Our Shared Madness

7: (Coffee's For Closures)

Fans have always asked me the same question. Why do I do what I do? What is the point of writing lyrics? What difference does it make?

It often kept me up at night, pondering over the answer. One day it actually dawned on me that I didn't know the answer and took it upon myself to figure out the answer.

I did all of my pre-rituals which involved listening to Metallica and filling up a coffee mug to the tip top. It got my brain flowing. Occasionally I'll check the Internet to see if there's anything that would strike me as inspiring to write about. Most of the time, I'm just disgusted by the things people are saying.

Almost regretted it, grabbing that pen and sitting in my desk chair. It was true, I could be doing better things. I could be working out or going for a walk with Ashlee and Hemmingway. Then again, I'm not.

I scrolled through the Internet and it really hit me. Pop culture triggers carelessness. Nowadays, you constantly see drama; there is mounds of incessant sadness and heartbreak.

Writing past songs made me realize a reoccurring theme in my lyrics. People are willing to change themselves just to be on top and don't care what or who it hurts.

People only get involved when it's a big problem. No one notices the quiet kid in the back of their classroom until they put a bullet through their head or pills down their throat. No one cares about the distant man until he blows up a building. We need to focus on the problem at hand, not when it's blown out.

Cameras cage us. The media puts cameras in places where death and violence is. We need to put cameras in places that will make people want to help.

Take Uganda for example. In the making of Infinity On High, the band and I took a trip to Uganda. It really opened my eyes. We should be paying attention to what's going on there and preparing to help.

We cared about things in the 90's, but then we got into this awful mess. I think people stopped believing in good will and that you can change the world and do good. This past decade has been all about 'me'. It's 'Oh I'm sad' and 'I want this' and 'I know someone who knows this person'. It's all Me Me Me.

That's why I wrote. I preached these lyrics to the hopeless teens to wake them up. I wrote to seek good change. Change is only okay if it's a real change. If people really listen to us and the people that believe like us, I have faith that we can change the mindsets.

I straightened my back and smiled stupidly. As soon as the tip of my pen hit the paper I was off.