Redemption

Album: Palmer (2020)
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Songfacts®:

  • Nathaniel Rateliff wrote and recorded this stirring track about being freed from one's past. He released it as a solo single on December 17, 2020 without his R&B side-project The Night Sweats.
  • Rateliff wrote the cinematic ballad for the Apple Original film Palmer at the behest of one of the movie's stars, Justin Timberlake, and its director, Fisher Stevens. The movie tells the story of Timberlake's ex-con character, Eddie Palmer, who, in trying to reintegrate into an unforgiving society, becomes a father-figure to a young boy.

    "After watching the film, the melody and the opening line came to me immediately. But it wasn't until I had a conversation with Justin that helped me to put the song together," Rateliff explained. "He said the film was about redemption. I saw that in the characters and did my best to add that to the final scene."
  • Ratecliff performed the song during his solo debut Saturday Night Live performance on February 13, 2021. The Night Sweats later joined him for a rendering of their Tearing at the Seams track "A Little Honey."

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