Billy Davis Sings the Question He’s Lived: A Review of “Rise Up”
Billy Davis doesn’t bring answers to you; he brings you ash on his sleeves, the static of feeling, and the quiet weight of asking the same question for years until he finally lets out his song.
“Rise Up”, his newest original, starts in a place that many artists don’t touch – the place of spiritual exhaustion. His beliefs remain intact, but they are no longer are filled with hope. The verses are heavy, written with footfalls of boots on concrete, and ground that is both honest and real, with loops of self-doubt, self-reproach, and fear of being irretrievably lost. There is something human “beer stained” about the song’s words, which is a scent from late nights of drunkeness, as well as from long hours of prayer with no resolution whatsoever.
The first stage of a Hero's Journey is a collapse. Davis does not pose to be a redeemed man; he admits to having had resistance and to being a man of fear. When he asks, "Is it too late to be saved?", it feels more like a confession whispered away in a lonely room than it feels like a lyric. The hook is not the spectacle of “Rise Up” but the shared language of the two singers.
Something happens after a while, but it isn't sudden; it's slow and gradual. A chorus that does not say, "We have won" but instead, "We can join the group of the saved." The music rises, has gospel inflections and has strong vocals, all on the back of a powerful rock sound from the '90s. With every return to the chorus, the music becomes more intense, with the same intensity as a person's faith after not testing that faith during the winter months.
The way the song sounds builds towards an ending that represents the transition of the song itself—going from the ground up to the breath and then from the flesh to purpose. Once the bridge arrives in the song, it is stripped back to what it truly is about—man having limitations. The man has no control of the drive. The chant-like refrain of "the Spirit of God is King" gives you the feeling of belonging and displays the idea of an age-old community more than modern-day worship.
Davis, the vocalist, shows how exposed he is by displaying everything he is without any polish and without any armor. His ability to accept his vulnerability is part of why he is so effective as a performer. Davis is also a singer/songwriter who grew up in Western PA, has family in Upstate NY. He would spend many years writing privately before he would bring his music to the public, mostly to heal relationships, beliefs and to find meaning in his life through music.
"Rise Up" is a human confession turned declaration. A song for everyone who finds themselves in the midst of turmoil, who raises their hands not in victory but outstretched in readiness. Not because you are worthy but because you are present.