An Unnecessary but yet true story it's about to begin...
In 1999 many events happened that really marked the lives of millions. Maybe because of things of destiny that we will never be able to decipher, or maybe, because there are certain things that although they seem connected really belong to pure chance, and are material for a post like this one; or an interesting chat with friends over a few drinks... The truth is that at the end of the last millennium; Blink 182, a Californian Punk band, released a promotional single ‘Adam's Song’ And why is this relevant? Read on, and you'll find out.... (No clickbait, promise).
And if we're talking about iconic tracks, we're undoubtedly referring to this kind of pop ballad with rebellious overtones and highly reflective lyrics... Although, before assessing the music and its parts, I'd like to make a brief explanatory leap to the rich and tragic story behind ‘Adam's Song’. The Columbine Massacre was a sad event that took place in the United States. A group of kids from a high school in that country, victims and then perpetrators, decided not only to end their lives but to destroy many more with one more massacre in a place that is supposed to be dedicated to education...
Unfortunately, this event did not remain an isolated, never-to-be-repeated event. It became infamous because of its proximity to the new millennium. That is the truth. Another significant thing about all this is that Mark Hoppus, Blink 182's bassist and founder, read the story of a boy who survived that massacre, and who, mortified by post-traumatic stress disorder that nobody ever diagnosed him with, decided to end his own life... Ironic as hell. This marked Hoppus for months; to the point that he became obsessed with what he read and wrote a song.
On the Californian band's 1999 album ‘Enema of the State’, Adam's Song is one of those songs that makes an immediate impact. Its aura of reflection, full of nods to Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, and immersed in a context where the effects of violence in environments that are supposedly safe for coexistence, together with the disarray with the handling of bullying within a cruel society that is determined to leave behind (thrown away and left behind) its less successful members, accompanies the ‘spirit’ of this phenomenal song. Absolutely every member of the band brings to the musical composition of the song the perfect touch of their instruments.
There's no fuss or exaggeration, just the perfect touch between what is to be had and what it is to make something that will transcend. Not for nothing, even today, 25 years after that release; in our present, what Blink 182 did at the time continues to be well preserved and with good taste. It is an ode to suffering and its consequences. It doesn't romanticise an event as difficult and dramatic as suicide, but far from making it ‘sellable’ it describes the consequences that led that human being to take that action, and how he deals with the imminent consequences of the pain he will leave behind for his mother (presumably there was no father. Because the mention in the song is of the 17-year-old's mother. )
If it is complicated today to talk about negative feelings and emotions; let alone traumas or very hard impacts such as the one I described in the previous paragraph, imagine at the end of the last century... There is a part of this song that I have never been able to get out of my mind since the first time I heard it. ‘...Sorry mom, this is not your fault.’ I'm a mother myself, and I can't even try to put myself in that woman's shoes.... Obviously, there is a combination that we will never know the proportion, between fiction and reality; but once you understand the context that gave birth to that masterful song, nothing is the same.
My intention is not to make this post really depressive or sad. I'm just describing, narrating a reality that has been tied and will continue to be tied to this beautiful song.... I have been inspired by a comment I saw on an IG reel in one of the ten concerts Adele has performed in Munich... It's funny how the inspiration starts and how the memory is passed on.... I love the band, I'm not going to lie, that influences it too but honestly I was equal parts moved and amazed at how everything has interconnected. Be honest, wherever you are, did you know how this song originated?
