Forever is Over: Filing Lucy Dacus’ Archives
- NOV. 18, 2025
- //
- WRITTEN BY MILENA TALLARICO
Backstage at All Things Go NYC, Paper Magazine asked Lucy Dacus what she was most excited to share with fans, to which she replied, “I've kept working on the record,” in reference to her most recent full-length album, Forever Is A Feeling. About a week after the interview went live, she both announced and released the deluxe version of this record titled, Forever Is A Feeling: The Archives. Having planned this companion piece alongside the original album, Dacus describes the deluxe as a scrapbook: compiling demos, live recordings, and more to conclude this finite forever.
Dacus famously recorded the demo for her lead single, “Ankles,” alone on Christmas, eventually producing it into the lively, staccato-stringed track that introduced Forever Is A Feeling to listeners. On this raw phone recording, Dacus’ sultry voice stirs even more vulnerability than its finalized version. She reveals a slightly modified lyric in this first edition of the second verse: “Remember I’m joking when I tell you what to do,” playing on the fragile dynamic between modesty and earnestness present throughout the song. A demo of “Most Wanted Man” will also be available exclusively on the forthcoming vintage pearl vinyl under its original title, “The Most Hated Man in West Tennessee,” a nod to her infamy after winning the coveted heart of her partner and boygenius bandmate Julien Baker.
“Losing” is the sole track on the deluxe that is entirely new and has never been performed before. During her Grammy Museum spotlight, Dacus shared that the song was prompted by her experiences with depersonalization when performing in front of large audiences and explores the notion that, perhaps, finding peace could result after giving up everything. She affectionately describes the song as “pathetic” and refers to it as an anchor that pulls the listener to the bottom of the sea rather than providing a life raft. This imagery is reflected in the atmospheric production and haunting vocalization which resemble much of Dacus’ earlier work on her albums No Burden and Historian.
In July of 2025, Dacus took to social media, asking her fans if they would like to get married at one of her shows, stating, “I can think of all sorts of reasons people may be interested in securing the rights granted through marriage (you know what I mean?)” With a resounding response of enthusiasm, a staple of her Forever Is A Feeling Tour set became a wedding ceremony. Each night, a group of selected couples would join Dacus on stage during “Best Guess” as she serenaded them for their first dance and, ordained by the Universal Life Church, officiated over 150 of these weddings herself. It’s not lost on Dacus why 120 of these marriages were between queer people, declaring on her Instagram, “fuck the state for continually toying around with the idea of revoking marriage equality.” “Best Guess - wedding version” is a stripped-back recording of the original track, characterized by vivid strumming and gentle percussion to capture the intimacy of these tender ceremonies.
“Bus Back To Richmond” and “More Than Friends” finally find their place on the deluxe album after being cut from the original tracklist and released five months later as a dual single. Dedicated fans will know that this inclusion was a long time coming, considering that Dacus has been playing “Bus Back To Richmond” during live shows since her previous Home Video Tour. Despite this, the song’s existence had been kept strictly under wraps, as per Dacus’ request that the audience not record these performances, making its release highly anticipated.
During the first of two sold out shows at Radio City, Hozier surprised Dacus by arriving onstage unannounced right before the performance of “Bullseye,” which features him on the album. Dacus is typically joined at this part of the set by one of her openers or other planned guests to sing Hozier's verse, though this role reprisal was entirely unexpected. The live recording documents the harmonious communion of their voices though Dacus jokes that “[Hozier] absolutely clears [her] vocally.” “Talk” recorded live at Red Rocks will also be available exclusively on vinyl.
Dacus, who has previously covered many of her idols including Bruce Springsteen, Phil Collins, and Carole King, now provides her rendition of “Time In A Bottle,” her favourite Jim Croce song. Written about the struggle against passing time and mortality alongside the one you love, “Time In A Bottle” encompasses the heartbeat running through Forever Is A Feeling. Dacus’ interpretation gives the song a new life in the context of the album, highlighting these themes at a pensively slower tempo accompanied by her identifiably rich vocals.
“Lost Time - extended” doubles the length of the bridge on the original track, detailing increasingly more intimate observations throughout Dacus’ relationship with Baker, including the “hula girl on [her] dash” and “the furrow in [her] brow.” Dacus had always intended to build on the song over time, hinting with an extra two lines in May at her performance in Austin, Texas and then later debuting the full extended version in September at All Things Go NYC. “Lost Time” is an epic love declaration and the addition of the extended bridge makes the final blow of the outro even greater as Dacus sings, “'Cause I love you, and every day/That I knew and didn't say/Is a crying shame/It's a crime/A waste of space/Lost time,” which is exactly how listeners should feel about time wasted not listening to Forever Is A Feeling: The Archives.
So, is forever really over? Dacus’ tour still has shows lined up into the new year, and the vinyl exclusive tracks won’t be revealed until December, nevertheless it's likely that this release is the last file to close the drawer of this album cycle. Dacus assures fans that she isn't disappearing though, but rather that she can now look towards future projects and, as she puts it, can start thinking "about making something from nothing again."
