Introduction
I went through what some would call an “emo phase” when I was fourteen. I embodied the stereotypical emo teenager and listened to iconic bands such as My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, and Paramore. To be honest, it still isn’t a phase for me. I very much indulge in the pop rock hits of the early two thousands to this day.
My favourite pop rock band that’s still going strong today is Paramore. My 2024 Spotify wrapped had Paramore as my most listened to artist and I was wholeheartedly expecting nothing less from myself. While I hold all of their albums close to my heart, After Laughter is held a lot closer because of how much I’m able to relate to the lyricism.
In an interview with iheartradio, Hayley Williams was asked the meaning behind the title. She said that there was a look on people’s faces after they’re done laughing and that it really intrigued her to wonder what brought them back to reality. It definitely is fascinating to try and get a glimpse of people’s thoughts and I’m especially happy to know what goes through Hayley Williams’ mind throughout all her work.
So, in honour of Women’s History Month and my inner fangirl, this is an analysis of the album After Laughter by woman fronted band Paramore, the only woman fronted band to win a grammy in the rock category.
Hard Times
I got around to buying the After Laughter album on a CD last year because I found myself singing along to a lot of the songs and I needed some assurance that things were going to be okay.
Upbeat songs with depressing lyrics such as “Hard Times” and “Rose Colored Boy” is something I enjoy in songwriting because it really showcases how fake happy everyone is in reality. The upbeat instrumental is the first thing that listeners notice and initially distracts from the sad lyrics. The more you listen, the more you find yourself paying attention to the words and realize that the song is actually quite melancholic.
People are good at giving Oscar award winning performances pretending to be happy. But when you pay attention a little more, you might realize that someone isn’t doing as good as they let on. Or when they hide how they actually feel through sarcastic and passive aggressive jokes that are often overlooked because they’re “just joking.”
The lyrics of “Hard Times” paint a mural as vivid as the music video. Despite the depressing lyrics, they are juxtaposed with a retro neon vibe and happy marimba notes clinking in the foreground of the intro.
The song overall gives a cartoonish vibe in the best way possible. Imagery is utilized in an absurd way where it mimics how a cartoon character would look and act. My favourite lyric out of the entire song would be “Hit me with lightning, maybe I’ll come alive.” Immediately, you’re able to picture someone being struck by lightning but not in a horrific way. Rather, what comes to mind is a silly picture of someone being burnt to a crisp, treating the unfortunate event as an inconvenience rather than a near death experience.
“Hard Times” reflects the reality of hardships that people face in life and how coping with the aftermath of depression can be tough. While I don’t have an answer on how to deal with the hardships as I’m currently navigating that myself, crying along to the entirety of this album constitutes as therapy for me and it’s been working so far (but please actually go to therapy if you’re able to).
26
“26” is an acoustic guitar ballad that utilizes picking, where you pluck each string individually to produce a note. It’s the main instrument on the track that accompanies the wistful voice of Williams telling her listeners and fans that hope is a rare artifact that one should grasp onto. The lack of heavy production and use of the guitar as the main instrument mirrors the hollowness and loneliness one can feel when hope is obsolete.
The feeling of hope is a fickle thing. As Hayley Williams has said, “for a pessimist, I’m pretty optimistic.” She doesn’t sugarcoat the harsh realities of living in a cruel society with fake happiness and niceties. She doesn’t embellish her lyrics with overtly-sweet prose hoping to distract that life is essentially that meme where a dog sits in his kitchen that’s burning down and nonchalantly says “it’s fine.”
Hope feels as if it is a finite resource: never enough to go around and the constant depletion of it is endangering the existence of the emotion. However, unlike the depletion of resources such as gas that can be replaced with electricity, hope cannot easily be replaced. In dire times, it is even harder to replicate. And hope is entangled with other important emotions such as compassion and kindness. With the loss of hope comes the loss of compassion and kindness, leaving the world with callousness that spreads worse than the plague.
It’s a nice gentle reminder to have in our current affair of events because it’s easy to throw in the towel when it feels like the world is going to end. Hope is the most important emotion to have in our arsenal right now because it creates communities and connections we need in dire times. It sounds ominous. Hard and precarious times are indeed ahead. But, we can hold onto each other because we all need someone to rely on.
Tell Me How
Despite all this talk about hopelessness, Williams retains her faith. The last line of “Tell Me How” ends with the lyrics “I can still believe.”
Clinging onto hope in times of hopelessness seems to be a recurring theme in my life as it is in Hayley Williams’. “I can still believe” was a crucial way to wrap up the album and these four words encapsulate the entire theme of After Laughter.
The album ending with a piano ballad was an interesting choice to make. I’m usually not a fan of albums ending with ballads unless it’s a power ballad such as “All I Wanted” on Paramore’s third studio album brand new eyes or Olivia Rodrigo’s “Teenage Dream” on her second studio album GUTS.
The reason I don’t enjoy slow ballads as the final song on an album is because slower songs in general tend to grow on me rather than instantly compel me to add it to my Spotify playlist. However, this was a perfect album to end with a ballad because it contains a seriousness that is excluded from the rest of this body of work. Most of the songs are energetic apart from “26.” It feels like sitting down and finally having a serious and long overdue conversation with yourself that a lot of people tend to run from out of fear.
“Tell Me How” allows you to come down from the high all the songs give you and finally sit with your emotions that may have been hiding underneath a cheerful exterior. You come to terms that you haven’t been feeling great. Yet, there’s still something within you that makes you want to keep on going.
Despite my grievances with the bad deck of cards the world has dealt me, I’ve never wanted to live so bad. I can’t tell if I’m wanting to live even more and to my fullest potential out of pure spite or if I’m genuinely starting to find my spark again.
“I can still believe” are good words to live by and I implore everyone to listen to this album no matter what emotional state you’re in.
Conclusion
After Laughter overall is an album of hopeful devotion to the ebb and flow of life. Underneath the upbeat sonics are depressing lyrics but digging deeper beneath the words that conjoin to create this body of work, is an unrelenting belief that life is still good.
In our current socio-political and economic events, it’s important to embrace the emotional turmoil that takes place within ourselves while refraining from cynicism.
And I urge everyone to find little pockets of hope, happiness, fun and community throughout your day-to-day lives while we all laugh ‘til we cry.