Riptide

"Riptide" is the second single by grandson from his debut album Death Of An Optimist. The song was released on July 31, 2020. It was produced by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park.

Background

grandson, who is featured on "Running From My Shadow", tweeted on March 1, 2019, "Mike and I got back in the studio before tour and he helped produce one of my favorite new unreleased songs". On May 25, he tweeted in response to Mike Shinoda, "wow what a year it has been thank u to the LP and MS family for welcoming the grandkids. Not the last you’ll hear of us". On November 22, Mike Shinoda posted a photo from his studio and marked both Boonn and grandson, indicating they were working together again. During his tour in early 2020, grandson previewed to fans a new song called "Riptide" which wasn't finished yet because he couldn't figure out how to end it. Fans described it as "softer and calmer, almost popish." grandson took part on Mike's May 21 stream and teased fans saying in an ambiguous tone that they were just talking and nothing else. On June 26, he released the official music video for his single "Identity". The numbers at the end of the video translated to "Riptide", hinting the song would be his next single. On July 16, he posted on Twitter a clue about the song which translated to "Shinoda".

Mike described the song, saying, "The new song, it doesn't have some gnarly like, "fuck you I won't do what you tell tell me" bridge. It's got some instrumental thing. Just to prepare your ears, but there is a cool left turn. The song is coming out this week. It's called "Riptide", coming out Friday. We've been tweaking this song for a long time. I think we wrote it last year and then it kind of sat on the sidelines for a little bit. We always liked it, it was never "Oh we wrote this, whatever." It was like, "Oh it's a good one, when the time is right and it sounds ready, put it out." So this week, Friday, new song with grandson. I do not do vocals, I just assisted on the writing and the production. I should say, we wrote it together and then I helped kind of oversee the production and I did a little tweaking on the mix. It was a couple of his other friends who he writes it, they got involved as well. And it's all his vocals, just FYI. But dude, it's great, it's a good song, I really like that song a lot. I'm excited for you guys to hear it. So that's Friday."

grandson explained the song by saying, "Mike Shinoda co-produced and mentored me through this process, which began in a writing session at his studio with my longtime collaborator Boonn in early 2019. We had tried a couple ideas earlier in the day that I couldn’t get into, and then I picked up the guitar and played the intro riff and the song practically wrote itself. It was the first of this new era written, and while it addresses the pain of regret, the places we go to avoid confrontation, I’m proud to tell my story and hope that someone that hears it will find the strength to tell theirs."

grandson was asked via Community app about Mike's role in the creation of the song, to which he answered, "Good question. Well first off it was at his studio, with him encouraging us to dig deeper and make something we really like...I had written the guitar and lyrics but hadn't actually put them together, who knows if that would've happened without him. Beyond that he helped us figure out the structure of the song like how long each section should be, gave his thoughts on production and then some mix notes at the end."

Music Video

A music video for "Riptide" was directed by Karl Jungquist and released on July 31, 2020.

Versions

Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Riptide	Riptide	3:12	2019-2020	July 31, 2020

Personnel

• Mike Shinoda, Producer, Writer
• Kevin Hissink, Producer (as Boonn), Writer
• Grandson, Writer (as Jordan Benjamin), Main Artist
• Taylor Bird, Producer, Mixer, Masterer, Writer
• © 2020 Atlantic Recording Corporation [Fueled by Ramen]
• ℗ 2020 Atlantic Recording Corporation [Fueled by Ramen] for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States

Lyrics

I have done bad things, did them to good people
Got no self-control, it's the root of my evil
Wage war in my head when I'm tryna keep it peaceful
A little fuse, a little more and its lethal
Save me from myself

I've been caught up in the riptide
For too long 'cause it's all I know
I've been lettin' this shit slide
These bad habits, they die too slow
I've been caught up in the riptide
For too long 'cause it's all I know
I've been lettin' this shit slide
But if you love me, let me go

I get high to leave all these problems on the ground
Then to my surprise, they're right back when I come back down
I do it like I've done before, a million times
A million and one and I lose my mind
Save me from myself

I've been caught up in the riptide
For too long 'cause it's all I know
I've been lettin' this shit slide
These bad habits, they die too slow
I've been caught up in the riptide
For too long 'cause it's all I know
I've been lettin' this shit slide
But if you love me, let me go

But if you love me, let me go

Caught cold from the current, 'til I'm runnin' out of breath
Got dragged back down, feel the water in my chest
I'm fried [?] twelve steps
Whoever would'a thought? Whoever could'a guessed?
The harder that I chase it, the further that it gets
The harder that I chase it—

I've been caught up in the riptide
For too long 'cause it's all I know
I've been lettin' this shit slide
These bad habits, they die too slow
I've been caught up in the riptide
For too long 'cause it's all I know
I've been lettin' this shit slide
But if you love me, let me go

Let me go
But if you love me, let me go

External Links

• Riptide (Official Video): YouTube