Below is what it's all about. Please allow the songs to also expand into your world, as they're meant to live loosely, aka the meanings are mine but the songs are now everyones (cheesy I know but I come from a long line of sensitive men).
Track 1 on MidLifeCrisis - End. Theme of this song is existential in nature. I wrote this during the summer of '17 when fires in Oregon caused ash to rain down on Portland in my words "like a doomsday snow." Read between the lines on this one and I'm also writing about the point in a man's life when he realizes he can no longer run away, because what he has, he loves too much. It's a terrifying notion to think that half of the fight or flight option is now rendered useless. This song also has my favorite groove on the record. Try not to move while listening. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE. www.nickarnesonmusic.com
Track 2 on MidLifeCrisis – Once. This song is me talking to me. “Night Nick” as I jokingly refer to the side of me that tends to come out after dark. Quitting drinking allows me to look from a different perspective – the voice is a strong one, and this song is all about facing it down. “Alone and scared with that fire in your eyes.” It also revisits a common theme throughout the album of inertia and movement – something intrinsically tied to staying out too late and taking too much. This song has one of my favorite lines on the album – “the notes you hear won’t make a sound if you don’t move.” Obvious but effective, which is the best kind of lyric. www.nickarnesonmusic.com
Track 3 on MidLifeCrisis – Stay. We get a little personal on this track, though it’s also much broader. Being a man in a relationship is a dauntingly simple ordeal. We have very basic fears, and are easily assuaged. The simple realization of suddenly being left alone, the inability to communicate our feelings, and finally the pleading and desperate last stand as we feel it start to topple (likely due to our own dumb assedness). Guitar lick on this track by my friend Aaron Burget completely transformed the vibe. He’s a much better guitar player than I. www.nickarnesonmusic.com
Track 4 on MidLifeCrisis – Try. My love song. Re-wrote this one at least 20 times. My wife is a rock. She is a selfless, tireless person who absorbs suffering from others as she simultaneously heals them. This is my long winded way of telling her how much I love her, and how her existence gets me up in the morning and reminds me to keep fighting for whats right. www.nickarnesonmusic.com
Track 5 on MidLifeCrisis – Inertia. Things start elevating to higher levels, taking a macro view of our current state through the lens of a 39 year old stoner. The chorus has one of those lines that when they appear you can’t believe your luck – “the loneliness traps the truth and the heaviness forces the tell.” It’s the kind of line that I’m convinced I’ll never top, and I’m also certain I ripped it off from someone. This song explores my own selfishness but is also a blatant social commentary about the cynical and self-absorbed nature of all of us – even in the face of imminent demise. It’s also the only song ever written that uses the line “internet porn bill” I’m certain. www.nickarnesonmusic.com
Track 6 on MidLifeCrisis – Pop Song. A buddy of mine asked “have you ever heard a pop song?” I started this song on the drums, strangely, and retro fitted some lyrics I’d written. In my mind it was a soul song, though being a white guy from Portland it ended up just sounding like indie rock. Go figure. I try to be blunt here – “we’re all gonna die if we don’t start to try.” The bass / key / synth solo at the end is the sound of everything ending. I repeat “need to understand” at the end, really just hoping, of course we probably never will.
Track 7 on MidLifeCrisis – Outsider. This song is about forever living on the fringes. There are people who have never struggled with self control, self esteem or belonging. I don’t understand this crowd. Never have, never will. There are those who have always felt slightly askew from most of society. These are my people. This song is for you, me and us. Let’s go ahead and stick together. Also the only song to ever use the term “schlocky fucker” in a song I’m certain. www.nickarnesonmusic.com