Listen: Stream Girls Performing ‘Forgiveness’ Live

Thanks to True Panther Records, you can now listen to recently disbanded outfit Girls performing ‘Forgiveness’ live.



The track, which was recorded during one of their first appearances in New York on the 21st July 2008, comes complete with a blog entry from Dean Bein, who signed the band to the label.

‘At the WNYU show they played a couple of songs and chatted a bit. Christopher introduced a song by saying, “When we started talking about how cool it would be to play a show with just the two of us and that’s where it all started…” JR joked, “It’s all working out so good.” Then they played the previously unheard, “Forgiveness.”

To this day, it’s my favorite Girls song. The sentiment is so beautiful, so transcendent, crushing yet hopeful. I downloaded the whole session and cut out that track so I could listen over and over and over. It was proof that in our midst was one of the most special and talented songwriters around, someone who had the power to distill a complex concept into a pure and honest message. We know what quickly happened after that trip…Girls has toured the world as one of the best live bands around, received well-deserved praise for three incredible records, played with other awesome musicians and permanently implanted their music in the hearts of thousands of people. Things really quickly did begin to “work out so good.” JR and Christopher ultimately transformed “Forgiveness” into a majestic 8-minute jammer on Father, Son, Holy Ghost, but this bare acoustic version is still the one I come back to, marvel over, shed tears to, etc. etc. etc… It’s the one I come back to, now that we’re saying goodbye to Girls, and saying hello to a—to a certain extent—unknown, but surely bright future.

I want to thank them for putting their faith and confidence in the creative circle of friends that formed around their music. I am thankful that Christopher’s songs came at a very unsure and relatively dark point of my own life, that it brought me strength, and a portal to pursue my own dreams. Grateful that they trusted a completely unproven, unfunded record label with their music, and grew alongside it. Their faith helped make their friends’ efforts “real”…for Sandy Kim (photography), Focus Creeps (videos), Matt Koshak (sound), myself, and a few others. We wanted to be a “part” of this band, and their allowing us to fill our respective roles as if we were pros, was a big part of those roles eventually becoming our careers. Their ascent was to a certain extent our first one, and for that I think we’ll be eternally grateful as our own careers enter their next stages. I’m grateful for the friendships that have formed, built on mutual fandom, and the wisdom of people at Matador and Turnstile. It’s a testament to Girls’ characters as people that they brought their community of friends with them along on their journey.

Surely “Forgiveness” isn’t just about healing old traumas but coming to a point of faith, where one can accept that things can get better, that dreams can come true, and the future can hold unexpected but spectacular promise. I’m certainly sad to see one of my favorite groups ever disband, but overjoyed to see what the next evolutions are: the life-altering Christopher Owens songs we haven’t heard yet, the brilliant production JR will lend to other artists, the imagery, the poetry, the shows and stories! I believe in them and the music that they will make. I love Girls and I always will. That faith overshadows the pain of saying goodbye with the eagerness to say hello, to whatever future is to come.

Respect to all the Girls over the years… Christopher Owens, JR White, John Anderson, Gregory Lee Boyd, Brett Eastman, Dan Eisenberg, Garrett Goddard Mosses Issaih, Will Ivy, Matthew Kallman, Corey Lee, Ryan William Lynch, Tom Marzella, Hayes Shannesey, Darren Weiss, Evan Weiss.

-Dean Bein, 7.22.12’

Girls announced their split when Christopher Owens unexpectedly revealed his departure from the duo earlier this month.