the new song from the NYC artist is an anthem for the people pleasers—a call to (finally) acknowledge and pursue one’s own desires

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To ignore your own wants and needs while tending to those of others (be it kids, parents, partners…friends, clients or coworkers) can feel less like a noble act and more like the necessary one. When you care about someone, you put them first. The subordination of self is an accepted, and expected, sort of sacrifice. (At least for the people pleasers.)

But shoving down those hopes and dreams doesn’t make them disappear. The craving to pursue our destiny and fulfill our potential is primal. And it’s a hunger that, if left ignored, might just eat you up.

It’s this push and pull—one between duty and desire—that’s explored in “Moon Dog,” the new single from NYC artist and producer Charles Fauna, which I’m stoked to premiere here the day before its official release!

Hungry as a dog while I’m howling at the moon / Do, I do, I do for you / No one’s gonna hear when you’re howling at the moon

A wise woman (Brené Brown) once posited that unused creativity isn’t benign. It metastasizes, growing into grief, rage, sorrow and shame. We can apply that same idea to the creation of self. To ignore who we are and what we’re meant to do—even in with the most benevolent intentions, acting instead in the service of others—is a recipe for disaster. Or, perhaps even worse, an ongoing and deeply unsettling unhappiness.

It’s this sort of pain and frustration that Fauna has experienced and channeled into the sounds and lyrics of “Moon Dog.” In writing this track, Fauna is finally pushing back against others’ expectations and fighting for the expression of self—not just with the meaning of the song, but in the very making of it, his suppressed pain and longing taking the pure and primal sonic form of an actual howl.

Ahead of the release, here’s what Fauna himself shared of the new song:

“Moon Dog is a song about feeling overwhelmed by love, and the pain of trying to be everything to everyone you care about in your life. It’s an anthem for people pleasers who tend to do what is expected of them rather than listening to their own inner voice. It’s a song about how the more you give to other people the less of yourself remains, how easy it is to live life for others without honoring your own true desires, and how expressing those unfulfilled desires after the fact can feel like howling at the moon: cathartic, primal, yet ultimately futile. 

I wrote this song largely thinking about familial relationships. For a long time I felt that I was putting my own life on hold to be supportive of those who needed me, knowing all the while that I was spending my youth drifting farther away from my true self. At a certain point I think you kind of just have to say ‘fuck it, I’m going to do what I need to do.’ Moon Dog is the sound of a person realizing this in real time, the moment right before everything clicks and they start to let go of some of the guilt, responsibility, and people pleasing that has kept them in stasis.“

Charles Fauna will be playing Night Club 101 on May 25 alongside Hear Hear and Connie Danger. Grab your tix here, and come on out to howl along.

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Follow the band at @charlesfauna, buy music on Bandcamp and add the songs to your Spotify playlists now!

Feature image provided by the artist.