Photo from artist’s website.
“At the end of the day, if you’re not writing songs to affect other people’s lives, you’re in it for the wrong reasons.”
The following statement was made by BJ Barham, lead singer and chief songwriter of veteran alt-country band, American Aquarium. The band recently released their seventh full-length album, Things Change. It is the poignant mix of the personal and political. Barnum’s lyrics effectively taps into the human experience.
One of the album’s highlight “The World Is On Fire” was written in response to the results of the 2016 US presidential election.
“I’m complaining about the state of things, and then the third verse almost serves as a challenge to myself: hey, you’re in charge of another human being. You can create change,” Barnum says about the song.
The sentiments of the song was heavily influenced by the fact that he was an expectant father, which is highlighted by the following verse “I got a baby girl comin’ in the spring / I worry ’bout the world she’s comin’ into / But she’ll have my fight, she’ll have her mama’s fire / If anyone builds a wall in her journey / Baby, bust right through it.”
In the these times of political upheaval we need hopeful anthems of defiance. American Aquarium are doing their part in supplying these anthems.