This is a rock song inspired by a vision I had a long time ago. This image was inspired by an old song. I long forgot the name of the song, but I still remember the vision of this image: the 5-year-old version of you appearing next to you, asking whether you did well for him.
That was a chilling and a haunting image, and this song was an interesting way to explore this image further. If you’ve read my other blog posts, you might know that I love songs with interesting imagery.
How To Deal With Regret And Mistakes
It would be great to go through life without any mistakes, but that is a childish hope. Instead, we can ask an interesting dilemma of how to deal with our mistakes and choices. In this song, the protagonist doesn’t sugar-coat his errors or regrets, and doesn’t excuse them away. He takes a bold stance that is possibly too harsh on himself.
The end of the song is partially ambiguous, and the protagonist’s future is as unpromising as his past – perhaps even less so.
How The Story Of This Song Evolved
Even though I liked the original image of the younger me quizzing me if I did right by him, I experienced a bit of writer’s block developing the story. I wasn’t sure if the song should have an optimistic or hopeful ending, or whether it should stay true to itself, and what it meant for the song to stay true to itself. After all, even the protagonist of the song doesn’t know what his future will hold.
I ended up adding a dark twist to the bridge of this song by hinting at the fact that there won’t even be a future protagonist. Life is fleeting and it can easily end no matter how much we want to ignore that fact. So I brought that fact forward as something to deal with now. The rest of the song takes on a more serious tone with the protagonist trying to appreciate what he does have instead of dwelling on regret.
More Similar Songs About Growing Up, Decisions, And Dealing With Regret
Here is a roundup post I made about other similar songs about growing up by popular bands and musicians who wrote about the same topic. They include the Beatles, Rod Stewart, and Bruce Springsteen