By Circlejourney circlejourney Bandcamp circlejourney SoundCloud Circlejourney YouTube circlejourneyart Tumblr circlejourney Twitter circlejourney.net Other machinasolis SoundCloud ← Fly Away (Instrumental) Previous track by this artist → Summer Heat Next track by this artist.
Cover art by paging_possum → On an Island Far Away Next track art by this artist.
Released 1/4/2021.
Duration: 3:30.

Listen on Bandcamp.

Read artist commentary.

Contributors:

• Funk McLovin funkmclovin Bandcamp YouTube YouTube BigFunkyJ Twitter ← Dave's Ballad Reprise Previous track contribution by this artist → On an Island Far Away Next track contribution by this artist (trumpet)

Tracks that reference On An Island Far Away:

From Fandom:

• On an Island Far Away by Circlejourney

From Beyond:

• Wherever You Were by Circlejourney

Artist commentary:

Circlejourney: (Jade commentary.txt)

Meeting Jade, for me, was the moment when I knew Homestuck was one of my favourite stories.

As someone who also grew up on a small island—but it was a very different island, I should say—there's something about her story that just uniquely captivates me.

Living alone on an atoll beside a volcano, keeping greenhouse gardens, playing the bass with a dream-controlled robot, with only the remnants of a history she can't yet fathom, and a teleporting dog that was both guardian and looming premonition in one, her life always seemed so idyllic, and yet so profoundly lonely. She may have had friends, but those friends were always there in proxy.

From the very start, her entire life was destined to be part of a much grander design, and that future was always finding ways to seep into her present. With the entire timeline of her life accessible to a troll in a different universe, everything seemed to happen because of the things she would someday do, the person she would someday become.

As the story progresses, Jade goes from lonely child with dog guardian to a fully-fledged Witch of Space, moving planets at will--and yet she is still immensely lonely, amidst it all.

Jade encapsulates everything I love about Homestuck--its narrative style of quiet moments punctuated by chaos, of fates being manipulated from a distance, and the metaphysical internet that links it all together.

The awe I felt as I delved into her tale is something I tried to capture in this piece of music. I included her classic instruments, the electric bass and the flute, and some wolf howl effects to signify Bec. Altogether, it's meant to be peaceful, triumphant and nostalgic, the way her story is for me.

It's about the time before her first brush with SBURB, when she was a girl on an island far away. How her life always saw a surplus of space and emptiness, and how she could always see so far into it.

I like to imagine that there were moments amidst it all where she could simply be a child, playing with a dog on her island without a care in the world.