The Devil And God Vs FGHTFFYRDMNS (Fight Off Your Demons)

I was fifteen, just sold my Nintendo 3DS to get concert tickets; counting off the days until Oct 12th.On one of the most memorable days of my life, waiting in line outside the venue, felt like I was in the 1970s in front of a grand theatre. The big, bright neon lights reading, The National. It took about three hours for the other bands to finish up, then everything got dark. Fog started rolling out from the stage, a quiet guitar started playing a single melody.

Instantly, the entire crowd started screaming and pushed everyone closer to the stage. That is when it happened, the moment I fell in love with live music, and Brand New. It is rare you find a band that really speaks to who you are as a person. Brand New is one of the few bands that makes me think back to the good old days. Both, The Devil and God and FGHTFFYRDMNS (Fight Off Your Demons), planted seeds in me that I could not see for a long time.

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Eventually, those seeds grew into trees of understanding and tranquility. Somehow however; the opposed albums differentiate on many things. Listeners can draw so many conclusions to be made from either record, but how we arrive at those conclusions differ from song to song, from verse to verse. There’s greater peace gained coming into both albums with an open mind.

To give context to the band itself, Brand New is a rock group out Long Island New York.

They started off with an emo/hardcore album, their first LP release of “Your Favorite Weapon” when they were just teenagers. During the band’s early twenties, they produced their second full LP Deja. Around the time that their lead singer Jesse Lacey wrote the album, his grandfather had passed away. This greatly influenced him when writing Deja that can easily be seen on a few tracks. For the most part though, Deja mainly had to do with challenges every twenty-one-year-old goes through. Then everything changed within the next three years of all the band members’ lives.

In 2004 they begin to write their third album, that is referred to by fans as, FGHTFFYRDMNS. They decided to take a break from writing, due to Jesse undergoing surgery, and the number of tragic deaths that started occurring within the families of the band. They came back in mid-2005 to begin writing again. Regardless of how, Brand New’s artistic direction started changing, then an event occurred that would change the end result of their third record release. In Early 2006, nine demos from FGHTFFYRDMNS were leaked onto the Internet. Jesse feeling as if those songs were wasted, scrapped what they had written, and began to write again. In 2006, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me was released. All that we will ever hear from FGHTFFYRDMNS are those nine demos. The album that was meant to be their third LP release, turned out was never meant to be completed. It is interesting to think about how much people’s lives can change within a couple of years. One single event could cause a chain reaction, forever altering the course someone’s life is taking. This without a doubt can be seen in their writing process throughout the course of producing their third LP. Inside the vinyl for the Devil and God, many things are printed on the vinyl cover sheets themselves. One of these depictions are of three half human being, half skeleton like figures. Above is a list of names, some of which, happen to have last names corresponding with a few band members: Below reads “all of whom left between the start and completion of this record.” There are fourteen names listed; how could such a tragedy affect one’s creative expression? A huge chunk of both records contains many dark themes. Crushing amounts of guilt, grief, self damnation, etc.

A big part of Jesse’s writing is about his experience with loss. Loss is this thing that people have intensive struggles to cope with, or even just understanding. The chorus from 1996, off FGHTFFYRDMNS,

And so three cheers for my morose and grieving pals

And now let’s hear it for the tears that I’ve welled up

We’ve come too far to have to give it all up now

We live lives that are rich and blessed

And we’ll burn for how we transgress

He does a great job here encapsulating the path of depression that deals with self-hatred. That we lead blessed and fortunate lives but feel terrible all the time; as a result, people are led to believe they are not grateful for what they have, that their life means nothing. Jesse even goes further saying, because of this, he is going to be damned for all eternity. Growing up with mental illness can be one of the most excruciating things someone could ever go through. There is really is not a lot of awareness for mental illness either. Ever heard someone say that depression is just being extremely sad? It is in fact not a felling at all, it is the lack of emotion entirely. Feeling nothing is more painful than having a knife cut through skin. This is all speaking from personal experience. The feeling of a traumatic loss cannot be explained by words, but I promise you, it is a living hell. A line from Sowing Season,

off The Devil and God,

Time to get the Seeds into the cold ground

It takes a while to grow anything

Before it’s coming to an end, yeah

Can be interpreted many ways; for the most part though, the general consensus is that he is replanting the trees (relationships) he lost in a fire (a tragedy). The important thing to note here being, depression can mess with your brain in awful ways, and Brand New hits it right at home with both of these verses. After a serious loss your reality becomes distorted; eventually however, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, your own detriment becomes your sword and shield. It is like when you keep getting your skin ripped off in the same spot, over and over. Somewhere down the line, you begin to build stronger and stronger calluses, your mind becomes clear again; maybe, even more clear than it was to begin with. Notice the distinction between both verses: 1996 is more upbeat in a way, as if being pulled between two opposite emotions. Sowing Season on the other hand feels much more bleak or desperate. More or less, what both these songs are saying is, things will work out eventually.

There are many stories of people with inherent disadvantages, end up striving higher than most. One story I love is the guy who beat Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, without sight. This man lost his sight when he was ten years old, and this did not stop doing him from doing what he loves. In the same way, losing something does not always mean tangible things; perhaps, you can lose part of who you are, part of your own identity. The Chorus to Missing You, off FGHTFFYRDMNS,

Until I awake, we just hope that you made it

We hope that you’re celebrating

With people you miss

And burning like a beacon

Guiding our ship around this hellish shoal

I’m happy to admit that maybe I am a little depressed

‘Cause I’m missing you to death

Just because you have lost something, does not mean you do not gain anything back. Poetically put by Jesse, guide the people around you through this hellish life, show them there is a better way: Wear your scars proudly. Also, that it is ok to miss something you have lost, your grief is a testament to how much that thing meant to you. This can be interpreted as almost equivalence. When I lost something that could not have been replaced, it took me a long to realize what I went through some much pain to gain, perspective. A lesson without pain is meaningless, but after you pick up the pieces what is left, you obtain true peace. The Devil and God has its own take on the outro song,

Handcuffs: It's hard to be the better man

When you forget you're tryin'

It's hard to be the better man

When you're still lyin'

It is hard to admit to yourself that you are doing a good job sometimes, especially when everything around you is falling apart. The reality is, most people come out of a bad situation, worse. It is way harder to go out of one’s way to do good, then simply not care. Jesse is trying to remind people that when everything is said and done, you will come out a better person, you will be alright. Brand New is a band that means a lot to me. Going to see them live was almost a religious experience. Being able to share so many emotions with the band and so many other people, felt liberating. A lot of others cannot get past their sound, but try and be open minded. Throughout their career, they have proven to be very entuned with themselves. Either records, is what most fans consider their best work. Even Jesse comments about his work off FGHTFFYRDMNS in the same light, “I think some of those songs are among the best I've ever written”. Whether or not someone likes their sound is not really the point to be made. There is no getting around the fact, collectively, they have been through more than most people would go through in two lifetimes. They did a fantastic job of tunneling all those emotions into their music, and showing their audience what wisdom they have to offer. Maybe one day, someone will listen to their music at just the right time in their lives. Maybe they would end up helping a whole lot of people, or put their lives back on track. Either way, there is clearly something to be gained even by reading their music.

Music can have positive influences on people’s lives. It certainly did for me. Do you ever wonder why every single human being listens to music in some form? It is because music is life.