Let’s rewind to 2015. Sounds Good Feels Good by 5 Seconds of Summer will help you transport back in time.
I asked fans like me about their opinions on this album and they all told me: “It’s the most relatable and human record of them. Everyone can find a piece of their story in it”. The album’s pop rock sound is a background to lyrics that deal with mental health and every day’s struggles such as not being able to afford a bus ticket (“Hey Everybody”).
Now it’s time to analyze it track by track.
MONEY: This song is not about robbery as it may sound, but it’s about love at first sight for a special and unconventional girl that makes them want to let go of everything and go on adventures with her.
“Black jeans, white tee, black Converse
You know she gets it right
Blue hair, blue eyes, I saw her
I couldn't help it, I was like
"I wanna be, be, be in the game”
SHE’S KINDA HOT: The speaking voice leading this song is in a relationship they don’t like because their girlfriend complains about their condition all the time but they want to be with her anyway because she’s intriguing. Then, they switch to talking about their friend who dropped out of school because he couldn’t handle it ,and how being a misfit is not a wrong thing, and being different is something to be proud of: “they say we’re losers and we’re alright with that.”
The band consider themselves the voice of new generation.
HEY EVERYBODY: This song talks about small everyday problems that many people go through like not being able to pay for a bus ticket or how to not make a massive fuss about it.
“It's not the end of the world
Yeah, we've all been there before”
PERMANENT VACATION: This song talks about being overwhelmed and the need of a vacation to forget about the bad place you’re in. It may seem like they’re talking about a normal vacation, when they’re really referencing an eternal sleep. This is a hidden meaning that only if you listen closely you can catch.
JET BLACK HEART: This is my favorite song off the album since it has helped me and still helps me through hard times. But what is it about? It’s about being in a bad place and having tried literally anything “every fire I’ve ignited faded to grey.” This is a scream for help; “now that I’m broken can you see inside?”
This is a sad song for sure, but it has a message of hope: one day the pain will be gone and it’ll be just a memory. You’ll heal from what you’re going through even if right now it’s just darkness.
“The blood in my veins
Is made up of mistakes
Let's forget who we are
And dive into the dark
As we burst into color
Returning to life”
CATCH FIRE: The person speaking in the song has broken up with their partner but they want to win them back so they try their best to get them back in their life with the hope that they’ll change their mind.
“I can’t change the world but maybe I could change your mind.”
WASTE THE NIGHT: This is something I think we all have been through: having your crush next to you and wanting to confess your feeling for them, to not waste the occasion because you crave their love.
“I don't wanna say goodbye to another night
And watch you walk away
And I don't wanna let it burn in the city lights
And make the same mistakes, this time
I don't wanna waste it, don't wanna waste it
I don't wanna waste it, don't wanna waste it”
VAPOR: The relationship is not going well but the person speaking about it prefers to be lied to and take what the other gives them rather than accept the reality: they don’t work anymore. They are still into them and don’t want to go out of this limbo.
CASTAWAY: After the break up, an important love story at a young age, the speaking voice feels “lonely like a castaway”. All they have left are all the memories coming to the surface and making them hurt even more.
”Eyes closed, all I see is good times disappearing
And I'm trying to hold on
'Cause you walked out and left me stranded
Nothing left but picture frames
I just keep on asking myself
How'd we drift so far away from where we left off yesterday?
I'm lonely like a castaway”
FLY AWAY: The speaking voice is tired of their everyday reality making them feel trapped and without a will to live. They want to visit the world. As mentioned in the song, they give names of places they would like to fly away to.
“I won't waste another day
Wishing this would fade away
Running and we're not looking back
I want a little bit of California
With a little bit of London sky
I wanna take my heart to the end of the world
Fly away tonight
I want a little bit of open ocean
With a New York state of mind
I wanna take my heart to the end of the world
Fly away, fly away tonight”
INVISIBLE: The song starts with a typing sound and the voice of one of the members, Michael Clifford, saying “what’s this?”. This is supposed to be the discovery of a suicidal letter.
The speaking voice doesn’t feel safe anymore, is lost, and without a will to live. They don’t know themselves anymore, they feel out of place in the home they live in. The song suggests that they speaking voice wants to end their life.
“I was already missing
Before the night I left
Just me and my shadow and all of my regrets
Who am I? Who am I?
When I don't know myself
Who am I? Who am I?
Invisible”
AIRPLANES : The speaking voice says that love saved them from the dark place they were in and they want to fly over the city.
“Your eyes, your smile can light up the night, night
Embers and neon signs paint up black sky, sky
Airplanes cut through the clouds
Like angels can fly, we'll never die
Sirens cut through the night
Like screams set on fire, rising up higher
I've got something to prove, nothing to lose
In this city, in this city woah”
SAN FRANCISCO: The speaking voice wants to go back to a time and place where they were happy with their loved one when in the present moment they are having a hard time.
“I wanna get back to where we started
To the summer night
You know, you know, you know, you know we got it right
Yeah, I wanna get back to San Francisco
In the firelight
You know, you know, you know, you know we had it right”
OUTER SPACE/ CARRY ON: The speaking voice wants to win back the love of their loved one, they broke up with too soon “the rain it came too soon” and they are ready to do anything to have them back in their life.
“Here and the rain it came too soon, I will wait for you
To love me again”
The second part of the song is short song of hope dedicated to the listener. It’s a really pure and beautifully harmonized song that helped and still helps people. Here’s a sneak peak:
“Carry on, let the good times roll
Sail along, let your path unfold
It won't be long, won't be long, won't be long
You know it's gonna get better
You know it's gonna get better
Say a prayer for the broken bones
'Cause who cares?
We're all going home
And it won't be long, won't be long, won't be long
You know it's gonna get better”
The album ends with this hymn of hope that makes this album, so special for the fandom. So beautiful. The deluxe edition features more songs such as safety pin (two broken people find each other), broken home (family problems) and The Girl Who Cried Wolf (about a girl that needs help but doesn’t want to ask for it.)