At the center of every album is a musical thesis. American Football's second self-titled record is filled with a level of introspection often missing from popular music. Every single track is about how someone views the world or how the world might view them. Of course, this view inward tends to be dark, negative, and critical. Believing no self-aware person can be so bad, I longed for a song about happiness and finding joy in moments that matter. Alas, that moment never came. I don't blame the songwriter(s) for this, though. This is their art and their form of expression.
From this album, I also get these sense of someone questioning their worth. Not to repeat myself, but once again this worth skewed to some dark places. There is no fault to be found in questioning one's own impact. I do believe one shouldn't linger for too long in these poorly lit places or they will become you. Rather, we should check ourselves, make a commitment to do better, and get to work. I believe this because I know the life of every person to be important, worth living, and worth cherishing. To do otherwise, leads people down dark and lonely paths. Those are often paths which it is hard to escape.
Finally, this album left me questioning how I will be remembered. Now, if you have ever read anything I have written, you know this is a subject I like to tackle with some regularity. I am of the mindset that most of us will be forgotten to the sands of time. I always follow up that point with this plea; life is still worth living and trying to positively impact. We can dream of being the next Lincoln or King. More than likely, we will fall short of such iconic figures, yet, we should still try. Our names may be lost to time but our impact can reverberate from here to eternity. If we value humanity, then we should strive to do just that.
Be good to each other,
-Nathan