00:00A couple months ago there was a TikTok thing where people were calling to like say good night to
00:04someone. It was like a joke and everyone was like laughing at these guys because they're like what
00:08the fuck bro? What the fuck is wrong with you? We text or call each other to say good night
00:13every night. We only had each other. We were alone in the world for so long before anyone knew who
00:19the fuck we were. Before we had Good Charlotte. We've been taking care of each other since we were
00:2314 years old. I mean I get the joke on TikTok and I always laugh along with everybody but I'm always
00:28like if they only knew me and Benz were saying good night to each other every night.
00:38Rejects was the first song we wrote off our new album Motel Ducap. It was the first song we actually
00:45wrote in the studio. I don't even know if there was an initial inspiration because most of the
00:49time when we write songs it just kind of comes out. We try not to control it too much. It's just lit
00:54like whatever's going to come out. And then it all just starts forming and the song started coming
00:58together and I realized what I was talking about. Your subconscious is dying to say some shit.
01:03Everybody not even just songwriters. People like our subconscious is like dying to say some shit.
01:09And sometimes when you're writing songs you just got to get out of the way of it. You start humming
01:12the melody and then all of a sudden some words start coming out and then I see him like pick up on
01:20on this like little story that's forming because he starts to realize what he's feeling and it really
01:25starts to happen.
01:28When I was little playing in the dirt no one with me there were no words that hurt and all my friends
01:39they were insects like all my feelings I didn't know them yet. It was more like a reflection on
01:46like our childhood my childhood and how I feel sometimes about the world. If you took
01:53the most hardcore heavy like metal dude the most hardcore rapper. The most like country ass country
02:00singer. Yeah like the the most like the diva is diva and you took all of them when they were little
02:06kids and you put them on a playground they would play together. Simpler times and before anyone got
02:10hurt and then started taking their shit out on someone else. Sometimes I still wish I wasn't born
02:18at all. I've always had the feeling that this feeling is my only one. That lyric was the only way to
02:30express that feeling of like yeah sometimes I wish I didn't exist. That's why I started a band. I remember
02:37that feeling lives like near and dear to my heart which is why I have like I feel like a bleeding
02:42heart for like fans and other artists when I see that they need music for a different reason than
02:49like all the hype shit and all the like shiny shit. I needed music for a different reason. It wasn't to
02:54be cool. It was like I needed it.
02:57Life is bigger. Now the words can hurt. I'm talking to myself wishing I was in the dirt.
03:06And all my friends. Yeah they're all rejects. They all love me but they don't really know me yet.
03:15I see the world today and I look at the comments section and everyone's just trying to make the
03:19wittiest meanest comment to get the most uh attention there. And then you see people that are just
03:24exploiting other people's pain or their mistakes. And there's good stuff. You see people helping each
03:30other. You see people rooting for each other. Being supportive. And you see the truth cut through.
03:35There's a lot of good out there and there's just a lot of like mean too. That's life. And that's life.
03:40That's just the world. The reason rejects the chorus is what it is. It's not a complaint. It's
03:45literally just a painting. It's literally just a commentary. It's it's just an abstract illustration
03:52of just a thought. Sometimes I still wish I wasn't born at all. Cause mommy doesn't love me and my daddy.
04:04Well he's dead and gone. Gone. Your mom doesn't love you and your dad's dead. That's how I feel
04:12still sometimes when I'm alone and when I'm questioning. Can I do this? Am I? Who am I? You know we all have
04:19the who am I moment. And I think I err on the side of gloom most of the time. I do feel like a
04:26loneliness you know. Everybody does. That lack of self-esteem. So that pre-chorus is like just
04:32is just calling that out and expressing that. Everybody feels that way. You just say it out loud.
04:37Cause they liked us better when we were together. You said whatever. I was never clever. Sometimes I
04:50still wish I wasn't born at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The chorus actually kind of jumps to
05:00the present where I am in this conversation about good Charlotte. So I think everyone likes us better
05:09when we're together, which is not necessarily like a positive thing. It's more like, do you like me
05:14for me? If you just met me on the street and you just got to know me, would I be, have any value to
05:20you as a human, as a human or couldn't sing these songs, if I couldn't sing these songs and go on stage
05:26and do the dance, you know? So that's the conflict I have with being an entertainer. Cause I love making
05:31art, but then you got to go out in the world and promote it. And you're like, no one, like no one
05:35gives a fuck. First of all, it feels like we live in a world of like fast turnover. You're sharing
05:40something vulnerable, but you're sharing something vulnerable that you would be happy if just one
05:45person connected and you had a deeper conversation about it. And you felt like it was a fulfilling
05:51hour of sharing. That chorus is more like calling to like, kind of who gives a fuck anyways.
05:59I can't keep it in. I can't let it out. And I can't stand to hear the sound.
06:07Damned if you do, we're damned if we don't. It's fucked either way. You could look at it good.
06:23You could look at it bad. I can't keep it in. I can't let it out. And I can't stand to hear the
06:28sound. I can't fucking stand to talk about it anyways. The conversation we're having about the
06:33world today. It's like the duality. The duality of like the complexity of life, right? Yes,
06:39we could point out everything that's wrong with all these people and all these things we think are
06:43wrong. And then we could also explain the complexity of what make all those people the way they are.
06:50And everyone's a little right and a little wrong, you know? And like that to me is like,
06:55the only way I could say it is like, I can't stand to even talk about it.
06:59Advice for young musicians starting out right now. What would you say?
07:06Be good at what you do and to work hard at it and to, as an artist, to be able to express
07:12yourself better with each song. Really try to work on your craft. Represent yourself in the world
07:19with confidence and integrity because you will make mistakes if you don't value yourself.
07:24The things you think will change your life, let those just be the byproduct of like hard work
07:29and a craft that you learn. So don't worry about the results. Just like there's something you want
07:35to do. Just focus on the craft and make it good and just work hard.
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