Girls – Forgiveness (rare acoustic version)

Girls split up a few weeks ago, sadly. One of most unusual, interesting and unashamedly emo bands of recent years, the core duo of JR White and Chris Owens, surrounded by other members, served up two flawless album and a great EP.

Every note they sang or strummed or gig they played had the sadly perfect feeling of a classic, a framing of emotion great enough for a silver screen, and every single one of their fans has a key memory listening to or watching them. They’re that sort of band. Dean Bein, who signed them to his label True Panther Sounds, shared his a few hours ago – a live session they recorded, “nearly improvised”, just a few months into forming on their first trip outside San Francisco as a band.

Dean talks about his feelings on this very readable blogpost

To this day, it’s my favorite Girls song. The sentiment is so beautiful, so transcendent, crushing yet hopeful. I downloaded the whole session and cut out that track so I could listen over and over and over. It was proof that in our midst was one of the most special and talented songwriters around, someone who had the power to distill a complex concept into a pure and honest message … Surely “Forgiveness” isn’t just about healing old traumas but coming to a point of faith, where one can accept that things can get better, that dreams can come true, and the future can hold unexpected but spectacular promise. I’m certainly sad to see one of my favorite groups ever disband, but overjoyed to see what the next evolutions are: the life-altering Christopher Owens songs we haven’t heard yet, the brilliant production JR will lend to other artists, the imagery, the poetry, the shows and stories! I believe in them and the music that they will make. I love Girls and I always will. That faith overshadows the pain of saying goodbye with the eagerness to say hello, to whatever future is to come.