Soroity Noise – Using

The album itself, Joy, Departed, is very good, and I think it would probably fall under the emo genre, which I’m not super well versed in, at least not enough to look at through that lens, so I chose to feature “Using” as it leans more towards the hard rock genre.

Some songs are written and left up to interpretation, but the writer of the song, Cameron Boucher, will openly say this song is about himself and what he’s dealt with, so big kudos to him for having the cajones to put something so deeply personal out there for the world to see. Lyrically, I think it’s better to let the song speak for itself rather than giving my own opinion on it. “Using” is a brutally honest song about addiction and struggling with mental health, and I think it was made for a certain audience. However, I think as the conversation around mental health becomes more prevalent in society, this song becomes more important. I honestly have a lot of thoughts on the current state of how mental health is handled in (western) society today, and the live performance I linked below, Cameron expresses some thoughts similar to my own concerning the attempt to romanticize depression, sadness, and mental health in general. Because of this, many of those who actually struggle with these issues are less likely to speak about them to someone who can help them due to the glorification of these issues by those who repeatedly self-diagnose or seek attention through such things. Unfortunate as it is, it is a very real problem, and I think songs like this encourage people to be more open and honest about their own mental health, or at least maybe not feel so alone.

Link to the song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JPecqm1VZQ

Live performance (in Atlanta) nice speech in the beginning as well – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H–LBeRdrIw