Can’t Fail Me Detail Page

Can’t Fail Me is a song that embraces the intense clarity and urgency of sharing space with people without knowing how much time there is left. I’ve spent years living close to my own death and deaths of others. Some of the most connected moments I’ve had are when we meet each other without a lot of expectation or withholding. So much living happens during sickness and near death. It’s a love song for sick, Disabled and oppressed people who care for and hold each other.

Often a liminal relationship with time feels like trying to float without flailing, like I do in the accompanying film. The footage is from a shoot on the unceded traditional territory of the T’Sou-ke First Nation (Sooke, BC). The lake is near a hospital I spent a lot of time institutionalized in for cancer complications.

Cassia Hardy is the featured vocalist. She’s a prolific musician from Treaty 6 (Edmonton) that I have a lot of respect for. I wanted to sing with her because of our shared experience of being from a place that is both home and politically/institutionally hostile to us and people we love.

Releasing this single on my 45’th birthday helps me celebrate that I’m still here while acknowledging the combination of privilege and luck that allowed me to live this long. I view my survival is a responsibility to keep trying to make pathways easier for people who have a more difficult time.