Music and Innocence, the words aren’t often found next to each other, but when they are, it’s beautiful.

Let me start this by saying I don’t know the people in the bands I’m about to talk about. I don’t know the situations, or what it’s like to be in their shoes. This is simply my perspective, my opinion. Please read part 1 here.

The other night I had a random playlist on, and all of a sudden “San Dimas high school football rules” started playing. The moment it started, I was back in 9^th grade. The problems, but also the excitements, of being that age came back like I had never grown up. It’s amazing how a simple song has time travel capabilities. Somehow memories get recorded in the melodies and in the lyrics, like a 3^rd dimension that’s added to the song.

I’ve heard some of the new Ataris record “Welcome the night” and I feel betrayed almost. The Ataris were a band I grew up with, and they grew up with me too. People change, music changes, and you can’t do the same things over and over again. But this new record is not “The Ataris”. It may be the same people (or rather 2 of the same people), but it’s not the same band. “Anywhere but here”, “Blue Skies…”, “End is forever”, these were records that felt like they were done with passion. “Welcome the Night” feels like it was done out of greed or something else besides passion.

“Everyone makes mistakes these days, hey nobody’s perfect… but the choices that you make, may involve someone else.“ The Ataris

The last Yellowcard music video I saw was a joke. It was flashy and overdone ultimately coming off boring and cliche. The music video was screaming out “Someone else is calling all the shots, and we don’t care. We just want fame.” The record “Lights and sounds” (in the same way as the video) takes itself too seriously and took all the fun out of a fun band. I miss the days when the music was fun, when the music would speak to people, rather than the music that now just sits there. It feels like they’ve given up on what used to matter.

I don’t hate the bands (and I just use those two bands as examples). I hate the idea of losing something I never thought I would lose. Lying is something that everyone knows is wrong. It’s something you’re just not supposed to do. You’ll lose friends over it, you’ll get fired over it; no one likes being lied to. The same is true with music; nobody wants music that isn’t honest, and no one wants something that’s not real.