The Format - Give It Up
Song Name: Give It Up
Artist: The Format
Album: Interventions & Lullabies
Why This Song?: Who doesn’t love a great song that causes that bitter-sweet nostalgic feeling? Sometimes the song just hits you because it is a song you grew up with or was playing at a specific point in your life, sometimes the music itself reminds you of something, and then there are songs like this that are written with lyrics that are almost straight out of your life.
When I listen to this song I’m brought back to high school. It was a up and down time in my life, as it is with most people. While I love the friends I was with, my lifestyle was questionable at best. However, I was able to clean up my life by leaving town and loosening the ties I had with my hometown. That’s not to say I abandoned everything, but I started a new course in life - one that involved being slightly more responsible and one that didn’t involve recreational pursuits 24/7.
This is in no way unique. This is growing up and a good amount of kids do it once they get into the “real world.” The struggles of escaping and the fact that getting away doesn’t necessarily remove our problems is what this song is about, at least when I apply it to my life.
It’s sort of funny that the names in the song are names of some of my best friends in high school. Now if there was only a Sean in there, it would have been even more eerie.
As for Joe / Oh I’ve seen him around / Then there’s Adam / He’s afraid to go out / I don’t blame him, I just wanted to go out to eat / Then there’s Mark / *** ****, I wish him the best / We were kids back then, as if we could progress / Sometimes I, I just can’t sleep / Thinking of everything we could have been
Joe and Adam were two of my best friends in high school, and the funny thing is I’ve seen Adam around, but as for Joey, I heard he’s overseas and comes back every once in awhile. I would love to see the kid. He’s one of my favorite people ever, and I heard he is doing well. Roca, Cook, or Dwyer, you gotta hit me up with a phone call next time he is up.
Staying stuck in that period is a hard thing to escape. There are so many good memories (’His eyes light up when we talk about the past’) and when talking to the friends that I have talked to since graduation, it has usually consisted of reminiscing of such times. There are just so many memories, memories that you can’t really compare with once you are forced to grow up. That’s not to say that our new moments aren’t equally rewarding, but there is a lot to say about care-free youth.
As far as progression, that is hard to measure. The definition is personal for each one of us. How I have deemed progression might seem like regression to others. That doesn’t change the fact of how we long for the past even if it wasn’t the best situation, how we think of how relations have evolved or devolved, how we are so happy for the kids who have made positive changes in their lives, how we feel for those who haven’t, and, regardless of situations, how we wish the best to all the people we love, even if we don’t see them as much as we thought we would.
The fact that a song can make me think about all this makes me realize why I love music as much as I do. Something that can conjure up such emotion, whether it be sad, angry, heartwarming, or depressing, is an incredible thing.
This is an album full of such songs and this is a band that is one of the best at creating them. Songs like “On Your Porch,” “A Mess to Be Made,” “I’m Ready, I Am” and “If Work Permits” are all up on my list for songs that bring out a lot of emotion in me for various reasons. Please, check these guys out. They are one of the most promising bands out there and one that I wish much success to.
Alright, I’m done with this introspective sissiness. It’s time for me to change my skirt and put on some metal.
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