In the mean time, i was listening to With Honor's " Heart Means Everything" on the Subway about a week ago and remembered how good this album really is and what it meant and still means to me.
Musically it's energetic, it's passionate, it's melodic. While the music is good, the lyrics are what made this record for me. Every single song has a purpose and a drive or direction to it that really embraces you if you take the time to get to know the words. It's not just meaningless positivity, it's positivity with some weight behind it. There's no wishing, no wanting, no needing. "We will see heights we never thought we'd reach." Hope isn't even in doubt.I think that's what strikes me about this record the most. How there's just an innate feeling of positivity, and there's so much conviction behind it, it's hard not to be inspired. I remember a couple of years ago finally get a chance to see this band live, i lost it to every song without hesitation. I remember Todd grabbing me and throwing the mic in my face, yelling the lyrics just as hard right back at me, that was pretty cool. Very few bands have something profound about them. Something deeper, you can't quite single it out but you know there's something unique, almost a presence about their music that permeates anyone but the most cynical listening.
I could post every song on this record, they all mean something different but are equally important, here is one of my favorites.
Perfect Stance
Hollowed OUT, empty, we’ve watched months erase the memories of years, It’s not tradition, not meaningless ideals, it’s a fire, FIRE, that draws us near. So come close, let your eyes meet mine, Try hard to deny this burning inside, Grab hold to status quo to justify, Keep telling yourself there’s nothing more to life. But there’s so much more than killing, than preying on insecurity, then getting what you want no matter who’s at cost… WAKE UP realize your virtue is dead. YOUR LIFE conviction for vanity. But we’ll take this stage, never forgetting the days when heart meant everything. We will take the stage, holding onto the days, when heart meant everything! This time is soon to end, and all your clothes and cliques will go with it, when the dust clears we’ll see that love still stands. The love that has no shame, no fronts, no fruitless games… the love that lays life down for a friend. YOUR TIME IS UP.
