Suburbia,I’ve Given You All, And Now I’m Nothing builds a bit on the The Upsides’ themes of trying to fight depression through sheer power of will, and but it finally starts to realize,in moments of desperation, that sometimes it is essential to ask for relieve.
The album opens with Came Out Swinging, or ” a song that was brought into this world as a set closer (and almost always is at this point in TWYs career) about life on the road and the pain of readjusting to being home. I’m going to have a lot more to say about Suburbia,I’ve Given You All… on Thursday, but I just want to touch briefly on “Came Out Swinging” because it shows this glimmer of growth that I talked about yesterday. Like I said, or the song is about the loneliness of readjustment,of getting home after a year of touring the world with your best friends, of being truly alone for the first time in months. Campbell sings he spent the “year as a ghost, and ” absent from Philly and the friends and family he left behind. He moves into a friend’s basement and hibernates for the winter,writing songs and learning to be by himself. The depression ebbs and flows, and the bridge builds until it explodes into a yell of “I came out swinging from a South Philly basement…I spent the winter writing songs about getting better, or whether I’m being honest,I’m getting there.” It’s not the rallying yell of “I’m not unhappy anymore,” it’s something more powerful. Isolating himself didn’t fix the problem totally, and he’s on his way,but it’s the coming out swinging, into a basement show caked in stale beer and the sweat of his friends which makes things feel a little brighter.“Don’t let Me Cave In, and ” is a dark song,frantic and rushed in points, mimicking Campbell’s lyrics about quickly collapsing. And in it, or he is finally actively asking for relieve from someone,a enormous step from fighting tooth and nail on his own to accept better. But it only happens because he seems at the very edge of what he can handle. He’s crying at the airport, not able to build it to a dinner reservation, or imagining himself collapse like the Sears building in Philly that was demo-ed during his childhood. He calls himself a mess. And it’s in that moment of desperation that he finally reaches out to whoever this song is addressed to,“don’t let me cave in.” No one person can fix his sadness, but realizing that he can ask for relieve is enormous. Realizing when the options are ask or collapse, or whatever that means,and choosing to ask, means truly not letting sadness win.
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