Top 5- American Authors

I feel like when nobody knows who the artists are, these just don’t do as well. Take my Stats page for example. Killers, Imagine Dragons, P!ATD… people like those. Neon Trees? Not so much.

Ah, well. I’m still having fun. Onwards!

As some of you hopefully recall, the Neon Trees were the focus of last week, beating the American Authors by about 5-1. I would like to take a moment to apologise for the overall crappiness of that post, and I’m just going to blame the fact that that was the first time I’ve listened to any of those songs. So, yeah. I’m not very good at this, guys.

That was a terrible introduction. Hopefully, you’re all still here.

Anyway, it’s background time. I think I did the top 5 for these guys before, but I don’t remember it, and it may have changed since then. And since they lost, they’re here this week. As for how I heard about them, well, that’s a fun little story that will probably show up soon as it relates to what I believe is the first song on our list today.

Speaking of the list, today’s list looks like this: Best Day Of My Life, Believer, Think About It, I’m Born To Run, and Ghost.

It’s time to begin. (isn’t it) (i get a little bit) (bigger but then) (i’ll admit) (i’m just the same as i was) (now don’t you understand) (that i’m never changing who i am)

Okay, okay, I’m going.

Best Day Of My Life

I can almost guarantee, as soon as you start listening to this song, it’ll be an ‘oh, that one’ moment. Guaranteed. Just do it.

See? I was right.

Why is this, you ask? Because it’s one of those songs that’s been on every advert ever. Normally, the award for advert songs goes to the Imagine Dragons, but this one song might just blow them all away. It’s just so recognisable.

Despite the implication in the intro that I haven’t listened to this much, it’s on a bunch of my playlists and may-or-may-not have made it onto repeat one or two or five occasions. Not repeated 5 times, repeated numerous times on 5 separate occasions. I do that sometimes. Hey, maybe that should be a post! I love it when I get random ideas out of Knowhere, even though most of them suck.

(and yes, that is meant to say Knowhere. Shoutout to all my fellow Marvel fans.)

On to the song. There is a reason why this song is on adverts and why it’s so recognisable and that’s because it’s so relentlessly optimistic. It just makes you happy.

For the meaning, I’d say it’s about living in the moment and not wanting to stop. As in ‘just don’t wake me now’.

Fun little story time: At my primary/elementary school, whatever you want to call it, there was a Leavers’ Assembly. There weren’t a lot of us, so we all got to contribute to the programme. My contribution was persuading the teacher to let us sing this. I don’t understand why, but hey. I got to openly say that leaving was the best day of my life.

Memories.

Believer

Well, would you look at that, folks. There’s another one.

It does something similar to the Imagine Dragons song where it begins with the beat and nothing else, and that’s where the similarities end.

This song is a lot more optimistic. (‘I’m just a believer/that things will get better/Some take it or leave it/But I don’t want to let it go’) I mean, come on. It has the same anthemic quality that Best Day Of My Life has, albeit with slightly less travel-advert-ness. It seems like it’s being told by someone who seems to be struggling, and recognises that life can suck, but keeps coming back to the idea that things will eventually get better. It’s that optimism that you’re left with in this song, and that’s the important part.

And this song may have escaped the clutches of the travel advert, but it does not escape the movie ending category. Picture it: the heroes have just defeated something, whether it’s a physical monster or the demons in their heads. Maybe it’s the end of a saga. Maybe they’ve toppled an authoritarian regime. Either way, they still have rebuilding to do before things will be truly better. None of them have emerged unscathed. They’re having a conversation about improving the world. They decide that they can face anything as long as they do it together. One of them smiles. The camera pans out, and this begins to play. The screen flicks to the credits, and this plays as people leave the cinema.

I should be a director.

This is the new Walk of Life project, which is a thing where people edit the Dire Straits’ Walk Of Life over the ending of any movie ever. Look it up on YouTube, it’s hilarious.

The Believer Project.

Has a nice ring to it, don’tcha think?

Think About It

There are many things this person could be thinking about. Maybe it’s asking someone to take them back. Maybe it’s asking someone out. It’s fun to theorize.

I should probably actually start the song now. Then we will find out.

That guitar right there is fun. Right off the bat, this song has a different feel to the other two. The tune is similar to Best Day Of My Life, but not quite the same. And I was wrong about the things the person is thinking about. You’re not supposed to think about it. That’s a deceptive title.

‘So far, so good/ So don’t turn back’ There’s the optimism. By now, I’ve come to expect it. It appears to be their thing. Which is fun. The apparent to being a terrible person. *looks pointedly at Dan Reynolds*

You all should have expected that.

The bridge (‘So far, so good, so don’t turn back x a lot) has an almost-All-These-Things-That-I’ve-Done vibe, building up to a climax by repeating the same thing. So, you know. That’s fun.

I like the impression this song gives, telling you to just let your hair down and not think for a little while. It has a disco-y feel to it, which I like a lot.

Maybe we could put this one in a movie too. I have no idea why or how.

Maybe I shouldn’t be a director.

I’m Born To Run

Because Variety is Fun™, this is the only song on this list that isn’t on Oh, What A Life, which is their first album. So maybe this won’t be the same.

Also, I’m getting simultaneous Bruce-Springsteen-and-Steppenwolf vibes from the title alone, so I’m going to shut up (not really) and start the song.

This is a little different, but still has that sound which I am quickly coming to associate with these guys. Like Think About It, this is a song that seems to about not caring, about being reckless, about living in the moment and living life to the fullest. It’s very Dauntless.

Divergent fans out there, that one was for you.

It’s still pretty optimistic, but a different kind of optimism. This one isn’t about hoping things will get better, this is about wanting to make them better. At the end of the choruses, it talks about having hope and wanting to travel. In my opinion, this song is about having a dream. It’s like High Hopes.

And after this, we get the Forget About What I Said, where the person realises their dream was doomed to fail. But that’s too depressing for this post, so we’ll save that for when we visit the Day & Age bonus tracks at some point.

Don’t worry. We will.

Ghost

I really, really want to make a Starcraft II reference here.

This song’s tune is somehow still uplifting, despite the mildly depressing lyrics. How do they do that????? Also, the bit pre-chorus is definitely an Inexplicable Happy Moment.

And then we hit the chorus and… oh, there you are, American Authors.

The song seems to be talking about this guy’s inner ghosts, and says that ‘it’s a new day, I wanna go far’, but then says ‘but I’m stuck here living with all these ghosts.’ To be completely honest, I’m not sure if this person is talking about literal ghosts or ghosts in their head. I thought it was clear, but the line gets blurry in some parts.

In our bridge, we then get ‘now we know we’ll never be alone, and we know I want to be alone.’ So I guess this is talking about inner demons, kind of like Believer (American Authors version) but without the message of optimism. And, these demons have apparently been around since this guy was a kid.

After a quick trip to Genius for help, it’s supposedly ‘personifying regret as a ghost that follows the narrator’. The verses make this a little more apparent. It’s talking about being unable to hide from the ‘ghost’.

Guys, are you okay?

Apparently not, because they were not-okay-enough to write a song about ghosts of regret.

It’s still a great song, and I like it a lot. Depressing songs are always fun.

Why do I always like them more than the happy ones?

Conclusion

Worth a chance. Most of these songs are pretty optimistic, and that can be a much needed moment of levity in an otherwise relatively depressing playlist.

Honourable Mention: Ghost

Trust me to pick the most depressing song on the list. There’s just something about this song.

This is what, my fifth post? This blog has been good for all of us: I get a chance to listen to some new music and rant about my favorites, and you get to listen as well and put up with my ranting. And hopefully understand the references. My playlist might even be more other stuff than it is The Killers, which is a first.

And also, I’ve never posted this many weeks in a row on anything ever. You name it, I’ve been inactive on it.

And since we’ve covered both Neon Trees and American Authors now, it’s time for another vote. The next two on the list are Midnight Oil and Twenty One Pilots. (I don’t know if that’s capitalised or not) (help)

Comment your vote! (please)

I’m debating making a public Instagram account so I can get more people to read this, so give me your opinions on that as well.

Okay, that’s it for this week. See ya!

There’s gotta be a song joke I can use to end these things. Any suggestions?

Okay, seriously. Bye.