Say Anything Band • Page 54

This is the part I keep going back to as well I feel like I’m missing the point of the story. I want to think the actual album would give it more context, but I don’t know.


But it’s great that he seems to be in a better place now. As a fan, I’m incredibly happy for him.

 

I won’t have a chance to read the whole thing for a few hours. Can anyone give a TLDR? Something about Max’s orientation and Say Anything being put to rest?

 

He stated that this album is about someone the total opposite of what he feels. He has read into "evil" people and wanted to see through their eyes.

He also mentioned that he was struggling to cope with his feelings and I see this as the protagonist doing something out of guilt/fear then drowning himself because he does not want to accept he has feelings for a gay man.

Although; I feel like I might also be missing the point. I'd need to read the statement a few more times.

 

I get what you mean, but knowing that the artist who wrote it is a good person, i think it's safe to say that his intention isn't a pro-violence against homosexuals one. It's unnerving and uncomfortable yea, but I think that's the point and open to interpretation. It reminds me of the ending of American Beauty when Wes Bentley's dad murders Kevin Spacey for turning him down. I took that as a metaphor for toxic masculinity winning out over repressed homosexuality, which clearly resulted in tragedy. I dunno, I'm rambling now so I'll stop. I hope I didn't sound like a douche to you, just wanted to throw in my 2 cents.

 

I’d be more concerned if it weren’t for the fact that it sounds like it was essentially co-written with (or at least that everything was run by) Karl. But I fully get where you’re coming from.

 

Yeah, I don't think many people are aware of Karl's involvement, sexuality and past experiences.

 

I wanna check out that Museum Mouth album now since I never did when Max was promoting it.

 

Most of Museum Mouth's music is Name Your Price on Bandcamp - Museum Mouth

 

But some of you are missing the point @Matt Metzler is making. I don’t believe he’s saying he thinks Max is actually like this. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be a more comfortable thing for a queer listener, considering violence by straight men to queers is not exactly unheard of.

 

I completely understand it is a sensitive subject and can't even pretend to understand the subject matter. As a straight man I feel I don't warrant a plausible view on this either.

I apologise, @Matt Metzler , for not seeing this from your, and others, POV, ironically. I can see how this would be uncomfortable.

 

My first favorite band. This one stings. I'm sure I'll wind up writing more about it later.

Sad about tbe band but ecstatic for Max and his family, obviously. Lots to process here. Gonna be a strange day

 

I don't think I've really loved a SA album in quite some time, but Max and his family are beautiful people and I hope this helps them achieve all the happiness in the world.

 

New song is good

 

The part of the pdf I read this morning was extremely confusing and also v difficult to read on my phone, I’ll have to read the whole thing later on my computer

 

The statement was a lot, I love the Bemis family and just want them to be happy. I’m thankful I got to see SA a few times over the last few years. The IARB tour was one of the best shows I have ever gone to.

 

I do hope I'll get to see them again, but if the last Say Anything show I ever go to ends up being a 2 night spectacle playing their 3 most iconic albums that I road tripped to with one of my best friends who has been by my side at almost every SA show I've been to, then yea I guess I can be ok with that.

I'm not sure there is another band that I have seen perform more individual songs live. Max was always very good about switching up the setlist and including some random deeper cuts. The only album I haven't seen the majority of live is IDTII and Baseball/other early stuff.

Man I'm going to be processing this one for a while. I almost feel more emotional about this than MCS, even though I consider MCS my favorite and I think it's because, for one thing, they did a proper farewell tour and I had a chance to see them 3 more times after they announced their breakup, and then also because I kind of internally knew it wasn't going to last forever. I guess I kind of took for granted that since SA was just Max Bemis, they'd just always keep going.

 

Weird stuff, haven't listened to them since the self-titled but for awhile they were my favorite band.

 

I always loved IARB and was hit or miss with the stuff afterwards. That being said, I really find myself relating to a lot of what Max said in that PDF and I think reading it came at a point in my life where I feel I've struggled to identify with a lot of where my brain fits comfortably in the realms of spirituality, sexuality, gender, and everything in between. Big respect to him and high hopes for the new record.

 

I pretty much gave up on Max and Say Anything overall after Anarchy, which is a very "mixed bag" album for me. The first few albums were tremendously impactful to me when I was a "rebellious" 20-something and thought Max was our generation's poet laureate. Then he released Hebrews and I Don't Think it Is, and I simply could not find anything in them that resonated with me. In fact, even seeing Say Anything live with Bayside last year failed to reenergize my adoration for his music. I even skipped the IARB anniversary shows; that's how burnt out I was with the band's artistic direction.

After reading his essay however, I gotta say that I truly admire the gut-wrenching honesty and transparency. I've been dealing with a lot of internal grief and anxiety for years that I'm just now coming to terms with, and while my strife isn't quite as intense as what he's dealt with, reading something that really exposes one's self brings some solace to my own life. Little reminders like that are always cathartic for more than just the author.

Strongly recommend that everyone take some time to give his essay a read; it's an earnest and insightful stream of consciousness from a guy who prides himself on never resting on his laurels, and evolving right in front of us as an artist. I've never faulted Max for taking chances, regardless of how they resulted and whether I enjoyed them or not.

 

Thank you both... no need to apologize, @GBlades. I'm fortunate enough to have never experienced anti-gay violence firsthand, but it's prevalent enough in our culture right now (and has been since I was born) to influence how I behave in certain situations and to impact how safe I feel in certain environments.

Not having heard the album, I guess I'm of two mindsets about the concept as Max has outlined it. On one hand, I don't mind a concept album like this reminding straight people that anti-LGBTQ violence is still a pretty big part of our culture. And Max can write and sing about whatever speaks to him, and he's an artist that I like and respect. The concept of this album that he decided to put out isn't going to make me change how I view him as a person or an artist. On the other hand (again, not having heard the album, and only having read the concept as Max outlined it in his essay), I kinda just wish he wouldn't have written an album from the perspective of a violent bigot when we see and hear so much violence and bigotry everywhere we turn in this era of our country's politics. Like, I'd be 110% pumped if Max had written an album that follows a character who is a straight dude but who finds himself in love with/attracted to a gay guy. But the fact that Max decided that the gay character, who did nothing but reject the straight guy, needed to be killed by the straight guy in order to fulfill his (Max's) artistic vision... meh, I don't love that.

Is it a realistic concept? Yes. Do I think Max is a bad person because he chose to tell this story? No way. Do I think Max shouldn't be allowed to base an album around this concept? No, he can do whatever he wants. Do I think it's a good idea? No, not particularly.

 

Song still isn't on Spotify but they put it on youtube. Finally got a listen, I'm digging it.
Much better than anything on the last two albums.

 

Have to give Max credit for being communicative, open and honest. Many band “breakups” end with a few vague sentences

 

it’s up on Spotify now

 

Daze reminds me how much I love Max's songwriting

 

preach