"I have been living in the mental Badlands for years and it's this part in the center of my brain that is this booming city. It's surrounded by unexplored territory. I can't leave, and no one else can come in. I suspect something's wrong, but it's all I have ever known. I can't change it. So it dawned on me that this whole dystopian post-apocalyptic world is really just a defense mechanism, it was me. It's a metaphor for a mental state, this idea that you're trapped somewhere and you can't escape, but eventually I do. And I think that is the most important part of it being a coming of age record. It's this idea of being able to leave the mental Badlands, and I hope that is inspirational for my fans."
