Confronting sardonic love and gentle sadness, Chicago indie folk artist Elijah Berlow embraces vulnerability and paradox in “impatient by the continental divide,” a heartfelt reflection on connections, turmoil, and emotional openness.
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“impatient by the continental divide” – Elijah Berlow
The heart isn't always sure of its desires – and even when it is, that awareness can be complicated. Elijah Berlow's latest track captures that very confusion: A love that is neither completely right nor entirely wrong, yet still profoundly and disarmingly genuine. Wrapped in fingerpicked guitar, he navigates contradictions in “impatient by the continental divide,” a soothing yet evocative indie folk daydream filled with unexpressed truths and lingering tensions. Both tender and tumultuous, the song offers a cathartic exploration of vulnerability, resistance, and the gradual unraveling of what was once considered sacred.
impatient by the continental divide – Elijah Berlow
how should I articulate this, dare I say it?
Bounding from tree to tree
The blend of Brandywine
the drinking of close-mindedness
To be meant as an ocean of alcoholism
To be submerged in
Atwood Magazine proudly premieres “impatient by the continental divide,” the beautifully contemplative B-side to Chicago singer/songwriter Elijah Berlow’s two-song single. Released alongside its music video and following May’s A-side release “sacred,” “impatient” finds Berlow delving further into the fragile dynamics of love, yearning, and disillusionment. The song was penned five years ago as a free-flowing poem and later recorded on a porch in Wisconsin, where Berlow intentionally embraced the rawness of his environment: “I wanted the sound of a beetle, the buzz of summer insects, the feel of my skin against the guitar,” he recalls. “I needed to explore [these songs] in a more authentic sonic space.”
The outcome is as unrefined as it is profoundly felt. “This song reflects a narrative rooted in a kind of sardonic love,” Berlow explains. “An affection so fraught with contradiction that this very opposition forms the basis for attraction and supportive companionship. It’s about recognizing and acknowledging the state of being not okay and possessing the vulnerability to build trust amidst those raw feelings.”
When and where did this line of questioning
Become so constricted and burdensome
The green bronze Mississippi
Fertilizer nitrogen
Pale gray Moon, the fresh engine
Broken down, smoking once more
Everything’s not all right
We’ll reach Denver later tonight
Everything’s not all right
Elijah Berlow © Sarah Frank
Berlow’s performance mirrors the delicacy of his lyrics. His voice resonates with quiet determination as he reflects on tension, distance, and intimacy: “Everything’s not alright… we’ll make it to Denver later tonight.” There’s a cinematic stillness to his delivery – a raw sincerity that lingers with each pause. The instrumentation complements this atmosphere, with gentle, fingerpicked patterns that ebb and flow like thoughts meandering through an unsettled mind. Within this emotional friction, Berlow fosters connection.
When did we ever agree
on anything worth having or cheap?
Silky smooth, like forgotten dreams
Anguish head, rush,
shifting gears, and crossing streams
The accompanying video, directed and edited by DC Poropat, feels like a moment captured in time. Shot with what resembles an old family camcorder, the home-video-style visuals depict Berlow wandering through lush fields, playing with sticks, skipping stones, and driving along endless rural and suburban paths. It invokes nostalgia and intimacy – a contemplative reflection on movement and solitude that echoes the song’s internal struggle.
Elijah Berlow © Matt Lohan
As a companion to “sacred,” the single’s A-side, “impatient by the continental divide” completes Berlow’s narrative arc – trading the jubilant embrace of earth and time for something more conflicted and unresolved. He notes that both tracks sprang from the same well of introspection and transformation: “I wrote both of them five years ago as stream-of-consciousness poems in the same place where I ended up recording them… Aaron Smith really enhanced that feeling and gave shape to my raw concepts. Nick Broste mixed it, molding the songs into their current form. Nick captured the song’s elements of gentleness, porousness, and its live essence and brought them to life.”
Why has uncertainty
become our flesh and bones?
We breathe exhaust like it’s oxygen
and easily transform into machines
that merely awaken
to simply drawing near
shot impatient
by the continental divide
There’s something poignant in this quiet unrest – a beauty in how Berlow permits uncertainty to exist without rushing toward a resolution. “im
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Confronting wry love and gentle sadness, Chicago indie folk artist Elijah Berlow embraces vulnerability and paradox in “impatient by the continental divide,” a heartfelt reflection on connections, turmoil, and emotional openness.