Youth- by Daughter
These lyrics are filled with so much meaning, so much truth, so much vulnerable honesty.
"Shadows settle on the place, that you left. Our minds are troubled by the emptiness. Destroy the middle, it's a waste of time. From the perfect start to the finish line."
- a bad breakup.
"And if you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones, 'Cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs."
- seems to hint at two different things: 1. smoking and how we corrupt ourselves and suffer for it and 2. it's hard to breath from the pain
"Setting fire to our insides for fun"
-makes me think of alcohol and self-destruction for the sake of only living once. Also the concept of numbing the pain.
"Collecting names of the lovers that went wrong. The lovers that went wrong."
- We all do it. we all have our list.
"We are the reckless, We are the wild youth."
- how we see ourselves, how others see us, irresponsible, free, wild.
"Chasing visions of our futures. One day we'll reveal the truth, That one will die before he gets there."
- we are impressionable and think we're invincible and can do anything. but as we grow up we realize often some dreams can't be reached in this life, we realize life is short.
"And if you're still bleeding, you're the lucky ones. 'Cause most of our feelings, they are dead and they are gone."
- as people grow up and get hurt they numb themselves emotionally. they don't let anyone close, they don't let themselves feel because they've felt too much.
"We're setting fire to our insides for fun. Collecting pictures from a flood that wrecked our home, It was a flood that wrecked this home."
- not sure what the symbolism for flood is but we do hold on to mementos and memories of things that hurt us. we don't let them go and heal and move forward, we hold on to them, we collect them, we think about them when we need a pity party for ourselves.
"And you caused it, And you caused it, And you caused it"
- ah the pointing figure- it's all your fault. it's never that simple.
"Well I've lost it all, I'm just a silhouette, I'm a lifeless face that you'll soon forget,"
- we become hollow, a shadow of who we once were because we stop living
"And my eyes are damp from the words you left, Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest. Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest."
- words stay with us forever, we never forget them. broke my chest seems to implicate that he literally destroyed her ability to live, to feel, to breath (the theme of the song!!!)
"And if you're in love, then you are the lucky one, 'Cause most of us are bitter over someone."
- ah the crux of the matter- bitterness. lost loves. pain that we have held onto and buried deep until we can't feel anything anymore
"Setting fire to our insides for fun, To distract our hearts from ever missing them. But I'm forever missing him."
- no matter what we do to numb the pain, it stays with us because we don't let it go, we just try to ignore it and destroy it.
"And you caused it, And you caused it, And you caused it"
So even though this song is about love gone wrong as so many other songs are, I feel it's depths are in 1.the language it uses to depict it 2. how it so aptly describes our youth in today's generation 3. how it pinpoints a negative pattern that is becoming the normal of self-destruction and placing dreams and love and feelings as the most important thing. The nature of the song itself is somewhat immature in that as people mature they learn to deal with pain and loss in more positive ways. But this is from a youth's perspective, and they feel their heart has been shattered, so they become self-destructive trying to destroy the pain.
The song is relatable, we listen to the lyrics and we all remember. We remember that list of lovers (for lack of a better word) gone wrong. We remember how it felt the first time we got hurt by someone we deeply cared about. We remember when we thought all our dreams would come true. We remember how it felt to wish we didn't feel anything ever again.
Youth finds the essence of young love and vulnerability and reveals it for the beautiful disaster it is.
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