Was losing all my friends, but I got 'em back.

Although I think people pay far too much attention to lyrics in music compared to how much attention they pay to the actual music, I love lyrics and the art of lyric writing. I love interpreting the meaning behind lyrics.

I'm a few years late with this one, but I was just thinking about it again today. I've been a fan of the band Brand New for about 9 years. Fans of the band often cite Jesse Lacey's lyrics as their favorite aspect of their music. I've heard many people say that he's their favorite lyricist. I think the lyrics in Brand New's second and third albums are particularly good.

When their third album, The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me came out, I was struck by the first few lines of the very first song, "Sowing Season (Yeah)". The reason I said I'm a few years late is because the album came out in 2006. Here's the song:



Was losing all my friends.
Was losing them to drinking and to driving.
Was losing all my friends, but I got 'em back.

They made me think "Ah, that's clever." because I thought I saw something he did, which I still believe is a possibility, despite the fact that I've never heard anyone else mention it.

Ignore the fact that the second line makes it sound like "drinking" and "driving" are separate actions, because I do believe he is talking about drunk driving. It is probably just worded that way to fit the melody he created. Stuff like that happens in songwriting all the time.

Now, most people who hear the lyrics seem to think he's talking about literally losing friends to drunk driving, which doesn't really make sense if he got his friends back. I, however, think there is a rather clever double meaning which references an older song of theirs called "Seventy Times 7". Here's the song:



"Seventy Times 7" is about betrayal, Jesse Lacey's reaction to the betrayal, and his message to the person that betrayed him. The lyrics in one particular section of the song say,

Have another drink and drive yourself home.
I hope there's ice on all the roads,
And you can think of me when you forget your seatbelt,
And again when your head goes through the windshield.

It seems to me that in "Sowing Season (Yeah)", the friends he lost to drinking and to driving aren't people he literally lost to drunk driving. He's talking about friendships that were ended over betrayal. Not only does the line "but I got 'em back" make much more sense that way, but it then acquires two different possible meanings. The first is that he and the friends made up, so he gained his friends back. The second is that he got them back, meaning got revenge on them. I think the first one is more likely. It's a sign of maturity, getting rid of grudges. It's kind of a way of saying "Remember that first album we made, and that song where I was really pissed off? Well I've grown up since then." That's an especially fitting statement for the first lines of the first song of a more mature album.

That's the way I interpreted the lyrics the first time I listened to the song. I don't know if that's what Jesse Lacey had in mind, but I think it's possible. I like that it's ambiguous that way, so the listener doesn't know if he's speaking literally or if he's talking about betrayal. I'm just surprised I've never heard anyone else interpret the lyrics that way, especially considering the popularity of the song "Seventy Times 7" and people's love for over-thinking lyrics.

I'm quite curious to know if there's anyone else who has interpreted the lyrics the same way that I did.