8 Letters
This album starts off with 8 Letters, can you figure out what that means? Well you don’t have to, it means “I Love You.” This is arguably their most emotional song and sounds so much better when performed acoustic (in my opinion). The song starts by them describing their relationship and them realizing that they are in love and finally admitting it. It’s about them saying I love you before they meant it (has this happened to anyone else, cause it did with me) and now that they mean it, they want their significant other to know how much they mean these 8 letters. This is one of the best songs to showcase the boy’s vocals and is worth the listen even if you decide not to listen to any other song from this album. Funnily enough, it was the 3rd and last single to be released.
Talk
The second single to be released from this album. This song is about the miscommunication between them and their significant other. It talks of how they are aren’t listening to each other on the phone and it’s damaging their relationship. This song makes so much sense for them in the sense that they were traveling constantly for 3 years. There hadn’t been a year where they have not released music since they started so having a relationship was hard and the time differences would make it hard to talk to each other. Though the music behind the words is light and playful, that is not really the theme of the words that the boys are singing (kind of like Pumped Up Kicks, but not as serious).
Choose
This song shows more than just the communication part of the relationship. In this song they are talking about choosing a relationship with them or not. In the song they even mention performing in their significant others city and asking them to choose right there if they want a relationship. This shows how hard it is too see each other while the boys were on tour. They also mention that even though they have many fangirls that run after them they chose their significant other and now they are asking them to choose them just as they have done. The darker tone of the instrumentals show how serious they boys are. When the second verse comes along, the instrumentals really add to how serious the boys are in this situation.
In Too Deep
This next song could be taken as a complete 180 from the previous song. In this song the boys are talking of how they have fallen deeply in love with this person without meaning too. In the lyrics they mention a siren call this could mean that they weren’t expecting to fall in love with this person, but they couldn’t resist falling in love. They mention that they can’t breathe but they feel alive, this isn’t necessarily bad as they have fallen so deeply in love. The ocean or body of water that a siren lives, in could represent love and that is why they can’t breathe in the water. It is an emotional song the instrumentals help portray that. It is slow, while still having that nice beat behind it to show that it is not necessarily so bad that they are in too deep.
Friends
-This song is different from the previous ones in the way that it isn’t about a relationship that is already formed, but more about one that could be. The boys start by saying that they are bored on a Friday night and that they keep getting calls from friends. They then jump to saying that they want to get in their “zone.” They then ask if the party is on and says that someone’s dad has a big house. The suggestion goes around that they could all hang out together or that they could hang out with the girl alone, one on one. This is just an overall fun song that implies that they wouldn’t mind getting closer to the girl, but it’s fine if nothing happens.
Hard
In this one kind of plays off of the friends theme they have going. They (of course) have a crush on their friend, but she has a boyfriend that doesn’t treat her right (as in any good love story). They start the song by saying that they do think about her and it’s hard at act like they don’t. It then leads to the boys explaining how hard it is to see her running back to the same drama with the same guy and how they don’t know how much longer they can put up with it as it is too hard. This song is just as emotional and slightly heartbreaking as Choose. It holds the same standard of wanting a relationship, but the opposing person is not into it. It is reminiscent of 5 Seconds of Summers “Heartbreak Girl” but with a slightly deeper tone to it.
Hooked
This is a nice playful song that sounds better when sung acoustic (in my personal opinion). It’s basically a telling of the beginning of the relationship. It tells of how they were warned about this girl they were warned about and how they like her and that even if they wanted to, they wouldn’t leave her. They tale of how she was there for them when they needed, but that there are still some problems. They are so deeply in love with her that they are willing to overlook the damage she might do to them. Upon the first listen, it doesn’t sound like the description but trust me this is what the song is about. This was the first single of this album released.
Can’t You See (Formerly Falling)
This starts out the same way that Hooked did, they know that she is no good, but fall for her anyway. Though in this one, it seems she doesn’t return the feelings. They mention that even if they give their all it just isn’t enough. They want her to return the feelings and say that they want her to them where her heart is and that they are being honest, yet she still doesn’t seem to see that they are in love with her. The lyric “wish my feelings would turn around from love to lust” implies that even they didn’t want to fall for her, but they did and now they just can’t stop falling no matter how much they want to. This is my favorite song not just off their album but overall. I have felt like this so many times (liking someone and them not realizing it) and their vocals and the instrumentals just give to how much this situation is weighing on them.