PROJECT: ALONE
PRELUDE
ALIENATION
HEARTBREAK
REGRET
FAMILY
DEATH
PLAYLIST
GITHUB

PROJECT:

ALONE

A Web x Music experience

Presented by Brandon Win

Album Art: Select Song

Space: Play/Pause

PRELUDE

What does alone mean to you?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines alone as:

(adj.) separate, apart, or isolated from others

Yet, it also describes it as:

(adv.) incomparable, unique

In this experience, you'll be taken through the lens of several different musical artists and what "alone" meant to them at different times.

You might just find that "alone" isn't as simple as a word as it's described by dictionaries.

ALIENATION

(noun) the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity to which one should belong or in which one should be involved.

Culturally, mentally or emotionally, we all can feel alienated from others around us, being alone not in the physical sense, but alone in our own headspace. It's the feeling of being absolutely isolated in your mind, being unable to reach out to anyone near you because they simply cannot relate to your own experiences and thoughts.

Featured - Young the Giant
Amerika

The first song released off of their 2016 third studio album Home of the Strange. "Amerika" speaks about the modern generation's struggle in "searching for our own ethics in between the often-contradictory beliefs of this polarized American Modern Age and those of the romanticized cultures of our forefathers." First-generation and second-generation immigrants feel this struggle of finding who you are and what you believe besides our clashing cultures of our foreign-born parents and idealized Americans.

NF
Outcast

From within his own dark headspace and thoughts, NF raps on "Outcast" about how he continues to pursue his own path and not fit in with the rest of the mainstream rap industry, calling himself to be an "outcast" with his own negative thoughts of fear, anger and trauma. He introduces his own symbolism of keys, a prison cell and his painted-over smile, which are used throughout his career repeatedly.

Eminem
Stan

One of Eminem's most notable hits to-date, "Stan" tells the story of a man who's become completely obsessed with Eminem, alienating himself from his significant other and society as a whole, to the point of insanity, delusion and ultimately homicide by killing his girlfriend and her unborn child. The song was also the origin behind the modern term "stan" used in fan-circles worldwide.

The Beatles
While My Guitar Gently Weeps

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is one of the Beatles' top hits during their career, with the song being written by George Harrison, the lead guitarist. Following the disharmony in the band after their transcendental meditation trip to India, Harrison conveys towards listeners the potential for universal love, or the "love there that's sleeping", among all people of the world, taking on a much more alienated and observatorial look on the world.

Josh A
All I Do Is Sit Inside My House All Day

Released on the final album of the Blessed trilogy, "All I Do Is Sit Inside My House All Day" by underground rap artist Josh A speaks about Josh's apathy and inability to change and find motivation in life, which in turn makes him feel alienated about how different he is from other people at his then-age of 22 years old. The song explores themes that almost border on regret and apathy towards his growing rap career.

HEARTBREAK

(noun) overwhelming distress.

You would expect that the more one experiences an emotion, the more dull one's emotional response would be. Yet, experiencing "heartbreak" seems to happen a lot, but it never hurts less any consecutive time.

Featured - Logic
Nikki

During the start of his hugely successful career, Logic would frequently have a verse or two in his early songs about someone named "Nikki", much to the curiosity of his listeners. In the deluxe version of his first studio album Under Pressure, Logic revealed that "Nikki" was not a person, but rather was a personification for his overwhelming nicotine addiction. Logic explores his need for Nikki and his inability to enjoy himself or enjoy life without Nikki, becoming a slave for her.

Miley Cyrus
Slide Away

Written after the final separation with her on-again, off-again fiance and ex-husband Liam Hemsworth, "Slide Away" by Miley Cyrus talks about the heartbreak of the end of her relationship with Hemsworth, using metaphors of harbor lights, the ocean, and the push and pull, or sliding away, of ocean waves to describe her relationship with Hemsworth.

Witt Lowry
Into Your Arms (feat. Ava Max)

Featuring Ava Max, singer of the hit single "Sweet but Psycho", "Into Your Arms" by Witt Lowry details a struggling relationship on the verge of breaking. Lowry and Ava Max discuss the struggle of letting go of past romances gone awry to be able to trust a new significant other. Emotional baggage and trauma is heavy in the romance that's portrayed.

Jakey
Moby Dick

Naming the song after Herman Melville's iconic novel, Jakey uses the metaphor of Melville's titular character Moby Dick as a metaphor for love. Jakey's intention with the song was to "capture the raw and intense feeling of heartbreak, particularly at a young age." "Moby Dick" captures the resentment, anger and anguish of heartbreak with sparse commentary on dating in the modern age.

Josh A
Broken

On "Broken", Josh A talks about his ex, a common thread throughout most of his less-recent discography. Josh A describes his inability to get his ex out of his mind, thinking endlessly about her to the point of depression and insanity. Josh also touches upon his ex's and his inability to continue their long distance relationship due to Josh's touring and burgeoning rap career.

REGRET

(noun) a feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over something that has happened or been done.

"Regret is such a short word... and yet it stretches on forever." -Ranata Suzuki. People like to reminisce about what could've been done, why didn't they do this or that, or what could've happened. However, as much as we try to relate to one another in the past, there is no true way for one to relate to the miniscule differences of our lives that makes us who we are. In this, we are truly alone.

Featured - NF
I Miss The Days

One of the most emotional, regret-filled songs of NF's latest album release "The Search", the song "I Miss The Days" touches upon his early childhood and innocence free of his demons and trauma. NF talks about his transition from a child free of worried about being unappreciated, being unloved, and making a living, to a man who struggles with these worries everyday. "I Miss The Days" perfectly encapsulates that feeling of regretting or reminsicing about your childhood, about why would you worry about insignificant choices, and about why did you not cherish those innocent days more dearly.

Rob Thomas
Lonely No More

The first single from Matchbox Twenty's frontman Rob Thomas, "Lonely No More" is about the narrator struggling with his previous relationships and feelings of betrayal, distrust and anger while trying to see if he can enter a new relationship with a prospective lover. The song encapsulates the emotions of someone that's so regretful and frustrated with his romantic streak, much to the ignorance of others that are partying and enjoying life around him.

The Fray
Over My Head (Cable Car)

Coming off of their debut album as the lead single, "Over My Head (Cable Car)" by the Fray discusses the last few moments of a relationship that's about to end. The narrator even tries to rearrange events at one point in the song to have the best outcome, yet does so without much success. The song discusses broken friendships and relationships as the narrator finds that time is inevitably running out on him. Although inspired by the conflict and later mended relationship between lead singer Isaac Slade and his brother, the song takes on themes more focused towards friendships and romance.

The Beatles
Yesterday

The most covered song in history, "Yesterday" by the Beatles has a narrator regretfully lamenting about what went wrong in his broken romantic relationship, with him "longing for yesterday." The narrator remarks about his sadness and anguish, with having a "shadow hanging over" him and needing "a place to hide away." The song iconically captures the emotion of regret and sorrow over a past relationship. Featuring only a guitar and string quartet, "Yesterday" was voted the best song of the 20th century by BBC music experts and also given the title of the number 1 pop song of all time by MTV and Rolling Stone in 1999.

Josh A
Mood Swings

Released as the first single off his newest album You're Not Alone, "Mood Swings" discusses Josh A's struggle with PTSD, past trauma, regret and finding happiness through his rap career and work. Josh also tackles themes of happiness, depression and insomnia in his prolonged struggle with his own negative thoughts. Josh also reveals his history of suffering from domestic abuse, relationship woes and anti-depressant reliance, themes that were not described as articularly as they are on this track.

FAMILY

(noun) a group of one or more parents and their children living together as a unit; all the descendants of a common ancestor.

You would expect similarities between you and those who have given birth to you or raised you. Some sort of resemblance, agreement, or cooperation. Or even for them to be there with you through thick and thin. Yet, for some, there comes a point when you realize that in your household or family, you don't always get what you think you deserve, like so many others do. You are truly alone.

Featured - Ed Sheeran
Small Bump

The fifth single from Ed Sheeran's debut album, + (pronounced Plus), "Small Bump" tells the story of Sheeran's close friend and her miscarried baby. The song is told from the perspective of the mother, with a soft beat mimicking a heartbeat that stops near the ending of the song, representing the baby's death. The chorus is intimate and melancholy, with the mother calling her baby her "one and only". The mother experiences both anxiety and enthusiasm at her to-be-born child, with her finally ending with sadness and despair.

Eminem
Mockingbird

An emotional song directed towards his daughters Hailie and Alaina Mathers, "Mockingbird" by Eminem is his acknowledgment of a difficult childhood for his daughters with his growing career and his ex-wife Kim's problematic drug addiction. Eminem talks about his inability to always be at home with his kids, having to travel across the country to recording studios or tours. Eminem understands that he couldn't give his kids the "perfect" childhood that he wanted for them, but tries to make do with what he can for them.

Ed Sheeran
Runaway

On "Runaway", Ed Sheeran talks about the very start of his music career: deciding to run away from home at age 16 to pursue a music career in London. The song describes his struggling relationship with his father, who has his own issues with alcoholism, neglecting his son, and possibly infidelity. Sheeran harbors a lot of resentment for his father throughout the song, but still sings that deep down, he still loves him "from his skin to his bones."

G-Eazy
Everything Will Be OK (feat. Kehlani)

The most emotional song on his sophomore album When It's Dark Out, "Everything Will Be OK" by Oakland-based rapper G-Eazy talks about his struggles to stay close to his friends, brother and mother as he pursued his music career. In the second verse, G-Eazy discusses his strained relationship with his younger brother, who had to deal with their mother being in the hospital as G-Eazy attended college in New Orleans; in the third verse, G-Eazy talks about dealing with his mother's homosexuality and eventual overdose on anti-depressants. G-Eazy talks specifically about his mother's eventual distancing from her loved ones, eventually succumbing to pills with 15-year-old G-Eazy finding her on the basement floor dead.

Witt Lowry
Last Letter

On "Last Letter", Witt Lowry talks about his parents' divorce and his father who passed away from cancer in 2015. Although the song is focused on Lowry's anguish and grieving, the song speaks volumes about the ability for family to come back together in tough times, but also for family to split and grow far apart at any moment. The song ends with Lowry realizing that he is a stronger person and artist after his father's death, but he still reminisces and wishes his father was still here for him.

DEATH

(noun) the action or fact of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or organism.

Some fear the end. Some embrace the release. Some wonder what comes after. Some attempt to accomplish what they haven't done yet. But for those who are still here, they cry, "Where are those who have left already?"

Featured - Eels
I Need Some Sleep

Released in 2004 by American rock band Eels and famously featured in the movie Shrek 2, "I Need Some Sleep" takes on a much more dark and depressing theme than it initially lets on. Lead singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, otherwise known as "E", has faced death all his life: his father died of a heart attack with E finding him when E was 19; his sister Elizabeth committed suicide when E was 33; his mother died two years later of lung cancer; and his cousin perished on the plane that hit the Pentagon in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. These tragedies have served as a long-running inspiration for E's work, with "I Need Some Sleep" having its narrator seeking peace from the turbulence of life. The song touches upon the possibility of the narrator committing suicide as a way out, with the line, "I need some sleep / Time to put the old horse down".

Jakey
Medium

Althought it could be easily misconstrued as an unimpressive song about sex and bragging, "Medium" by Jakey has a much more dark meaning behind it. The chorus repeats with "That's my shit", "Fuckin' a bitch", "Fuckin' your bitch", but Jakey explains how he chose intentionally boorish lyrics to mask the "sad truth of the mindset" he was in during high school--Jakey got drunk one year, lost his virginity to his friend's girlfriend, who committed suicide years later. Jakey also explains that the song is titled "Medium" as a double meaning: he wore medium shirts in high school, but now wears large shirts, and the word "medium" is defined as someone who can communicate with the dead. The song aims to capture Jakey's mindset and thoughts he had in high school, with mostly trivial matters being the content of the song with him touching upon his friend's girlfriend's suicide.

NF
How Could You Leave Us

"How Could You Leave Us" is the fourth song on NF's sophomore album Therapy Session, and NF claims that it has been the hardest song for him to write and record to-date and a song that he also regrets ever making. The song tackles on his mother's overdose on pills in 2009, with NF bawling and crying out about his mother's sudden departure from his life, leaving him with his two sisters. NF discusses his troubling childhood with child services, his mother's boyfriend's physical abuse, and pure anger and frustration at how things turned out for him. The song ends with NF talking into the microphone and crying about his mother's passing.

Imagine Dragons
The Unknown

Inspired by the passing of lead singer Dan Reynolds' grandfather, "The Unknown" from Imagine Dragons' second studio album Smoke + Mirrors has a wistful Dan lamenting about his grandfather's death, Dan's loneliness because of his death, and his wish to reunite in heaven. Dan recalls how much his grandfather and his legacy inspired him to do good and be a positive influence.

Linkin Park
Shadow of the Day

The fifth track on their third studio album Minutes to Midnight, "Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park is about someone who is about to die. The song takes on the perspective of an observer or even Death itself, as the narrator soothes the subject as death approaches. The subject's friends are scared to let go of the subject, but the narrator encourages the subject to finally let go and succumb to death.

PLAYLIST


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