Shawn Brown Releases His Powerful Single “The Sad Ones”

Portland area singer-songwriter Shawn Brown has released a new single and lyric video for his track “The Sad Ones” via Brown’s digital label Bootney Lee Records. Shawn Brown is an artist who seamlessly blends his folk, R&B, and roots inspirations. “The Sad Ones” continues to showcase his emotionally powerful, balanced tone while also being Brown’s most personal work to date.

Brown continues to evolve as a songwriter. With his unforgettable falsetto voice, he carefully crafts songs that tell stories of his life, struggles, and personal growth. “The Sad Ones” touches on vulnerability, and the lyrics serve as a safe space and perhaps a gentle reminder that our emotions and feelings are perfectly normal. Brown hopes that the song can be bookmarked as a go-to song for listeners stuck in hard places and needing installation of hope, that nudge to move forward even when things feel unimaginably tricky.

Shawn Brown rallied a team of incredible friends to handle the behind-the-scenes process. All music and lyrics were penned by Shawn, with production and arrangement by Grecco Buratto (Shakira, Gwen Stefani, Mandy Moore, Sergio Mendes, BTS, and Enrique Iglesias). Additional studio work includes piano by Daniel Clarke (Ryan Adams, Jason Mraz), drums/percussion by Brendan Buckley (Morrissey, Shakira, Lauren Hill), engineering by Alberto Lopez (Travis Scott), mixing by Tiago Becker (The Calling), and mastering by Juan Garcia Petri.

Speaking on “The Sad Ones,” Brown states:

“To me, it just seems like we’ve gotten more and more uncomfortable sitting in our feelings. Vulnerability is hard. Technology makes it harder. It’s way too easy to pull out our phones and soothe the hard thing away momentarily. The rough part happens when we then pathologize those same hard things. We make ourselves ‘bad and wrong’ somehow. We’ll judge each other or even ourselves for just simply feeling whatever we’re feeling. What if we just let ourselves feel our stuff? No resisting. The truth is, feelings are just feelings. For most of us, it’s how we’re impacted as a result of not being able to tolerate them that leads to challenges.

“The song is meant to make space for just feeling sad. It doesn’t aim to solve or soothe the sad because there’s nothing inherently wrong with just feeling our shit. Whatever we’re feeling, it’s ok. We all need that permission to just feel it and soon after, we’ll be feeling something else and on and on. There’s nothing wrong with being sad, just like there’s nothing wrong with being happy. Feelings, they’re just that. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“The Sad Ones” comes on the heels of Brown’s 2023 single “Road of Bones.” The latter received widespread critical praise from the media and an abundance of prominent playlist additions and has been well-received during his live performances around the Pacific Northwest. Brown also recently released his first book, We Almost Are, via Embers Arts Press. It is available through most online retailers, including Barnes and Noble. Brown’s newly acclaimed collection of narrative poems targets love, loss, and regret in a harrowing exploration of hope through the darkness. Whether through music or writing, Shawn Brown is constantly searching for those connecting fibres that bind us all together.

Shawn Brown “The Sad Ones” single artwork