stand to be / Always leaving you behind”
With this second verse, a sense of mild dissatisfaction emerges from the folds. The inner mind that was once perfect and complete in its isolation loses some of its satisfaction when it cannot be shared. She’s detailing a bond so strong that it eclipses the need to keep ones innermost thoughts untouched and hidden from the outside world. While her mind was once a place of comfort and an escape, without her loved one to share in it with her the luster of paradise is dulled.
“I went shopping online for a new parachute / So I’d have one for me and another for you /To float to my paradise / Where we can dance and shout / And you’ll see what I’m thinking about / Leaving everything behind”
With this final verse, Jordan eases the discontent that began to creep in through the “purchasing” of a parachute to take her loved one into her mind. Ending on this lovely visual of a parachute trip that results in dancing and singing together in paradise, the smallest ring of a bell brings it to a close. Filled with vivid pictures of happiness and content, “Paradise” is a stellar single that deserves a first listen. Warm and inviting, it is sure to evoke feelings of contentment and inner warmth.
