11 Everlasting, Evergreen Songs | Playlist

11 Everlasting, Evergreen Songs features music courtesy of Barbara Streisand, Omar Apollo, PVRIS, Sufjan Stevens, and Teddy Swims. 

What is the definition of evergreen? According to Merriam-Webster, there are various definitions.  One common one is having foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season – such as a spruce tree . A definition that is applicable beyond trees is something that is universally and continually relevant: not limited in applicability to a particular event or date. On The Musical Hype for example, there are lots of evergreen posts – specifically, playlists.  There are also songs that explore evergreen-ness, hence why we unveil a new, evergreen playlist, 11 Everlasting, Evergreen Songs.  This list features music courtesy of Barbara Streisand, Omar Apollo, PVRIS, Sufjan Stevens, and Teddy Swims among others. More could be said, but how about we let these evergreen gems speak for themselves!

1. Sufjan Stevens, “Goodbye Evergreen” 

Javelin • Asthmatic Kitty • 2023

“Goodbye, evergreen / You know I love you / But everything heaven sent / Must burn out in the end.” “Goodbye Evergreen” fabulously sets the tone for Javelin, the 10th studio album by Academy and Grammy award-nominated singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens.  Stevens delivers beautiful vocals that are poised yet potent. His hushed voice eventually becomes amplified by vocal layering which recurs throughout Javelin. Besides the vocals, the instrumental is utterly brilliant, growing more ornate as “Goodbye Evergreen” proceeds. Stevens, an elite musician, delivers terrific arranging and producing.  Returning to the songwriting itself, notably, there are two consecutive verses, sans chorus.  In the second, Stevens admits, “I’m frightened of the end / I’m drowning in my self-defense.” The death of his partner, Evans Richardson, weighs heavily. 

2. Arankai, “EVERGREEN” 

“EVERGREEN” • DistroKid • 2022 

“Bury me six feet deep / Somewhere underneath the evergreens .” Hmm, well, that’s morbid stuff right there, Arankai. It recurs later, specifically the chorus and bridge of his 2022 single,  “EVERGREEN,” where he seems to be nothing short of a hot mess! In the pre-chorus, he admits to his paranoia, closing the section asserting, “Wake up in a sweat / Claustrophobic in my bed.” Yikes! The noises are totally effing with him – “I’m driving all night to clear my head / Kill the noise with a forty and a paper bag,” he sings in the second verse.  The centerpiece of this dark, intense, marvelously produced ( Nick Matzkows) metal cut is the chorus:

“I confess, I’m a mess 

I’ve become my own antagonist 

Lost in a war I’ll never win 

Sinking like I’m made of lead 

Down the hole inside my head 

So, if I’m too deep, bury me 

Underneath the evergreens.” 

Word, dude.

3. Omar Apollo, “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All) [Live At NPR’s Tiny Desk]”  

“Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All) [Live At NPR’s Tiny Desk]” • Warner • 2022  

Far too many folks slept on my boy, Omar Apollo, in 2022, sigh. The handsome, Chicano standout from Indiana released a marvelous debut album, Ivory, as well as an expanded edition, Ivory (Marfil).  Omar is honest about heartbreak, particularly on a personal favorite record, “Evergreen”.  Another thing that stands out about “Evergreen” is the transparency with which Apollo sings about a defunct relationship: “Evergreen, he controls me / Was there something wrong with my body?”   

“She don’t know you like me  

She could never love you more  

More than me  

But sometimes I pray that you fall in love…”

Clearly, Apollo was totally infatuated with him, so much so that he sometimes pray his ex falls in love.   Notably, he released “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All) [Live At NPR’s Tiny Desk]” as a single.  The live take is stunning – the highlight of his Tiny Desk concert for Latinx Heritage Month. The live instrumentation is part of the allure, with horns – Fabian Anthony Chavez (saxophone ) and Marcus Clayton Paul (trumpet ) – adding color.  Also adding color are the background vocals by Astyn Turrentine, Phylicia Hill, and Brian Antonio Gazo Martinez, who support Apollo’s lead superbly.  Of course, the main attraction is none other than Omar, who masterfully and expressively shares his love pains through this gorgeous record.  The fact that he sings so great in a live setting is impressive – he proves he’s the real deal. 

Appears in :  

• Awesome Songs: October 2022 

4. PVRIS, “EVERGREEN” 

EVERGREEN • Hopeless • 2023 

“I think I felt God strike me from the top / Humbled my ass real quick,” Lyndsey Gunnulfsen, lead singer of PVRIS asserts in the first verse of “EVERGREEN.” She continues, “I thought I had it all, but it went wrong.” WORD! “EVERGREEN” appears as the 11th and final track from PVRIS’ fourth studio album, also titled, EVERGREEN (2023).  The second verse offers up a similar sentiment, with ass humbling being part of the deal.  Gunnulfsen adds, “I wanna see you fall, watch how you crawl / When you go on an ego trip.” In the pre-chorus, Lynn states, “Came to peace with my ego slipping / I can’t help feel like I’m a little alone.” The centerpiece, as to be expected, is the intense, gargantuan chorus: 

“‘Cause no one gives a damn shit less you’re dead 

Or you’re seventeen, a little born prodigy, ayy 

Everyone could care less ‘til you’re dead 

Or you’re seventeen, I wanna be evergreen .” 

WOO! Besides ear-catching lyrics, Gunn brings the heat on the vocals.  Producing alongside ️ Carrie Karpinen, the backdrop is fire with an electrifying groove and those pulsating synths.  “EVERGREEN” totally rocks .

 5. Teddy Swims, “Evergreen” 

I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1) • SWIMS Int. / Warner • 2023 

“Took a while to make this bed / Tired of livin’ in my head.” Early on, Teddy Swims opens up about his flaws – his issues – on “Evergreen.” He adds in the second verse, “Sorry that my heart’s a mess / But you keep me from spirallin’.” Although the expressive, nuanced, and soulful vocalist is on the struggle bus , he has found a mighty love, to quote ️ The Spinners.  “Evergreen” was composed by Swims, John Ryan, Kendrick Nicholls, Sherwin, and Eli Teplin. On the 10th and final track from I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1), Swims admits, “Oh, I think I could love you / Through the darkness, through the cold.” So, where does that evergreen come into play? By the chorus, of course: “I feel somethin’ when you’re next to me / I have walls up that nobody sees / But you crash through like an evergreen / Cross your heart, promise you’ll never leave.” Aww ! “Evergreen” is a fine pop track.  Classy, it features sophisticated production by Ryan, Teplin, and Nicholls. Enough can’t be said about the lovely use of guitar (Ryan), keys (Teplin), and strings ( Ragnar Rosinkranz).

6. Ryan Beatty, “Evergreen”  

Dreaming of David • Mad Love / Interscope • 2020 

“If there’s nothing else ’round the corner…” Food for thought . On “Evergreen,” the sixth track from Dreaming of David, the sophomore album by Ryan Beatty, the relationship expands beyond being evergreen to being “on fire” .  The lyrics are abstract and poetic as Beatty is honest about his feelings and his passion.  That said, he also seems to have questions, specifically about where things go.  “We’re too familiar, we’re too tethered,” he sings in the first verse, continuing, asking the question, “What comes after? What comes after.” With things so lit, Beatty asserts, “I won’t know free ‘til he holds me / And I don’t feel pleasure when I’m up inside.”  That particular lyric really stands out, and as the listener who didn’t write the song, you can make a number of interpretations. 

7. Mt. Joy, “Evergreen”  

Orange Blood • Mt. Joy Songs, LLC / Island • 2022 

“This is the part where you waste your time worried, wondering…” Hmm , very interesting, Mt. Joy. Of course, those aren’t the only pessimistic lyrics from “Evergreen,” the second track from the rock band’s 2022 album, Orange Blood.  In the second verse, singer/guitarist Matt Quin asserts, “This is the part where your wedding diamond ring gets pulled across your eye / Oh why, oh why, oh why.” Clarity is still needed regarding “Evergreen.” In the pre-chorus, Quin speaks to how love changes, singing in the chorus, “I’ll teach you to jump through the holes in the road that changes / And trust you to want to be my evergreen daydream.” Quin has a distinct, powerful voice, perfect to deliver the memorable lyrics and tuneful melodies.  Furthermore, the sound of “Evergreen,” in the hands of the band rocks ! 

8. Westlife, “Evergreen” 

World of Our Own • Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited • 2001

“Eyes , like a sunrise / Like a rainfall ️ / Down my soul…” Ah, who doesn’t love the late 1990s/early 2000s nostalgia of the boy band! Irish collective Westlife fit the mold through and through. Five incredibly attractive young men meant intended to woo the girls and make the boys jelly … who could sing, too, of course . In 2001, Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne, and Brian McFadden were all part of the fold (McFadden is no longer a member). “Evergreen” appears as the eighth track on their third studio album, World of Our Own.  The modus operandi: love, love, love.

“Don’t tell me / But it feels like love.” In the second verse, the love continues to percolate.  Apparently, per Westlife, she possesses “Touch, like an angel / Like velvet to my skin / And I wonder / I wonder why you wanna stay the night.” Of course, what we’re all here for is the evergreen-ness. It arrives by the end of the crowning achievement, the chorus: “You’re the only girl that I need / ‘Cause you’re more beautiful than I have ever seen (Oh yeah) / I’m gonna take this night / And make it evergreen .” The pleasant, easygoing “Evergreen” was written by Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, and Jörgen Elofsson, with Magnusson and Kreuger producing. It checks the boy band / teen pop boxes: tuneful melodies, relatively innocent/bubblegum lyrics, and an exuberant sound.

9. Shakey Graves, “Evergreen” 

Movie Of The Week • Dualtone Music Group • 2023

It doesn’t take long for alternative musician Shakey Graves (Alejandro Rose-Garcia) to utter the word evergreen on “Evergreen,” the third track from his 2023 album, Movie Of The Week.  In the first verse, he sings, “Keep me under the weather / Keep me evergreen / Blossom and bloom…”  It isn’t the last utterance of the keyword either.  Evergreen reappears in the chorus, fittingly:   

“If this life is but a dream 

Let me sleep beneath the canopy 

Please don’t wake me, please don’t call 

Let me rest, yeah, let me be 

Overgrown and evergreen.”

Noted, Shakey Graves! The songwriting is intriguing on this five minute cut (“The fruit my garden grows / My heart kips right on cue / Yeah, light as a feather it calls out to you”).  Furthermore, the overall sound of “Evergreen” is captivating, too. Also, you can’t mention “Evergreen” without complimenting the Texan’s beautiful voice . 

10. Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners, “Evergreen” 

RMCM • Prodoe • 2017 

“Locked in a stalemate / With a man who bars no hold,” Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners sing on “Evergreen.” The track from the Seattle indie/folk rock band commences their 2017 album, RMCM. Brief, it runs under a minute-and-a-half. Interestingly, the lyric evergreen never appears in the song . “Evergreen” benefits from its driving rhythmic guitar from the onset. Mitch Cutts serves up expressive lead vocals.  He only sings a few lyrics, but those lyrics are enjoyable, and the melody is tuneful. “Rock and a hard place / He’s a battering control,” Cutts sings adding, “What am I waiting for? / Feet planted beneath / My compass, my transport.” Ultimately, “Evergreen” is an intriguing start on RCMC. Sigh, you kind of wish “Evergreen” lived – I mean – lasted longer.  Speaking of longer, there is an extended version that runs a minute longer .   

11. Barbra Streisand, “Evergreen (Love Theme from ‘A Star Is Born’)” 

A Star Is Born • Sony Music Entertainment • 1976 

“You and I will make each night a first / Everyday a beginning.” One of the most evergreen songs ever is the gorgeous “Evergreen”.  Iconic, EGOT winner Barbra Streisand nails this ballad, best known as the love theme from the 1976 film, A Star is Born, which she stars in alongside country musician and actor, Kris Kristofferson. “Evergreen” peaked at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning Streisand her second of five no. 1 hits.  The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1977. Furthermore, at the 20th Annual GRAMMY Awards, “Evergreen” was nominated for three awards, winning two of them: Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female (it lost Record of the Year).  Safe to say, this is a decorated Babs classic!   

What makes “Evergreen” so iconic? Barbra Streisand sounds incredible, blessing our ears with her radiant pipes . Her tone is clear and pure. Initially,  she sings with a cool, calm, and collected approach – more poised. But, Streisand also rises to the occasion, without ever over singing.  She penned this record alongside Paul Williams, superbly capturing the universal, relatable topic of L-O-V-E.  “Love soft as an easy chair / Love fresh as the morning,” Streisand sings early on, continuing, “One love that is shared by two / I have found with you.” Aww ! Of course, the evergreen nature must be confirmed by the utterance of the word, “Love ageless and evergreen / Seldom seen by two,” recurring at the end (“Time won’t change the meaning of one love / Ageless and ever evergreen”). Further confirming the brilliance of “Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)” is its sound, incorporating a unique harmonic progression, stupendous production (Streisand and Phil Ramone), and a fabulous arrangement ( Ian Freebarin-Smith).  This song right here – truly timeless!   

Appears in :  

• Barbra Streisand, Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born): Throwback Vibez ️ No. 162 (2023) 

11 Everlasting, Evergreen Songs (2023) [: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Asthmatic Kitty, DistroKid, Dualtone Music Group, Hopeless, Interscope, Mad Love, Mt. Joy Songs, LLC / Island, Prodoe, Sony Music Entertainment, SWIMS Int., Warner; Matheus Bertelli from Pexels]