Song Premiere: “The Bathtub Song,” by Meaghan Collins

Every day, people say to each other some variation of this exchange:

“How’s it going?”

“Good! How about you?”

“Good, thanks!”

And there is no doubt that for a significant number of people it is not, in fact, good. But there’s an unspoken social agreement to put on a happy face. And so we go home and feel isolated. And we’re sure that we’re the only ones.

Meaghan Collins’s new song, “The Bathtub Song,” gets right at those feelings of isolation. Meaghan was born and raised in Boston and now makes her home in Asheville, NC. Our friend Lisa Bastoni painted scenes for the video of “The Bathtub Song,” which we are so excited to premiere on Red Line Roots. (Shout out to Abby Altman at Club Passim for connecting Meaghan and Lisa!)

I love the honesty in this song. Meaghan’s voice is clear as a bell, and I love the cadence of the chorus. The closing lines of the chorus are: “But there’s trouble that visits me from time to time / And it’s in my mind.” Who hasn’t felt that way, especially over the past couple of years? I also love that this song could be a stripped down, acoustic, introspective song, but the song is big–a wonderful Hammond organ and lead guitar accentuate all the emotional quality of the lyrics.

Meaghan is releasing her first EP, Growing Out My Bangs, later this year. You can hear the first single, “Momma’s Rules,” here. Find more info about Meaghan over on her facebook page. I’m looking forward to hearing more!