The most interesting part of an ending is often not the ending itself, but the person you become afterwards. Brett Ashby’s “Over,” featuring Queenie, explores that quieter aftermath; the point where reflection begins to turn into acceptance and looking back slowly gives way to looking ahead.
Written originally for Sarah during a difficult period following COVID-19, the song began in an unexpected place: Ashby’s typewriter. Before there was a melody or a defined structure, there were words. That organic process gives “Over” an intimate quality, as though the song is capturing a thought while it is still taking shape rather than presenting a neatly packaged conclusion.
The title itself carries an interesting tension. “Over” suggests finality, yet the song is less concerned with closure than with what follows it. There is no insistence on erasing the past; instead, Ashby considers the more complicated process of recognising when something has run its course and allowing yourself to move forward.
Queenie’s distinctive vocals add another emotional layer, transforming what began as a personal reflection into something more open and conversational. Her presence gives the song another perspective, allowing the experience at its centre to extend beyond Ashby’s own story and become something listeners can locate within their own experiences of change and letting go.
That movement from the personal to the universal also connects naturally with Ashby’s multidisciplinary practice. Known for working across painting, photography, performance, skateboarding, writing and music, he has long been interested in movement and process. Here, that movement becomes internal: the typewriter captures thought, the lyrics give it form, and music gives the emotion somewhere to live.
Brett Ashby’s “Over,” featuring Queenie, is a song about what an ending makes possible; a private moment becomes creative material; reflection becomes expression; and what once felt like an ending becomes another beginning.
Sometimes moving forward doesn’t mean leaving everything behind. Sometimes it simply means understanding what is over, and making something extraordinary from it!
