POTF – Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day
Small detail – update 25-04-2016
Since I have written this post, I’ve listened to this song a couple of hundred times more… ok, maybe I am exaggerating but it may well be at least half as much. Not the point, though. I have come to realize something quite enlightening. Every time, Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day takes on a slightly different meaning. I don’t really know what influences this, personally, I blame my mood. Beyond that, another underrated thought that I did not highlight was that Poets of the Fall are incredible storytellers. I am not only referring to their videos but first and foremost the words. I won’t say more on the matter, I just wanted to clear up things to let it go. Now I have and so I shall…
Intro
Sipping on my very much needed morning caffeine, I am thinking about what I should write today. Then it hit me, yet again – that being struck like lightning and hit so many times by this and that, it is a miracle that I still live or at the very least, that I don’t have any bruises of any kind by now – jokes and double personalities aside, I had a great day yesterday. I don’t mean to gloat or anything, but it was one of the good ones: nothing happened, except for the few important errands I managed to set up for next week – yeah me, and my own private victory – nothing happened. It might sound boring at first, but it was not. My mind was in this bubble of stillness rolling all over my body as the music played, that was some rush, I tell you, and yet completely still.
The music played in my head, but for most of the day, I was surrounded by silence – yes, it happens a lot; it is only by the evening that finally I pressed the play button on my iPod to listen to my – for lack of a better description – absolute favorite 60 tracks Poets of the Fall playlist. The funny thing with discovering a band like Poets of the Fall so late in the game is that there is a lot of catching up to do. Now that the playlist is quite complete, for the moment, my attention was hooked on a few songs like this one “Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day“.
Is it a love song? I believe it is, but not the kind of “I love you, me either” song, more like don’t give up you’ll survive this. It could be a break-up story, so love song… if it is, fine by me but then, I don’t have to explain the obvious, now do I? Either way, my own interpretation of the lyrics is another “self-centered” piece, which could also make sense and if you believe – like I do – that Poets of the Fall are not as “Shallow” as the river.
Philip Pullman said in an interview a few years back something like, once his books are published and in the hands of the readers, his words do not belong to him anymore. It is for us to understand what we will. I guess that is what I am doing with Poets of the Fall‘s lyrics.
Album: Carnival of Rust
Song: Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day
A few words about the album. Like many people out there, the first song I heard by Poets of the Fall was Carnival of Rust. Actually, I was shown the video and I instantly loved it. I had not been listening to music for months when suddenly this voice, the music, and the visual artistry unveiled the tracks I was looking for. I then proceeded in listening to the entire album, or more like scanning it. Strangely, it felt too much in my face kind of album so I put it aside. I wrote above that it was strange because it is, in fact, my type of music, I guess I was just not ready to take it in yet. I eventually did listen instead of scanning: good decision! Carnival of Rust is a mountain of hidden raw gems where some songs’ emotions feel so genuine – like “Dawn” to name only one – that the way I explain to my friends the impact it had on me, is usually something like, I have shivers up from my head down to my feet and as if that was not enough it tears my tears out of my eyes. I don’t feel sad, or anything, don’t misunderstand; imagine for a second what it’s like when someone’s music makes you feel so strong about a song that it becomes a physical – even chemical – reaction in your entire body. I’d say, it’s pretty nifty. So back to the subject at hand, “
So back to the subject at hand, “Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day“, when you consider that Carnival of Rust is the album of “growth” as Marko puts it, the song I chose today is fitting to the idea.
Its hook lies with the title for it sums up a well-known journey so far. The song’s story in itself, not so much related to my recovery journey but rather to the darkness within and how it has influenced me over the past few months. When does darkness invade my thoughts? It has been a long journey where hope and doubt are dancing farandole at times and some other times shooting at each other. Just like life and death, one will never exist without the other.
The chorus
Besides the lyrics, the music is strong and has a well-balanced rhythm, which brings forth the full intent behind the song. No matter the hurts we are going through, the day won’t last forever and a new light will unfailingly shine on new opportunities if we let it. Expecting that nothing better will come our way is not an option. Take yourself by the hand, believe you’re going to make it through to the morning! In other words, trust to hope.
First and second verse
It is very easy to feel overwhelmed by everything that happens in the world, especially since it is never all that good – to put it mildly. We have our preconceptions, our beliefs, and our values but when it all comes down to nothing, we become powerless to overpower the feelings. We are swimming in this quicksand without a chance to get out – or so we think. Yet, we try and make decisions that more often than not pull us towards the unknown, and that is darn scary. We lose ourselves in an internal fight and get blinded by what’s in front of us. We wish things to be different, alone we struggle against a loneliness that should not be there. We are very good, as a species – we earthlings, at self-sabotage. Can we really believe and hope?
Third verse
We do not want to play the game, yet we do despite our sucking at it. We come up with resolutions that are just words in the wind. In the end, though, we lose all the battles and move on. We have finally managed to convince ourselves that everything is possible again, so we did not really lose but cannot see it that way. How can we be sure? Have we found ourselves? Are we stronger?
Final words
While I did not interpret this song as a love song, it is one. When there is love there’s hope and doubt. I would like to say that the ideas I have described are also relevant in the context of a love song, in the literal sense of the word. My mother told me a couple of weeks ago that it is nearly impossible to get better – whatever your struggle – without others. Love is a very general term we use, too often, in a romantic fashion; but love is so much more, and Poets of the Fall are really good at singing about all the layers of love. As I have written about it on the Cradled in Love article, “Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day” could be taken as an inner dialogue where one need to find oneself’s very core to make it or simpler put some inner pep talk.
PS: Marko explains in his own words about the song here: Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day.
