Stephen Wilson Jr. blasts Father's Day platitudes with heartwarming 'Grief Is Only Love' video

There is a story that Steven Wilson Jr. likes to say is important to who he is as an artist today. When Wilson received the news that his father was dying, he got into his car and drove home to Indiana from Tennessee to see him one last time. He didn't make it — and instead was forced to call his father for one last chat.

“I told my dad with an iPhone 8 in my car in the middle of Kentucky,” Wilson said, and it's that attention to detail — the exact location, the model of his phone — that made his songwriting so powerful. in addition to country music and the 2023 album, Daddy's sonone of the best of last year.

Ahead of Father's Day this Sunday, Wilson released a video for “Grief Is Only Love” that pays tribute to both the memory of his rushed drive home and his father. “His last words to me were 'Write me a good song,' and then he said 'I love you' four times,” Wilson says.

Directed by Stephen Kinigopoulos and Alexa Stone, the video recreates moments from Wilson's life, including being taught to box by his father, and casts the singer-songwriter as an unseen narrator, driving ghosts in the back of a car as himself on screen. drives back to Indiana.

In a weekend sure to be full of greeting card platitudes, “Grief Is Only Love” delivers a more powerful and realistic message. “So hold the pain and let it hold/ and the only thing that's certain is that I'm out of control,” Wilson sings, “And sadness is only love that has nowhere to go.”

Wilson recently wrapped up a string of tour dates opening for Hardy, along with a huge turnout for his appearance at the Railbird festival in Kentucky. On Tuesday, he headlined a sold-out Irving Plaza in New York and will open for Brothers Osborne tonight in Columbus, Ohio.