Twice has Stone Jack Jones come so close to dying from a rare blood disease that he actually received last rites on one occasion. It's the sort of experience that inspires bleak songwriting, and Jones has brooded before on a track like "Thrill Thrill," in which he documents being at the mercy of the very thing that almost killed him.
"Shine" is where the Nashville-based singer/songwriter finds solace in death and crossing over. If there is such a thing as going to a better place when you die, then hopefully that place resembles the heaven he poetically describes in the lyrics.
The song opens with Jones singing, "Welcome to the other side," which aren't always the most promising set of words, but here, he's not playing the role of the reaper who delivers the harrowing news that you've died. Instead, he serves as a sort of spiritual guide giving an orientation into the afterlife. Over comforting acoustic plucks, warm piano notes, and Patty Griffin's soft backing vocals, Jones croons about a limitless paradise where all dreams are fulfilled, things are forever bright, and the sun shines whenever you want it to. "That's how it is for you," he promises the newly departed.
"Shine" paints an optimistic picture of the afterlife, but it does more than just offer Jones' contemplation of what heaven might be like. It's a track that consoles, assuring both the deceased, as well as their loved ones, that peace will be found on the other side.
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