What goes around comes around. It’s an age-old adage that simply means what you put out into this world you will get back in spades. Robert Finley has learned this and lived it over his storied 69 years and he’s sharing that wisdom with listeners now.
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“It’s like the good book says, you gotta reap what you sow,” the bluesman tells American Songwriter of his latest song “What Goes Around (Comes Around).” “You’ve got to plant something good if you want something good to happen in your life.”
A lot like his new song, the Louisiana-bred artist speaks in metaphors, trading hard-earned wisdom as analogies every other breath. “My dad used to say, ‘If you don’t plant no corn, you won’t get no corn, and you’ll have to pay the next man’s price for his corn,'” he shares, his relaxed baritone beckoning through the phone’s receiver. “So the best thing to do is plant your own corn and you’ll have corn to sell.”
It doesn’t take much more than one seed, he said, one kernel of corn, but also one kernel of kindness to plant and watch goodness grow.
You might think it ain’t nothin’ / But I’m livin’ my life the best I can / And it’s not my problem / That you don’t understand, Finley wails against a swampy blues rock before assuring listeners I don’t feel no pain / And I don’t feel no shame / I got my whiskey and my woman / And I ain’t worried ’bout a thing.
“It’s meant to be a really positive thing,” he says of the song, but adds that it’s meant to be an eye-opener also, believing fully “the best way to reach people of any age is through music.”
The sweltering “What Goes Around (Comes Around)” is the lead single off of Finley’s newly announced third studio album Black Bayou, the follow-up release to his 2021 breakout album Sharecropper’s Son.
The 11-track album, a portrait of a life that comes together in strokes of gospel, blues, and rock and roll, is set to be like its lead single – simple, relatable, and wise, but above all honest. “I think that’s one of the biggest things about the album is it tells the truth and the truth will set you free,” he adds.
Black Bayou is set for release on October 27. Until then, check out “What Goes Around (Comes Around)” below.
Black Bayou Track List
1. “Livin’ Out A Suitcase”
2. “Sneakin’ Around”
3. “Miss Kitty”
4. “Waste Of Time”
5. “Can’t Blame Me For Trying”
6. “Gospel Blues”
7. “Nobody Wants To Be Lonely”
8. “What Goes Around (Comes Around)”
9. “Lucky Day”
10. “You Got It (And I Need It)”
11. “Alligator Bait”
(Photo by Jim Herrington / Courtesy of Big Feat PR)
