Guest Blogger: Matt P2

Brand New is an alternative rock band born from New York in 2000 with the intent to "move outside of whatever notions they felt inclined to when they were making music as younger people". This band has a subtle Christian influence, but if left unsought, it wouldn’t be found because otherwise they instill feelings all around the spectrum of today’s music (which often focuses on one feeling) and incorporate them all into a single verse. The song “Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don’t” off of the album Deja Entendu begins hinting at a tempting stereotype with the lyric “I am all you’ve ever wanted, what all the other boys all promised” and goes on to a condemning tone with “I hope you come down with something they can’t diagnose, don’t have the cure for” and ends with an absolutist view singing “We’re concentrated on falling apart, we were contenders, not through in the fight. I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe in us”. Words evoke so many emotions and thoughts depending on the view of the listener. One could take the lyrics as I mentioned before, but the song is actually about satirizing the common rock-star and the lifestyle. Critics slander Brand New because of their approach and controversial lyrics, but they say it how it needs to be said. They feel as though today’s culture is soiled and the creativity is in slumber. I completely agree that their lyrics are controversial, but I love this band for that; they challenge the everyday thought and experience and impose new beliefs and ways of thinking. In the song “Daisy” off of the album Daisy, the lyricist puts forth a feeling of self-helplessness with lyrics such as “I’m a mountain that has been moved, I’m an ocean nothing floats on, I’m a sky that nothing wants to fly in, I’m a sun that doesn’t burn hot, I’m a mouth that doesn’t smile, I’m a word that no one ever wants to say”. Perhaps the most misunderstood lyrics from this band, but also give reason to buy their music come from “Play Crack the Sky” off of Deja Entendu saying, “The story’s old but it goes on and on until we disappear, I spoke the words but never gave a thought of what they could all mean, I know this is what you want, a funeral keeps both of us apart. You know you are not alone, I need you like water in my lungs. This is the end”.