Impermanence rules everything. Everything is susceptible to change, everything transforms. Nothing lasts forever… Without impermanence, all of life would be impossible. A seed could not grow into a fruit, for it would forever remain a seed. — Brian Thompson, Zen Thinking

My grandmother was forever threatening to put a brick on my head, to prevent me from getting taller. She never implanted the weight, though her daughter did quite well at placing an anchor on my emotional growth. Thus I am – physically – still evolving, sometimes in startling and unexpected ways, though my growth is now mainly of the growing old variety.

I accept that my body is impermanent and that my mortal remnants will some day be cast upon my compost pile (assuming we can get a waiver on the deed restrictions). I am in the good company of everything else on this Earth. Continents, climates, creatures, and cassettes – all will be gone someday, or at least exported to an unrecognizable format incompatible with whatever media player you are currently using.

With ‘Everything Is Fading Fast,’ Peter Hall reminds us that our only permanent condition is a state of decay, as molecular bonds weaken over time and our proudest wall becomes a jumble of bricks. Human clusters join in the Race for Entropy. The supporting arms of one million fans were not strong enough to hold the four elements of the Beatles together. But the Rolling Stones may prove to be the exception: the Stones will always be here. They’ll probably play at their own funerals.

And so we lit the fire
And we burnt our past
Built up a wall around us
To hold the Winter back
But I know that it won’t last
Everything is fading fast

‘Everything Is Fading Fast’ is the softer B-side of your favorite janglepop single. An acoustic twelve-string stands in for the Rickenbacker, and the Farfisa is replaced by an orchestra. Listen to ‘Everything Is Fading Fast’ while sipping an easy lager and watching the still-blooming pentas in your garden bend their heads to the mild February breeze, their life-cycle frozen by the warming climate that does not allow them to die and re-seed.

Peter Hall is based in the Robin Hood country of Nottingham, UK. ‘Everything Is Fading Fast’ appears on his new four-song EP, There’s Something Wrong With Everyone. All instruments and vocals were supplied by Peter. He is a former member of Play People. Peter Hall’s music is available on Bandcamp, Spotify, CD Baby, and Apple Music. And be sure to follow Peter Hall on Instagram.