Conor Oberst – Ruminations Tracklist + Lyrics

1. Tachycardia
2. Barbary Coast (Later)
3. Gossamer Thin
4. Counting Sheep
5. Mamah Borthwick (A Sketch)
6. This Rain Follows the Plow
7. A Little Uncanny
8. Next of Kin
9. You All Loved Him Once
10. Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out

JoJo – Mad Love. Tracklist + Lyrics

1. Music.
2. I Can Only.
3. Fuck Apologies.
4. FAB.
5. Mad Love.
6. Vibe.
7. Honest.
8. Like This.
9. Edibles.
10. High Heels.
11. I Am.
12. Clovers.
13. Reckless.
14. Good Thing.
15. Rise Up.

In an interview with SongFacts lead singer Scott Stapp talked about how he opened the song with this line:

So I was basically commenting on my dream and writing my thoughts about what I was dreaming about. And it was on various levels. It was a literal dream, but it was also on my dreams as a human being at that stage in my life and where I was in my life at that time. I wanted the world, so to speak. I wanted to achieve every dream that I ever had. And also I had that idealistic view of wanting to create heaven on earth. At the time I penned that song, my view of what heaven on earth meant was very narrow, very naïve, and very wrapped up in ego and self-fulfillment. I didn’t really expound on that, but I can comment on that now. And it’s also, “Be careful what you wish for,” because your prayers might get answered.

In an interview with Face Culture, guitarist Mark Tremonti explains his relationship with his mother:

I grew up in Detroit, and when I feel a nice cool breeze or something, it reminds me of the times when I was young with my mom and hanging out, and I always feel like if someone passes away that’s really close to you, you never feel like they’re gone. You still feel like their spirit is out there and they’re kinda looking over you. I always feel like that lyric’s just about how you always kinda feel like your mother or whoever’s passed away is still kinda present.

https://youtu.be/2D_qHMNGWfg?t=427

Guitarist Mark Tremonti, who wrote the lyrics to “Broken Wings,” explains what he meant in this part of the song in an interview with Face Culture:

“The things we hold are always first to go”

It always seems like the first person (or people) to turn on you seemed to be the closest ones to you that have the most to gain. And I had a lot of friends and people close to me [that] turned on me to get something better out of the situation.

“And who’s to say we won’t end up alone?”

When you have people that live their lives like that, just always trying to achieve something, I think those kind of people, if they end up on living their lives that way, are going to end up on their death bed with four people at their funeral. And I’ve met a lot of people like that. And I haven’t until I’ve been [successful and] involved in this kind of lifestyle.

https://youtu.be/2D_qHMNGWfg?t=322

Pops was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1966 NBA draft. He was their 12th pick and 99th overall.

Although he never got to play an NBA game, he still played professionally in the ABA during the 1969-1970 season with the Denver Rockets and the Pittsburgh Pipers.

When Pops passed away, Common said this in an interview:

The way he said things made me look at life and the world in a new way, in a different way. They always sparked a thought in my head. His words would always make me strive to achieve higher, to write better, to be more truthful with my words.