Listen or buy: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon, Bandcamp, Tidal, and anywhere that streams/sells music.
Transparent to translucent
Prisms of hexagon see-through
White, green, yellow, or pink
Let’s just go with blue
You started off as beryl
Then you switched to brume
I decided why not both
A blanket concept to assume
Aquamarine to chartreuse
Chasms of paragon virtue
Light sheen mellow methinks
Let’s just go with blue
You started off as beryl
Then you switched to brume
I decided why not both
A blanket concept to assume
Be beryl, be brume, be both
Be lyric, melody, be both
Written and recorded by Randal Gordon Prater
Published by Doldrum (BMI)
Extra vocals by Shelley Gordon
This is the eighth track on the second album by The Shy Reserve (Both), and also the final video made for YouTube from the eight-video series. Shelley added vocals over the top of mine (Randal’s) to close out the album with a male/female (both) blend that was fully intentional.
The lyrics serve as a playful reference to how at one point I was going to call the album Beryl (I needed a title beginning in B since it’s the second album – the first one was Azuline). Then at one point it was going to be called Brume instead. But, once I got the duality theme in my head, I decided ‘Both’ was the best of both worlds, and made the first two ideas song titles instead.
The video serves as the final chapter in the Linus/Leah (both) story. After seven videos of waiting, the two characters finally meet in the eighth. Every story needs a ‘happily ever after’ moment and this is no different.
All of the videos with just Linus in them were located in his hometown of Port Angeles, WA. All of the videos with Leah are in her hometown of Victoria, B.C. So, Linus has to take a ferry boat to go to where she is. I meant to have some ferry scenes, but those didn’t make the final cut. The final chapter was at Butchart Gardens (or at least a stylized replica of it). The goal was to have it be at midnight, where the park was almost certainly closed. How the two characters were there is anyone’s guess.
It was by far the most difficult of the eight videos to make, but I knew this would be the case from the start. Matching two characters together isn’t an easy ask, but it was worth it. I really like how it turned out. I hope you will too. Thanks for listening/watching (both!).
Released October 24, 2025
