Nothing to do with The Band, however this single is taken from Paula Fong’s new upcoming release ‘Chestnut Mare‘ which perhaps suggests also a nod to The Byrds and the kind of rock that may have influenced Paula Fong over the years. Or it is a double coincidence.
Paula Fong is an Americana/Folk singer-songwriter based in LA and is a member of Abby Posner’s band. She grew up singing in choirs and acapella groups and has studied various genres of music from classical to Chinese opera. From 2015-2019 she was teamed up with Seattle based singer-songwriter, Tom Kell and they released two albums of co-written music. The EP ‘Chestnut Mare’ is her first solo exploration.
Paula Fong has described the background to ‘Ophelia‘, saying: “In my early 20’s I stumbled across a book called ‘Reviving Ophelia’ that was an exposé on the unique struggles and emotional challenges that American young women face in our society written by a psychologist back in the 90’s. The book title was a reference to Hamlet’s Ophelia – abused, gaslighted and mocked until she met her tragic end, and the dangers involved in our culture’s lack of adequate emotional support for adolescent girls. Sometimes I think of it as my Me Too song, and I wrote it before I had my children, but nowadays I think about more as a song for them. It’s a song that I hope is just one more message of light in the darkness. I wanted to lift up the lost ones and give a voice to the voiceless and hope that when they hear it they feel a little more seen and held.”
