At what point do we grow up? And do we even have to? Those are two questions that “Saturday”—the new single from Elle Belle’s stunning forthcoming album How Do I Feel?—poses by recalling those heady childhood Saturday mornings when you wake up early, when the possibilities and joys of the weekend seem infinite. There comes a time, however, when the realities and awareness of existence take over, tainting the simple pleasures and enjoyment of life with the worries, concerns, and unease of living in the modern world. It’s possible, sometimes, to forget about them, but on the whole, once you understand the nature of human existence, they’re unshakeable.
That’s something Elle Belle’s Christopher Pappas felt was exacerbated in and by the early days of the pandemic, and a feeling which he set out to capture in this song. “‘Saturday’ imagines a world pre- (or post-) pandemic where a simple stroll in the sunshine can be just that,” he says, “without any of the other anxieties that I had (and still have) attached to it.”
And yet, despite this song being inspired and riddled by those angsts and fears, the result is a beautiful antidote to it all—a breezy, beautiful, happy-sad track that perfectly depicts that loss of innocence while simultaneously recapturing it. For three minutes, all those worries seem trivial. They might not be, but they’re replaced, if only temporarily, by that sense of wonder that most adults seem unable to keep inside their hearts. Thankfully, Pappas does so for all of us.
Listen below—and remember what it felt like to have your whole life ahead of you. How Do I Feel? lands September 1 via Little Record Company—you can pre-order the record here.
