As an avid fan of alternative music, I am always on the lookout for new albums and songs to listen to. Many years ago, my closest friends and I landed tickets to the (free!) Radio 104.5 Block Party Concert, and we were psyched because one of our favorite bands at the time, Panic! At the Disco, was headlining. One of their opening acts was a band we'd never heard of called "Joywave". Now, we are huge fans, and just recently saw them headline with Sir Sly at the TLA in South Philly. With the help of my best friend that got me into Joywave, I've compiled a list of must-hear lyrics that just might change your life.
1. "With my eyes to the south // And my brain up in space // With my nervous looks around // I'm a step outta sync." - Somebody New
Being in an unfamiliar place or situation can be nerve-wracking and scary, and I'm sure all of us have felt out of place at one point or another.
2. "I wanna know who you told 'til they're all laying on the floor // Frozen to the core // I wanna know who you told 'til its nobody anymore // Nobody anymore." - Destruction
This song is all about "destroying" the idea of genre and types of songs, so it is an amalgamation of all kinds of elements from different places, times, and feelings.
3. "I thought I'd have a nice house, to blow my brains out // Or a fast car, to run from danger // My own place, where I could get away." - Nice House
This lyric contrasts expectations with reality, as Daniel sings about expecting to be dependent on nobody but himself. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and he becomes incredibly frustrated.
4. "I'm searching for the difference between // What content, and content can bring." - Content
This is personally one of my favorite lyrics of all time, the reason being you have to hear it for it to make sense. The first "content" is referring to the meaning of the homophone that is subject matter with the emphasis on the first syllable, whereas the second "content" means the feeling of happiness or serenity with the emphasis on the second syllable. This contrast is so important, and quite frankly, genius, because it is possible to feel content without having content.
5. "Sometimes, I feel, like they don't understand me // I hear, their, mouths, they're making foreign sounds // Sometimes, I think, they're all just speaking tongues." - Tongues
This song is about how understanding each other can be difficult, and it can even cause feelings of isolation or loneliness, which is a very relatable feeling.
6. "Maybe they're no different 'cause they look the same // Maybe I'm just an algorithm with a given name." - Content
This line is arbitrary, but I read it as a reference to the term "content" and thus suggesting that the two different ways to read the word aren't actually different because they look the same. By saying this, they emphasize deeper analysis, because what is on the surface isn't always all that there is to see.
7. "You could be important, you could make a difference // You deserve the finer things, you're supposed to be famous." - Little Lies You're Told
This song has an incredibly important message that you can do anything you want to, and all the "little lies you're told" by the people who don't think you're capable enough are irrelevant.
8. "You think I'm shallow, but I don't think you've seen enough to know // I wish you knew me, way back when, the way it was before // I wish the old me, could show you all the things I've done // So I told you, I hope the future holds a place where everything's exactly as it was." - Rumors
This song is about not taking people at face value, and it also sends a message to ignore the haters, essentially, as the mantra at the beginning of the song that gets repeated throughout is "Rumors, they don't mean nothing // Whispers, they don't mean nothing."
9. "I watched myself rise up from beneath the sand and // I knew, that I was here to stay." - Golden State
This is almost a coming of age song, about watching yourself grow up and rise above everything you've experienced and becoming a whole, solid, real person that is worth knowing.
10. "Think // Think for a moment // Just don't analyze // Yeah the smartest folks are the saddest I know." - Shutdown
Knowledge isn't everything, and Daniel makes it clear that besides being intellectually well-versed, we must also allow ourselves to think and feel.
11. "I'm just afraid that you'll change me // Won't run away but I'll have to take it slow." - Let's Talk About Feelings
We've all been at the beginning of a relationship. Apprehensive about where it will go and the kind of effect the person will have on us, which is exactly what Joywave touches on here.
12. "You don't know what you want // Yeah I'm thinking it over // Just tell me what to want" - It's a Trip!
It is incredibly easy to lose yourself in your own success, and sometimes there may come a point where you've reached what you thought was your peak. Now that you've gotten what you want, where are you supposed to go from here? With this song they explore that exact thought process.
13. "No, I don't wanna sacrifice the future // No, I just want live for me again." - Compromise
This song is about not being satisfied with where you've ended up, but that its okay to stop and take a breath and live for yourself again. It doesn't necessarily mean that doing so will force you to give up everything your future has to offer.
14. "I don't know how long I've been alone // Let's reacquaint and show // Something's gotta give now." - Traveling At The Speed Of Light
Change is inevitable, and Daniel says here that it is important to recenter yourself with the people you care about. However, being alone is not the same as feeling loneliness.
15. "Flying on // Course and recalcitrant // We don't concern ourselves // With offensive mortal men." - Blastoffff
The collective "we" is uniting the band in the sense that they are on this journey together. Despite not always necessarily enjoying it, they have each other and what others say does not matter. Leaving home is never easy, but being with people you care about makes it easier to bear.
16. "Every place, every day, there's bound to be some kind of trouble // Everywhere, every day, waiting on the next little bubble." - When You're Bored
It feels like Daniel is trying to warn us against the dangers of always waiting on what is to come. There is always something happening today, so when you're bored just look around you.
17. "Carry me // Are you strong enough to make numb and free // Like there's nothing to fear in the dark?" - Carry Me
Are you strong enough to carry me when I can't do it myself?
18. "I've been in every state // But content is foreign soil // It's sand I'd love to cultivate." - Let's Talk About Feelings
This is an incredibly poetic line that I wouldn't mind getting tattooed somewhere on my body. In not so many words, this is a message of experiencing a range of emotions, but none of the being contentedness. "Sand I'd love to cultivate" suggests a longing for the happiness that not everyone gets a chance to feel.
19. "I feel like I let down // Everyone around // I feel like nothing counts // I'm down without a doubt // I fill myself with doubt." - Doubt
Not living up to expectations, feeling insignificant, doubting our abilities: all common things that many people experience, especially as they mature.
20. "Floating little second hands laugh like jokers // Keeping me from thinking straight, I've lost composure." - It's a Trip!
We focus too much on time, and it is so easy to let those floating little second hands control us and make us go crazy.
21. "I'm marching // Can't help it though // I'm surrounded // By people I don't know." - Parade
This song is a metaphor for trying to blend in with a crowd of strangers, and acting like them in an effort to fit in. Its also just incredibly catchy.
22. "Why / Be / Credible / When / You / Can / Be (Part 2) / Incredible?"
A compilation entitled "Swish" from 2016. Each word in the quote I've provided is a title of a song on the album, and this has become a catch phrase of Joywave's. They ask their audiences, "Why be credible when you can be incredible?". So, not technically a song lyric, but words to live by all the same.
