By Mercedes Caldera-Perez
The Centennialight
To go along with his ongoing tour, Will Wood (a multi genre singer-songwriter) uses his third album titled The Normal Album to commentate on society's standard of normality and how it contrasts with everyday life. The album cover shows Will Wood dressed in a suit waving from a perfectly symmetrical open window, his purple tie and button up shirt pop from the monotone black and white background of the house. The atmosphere of the album expresses the feeling of annoyed and overwhelmed regarding the standard to be accepted in modern times. Here are some of the more well known songs from the album.
¨Suburbia Overture¨ acknowledges how a lot goes on behind the ideal white picket fence scenarios we may see in day-to-day life, like social media, where people show the best of themselves; many families or workplaces also front the perfect image. Some may wonder why this is so hard to achieve. It's not real. This song being an overture includes parts of a few other songs from the artist such as ¨Vampire Culture¨ and ¨Love me Normally¨.
¨2econd-2ight-2eer¨ comments on how you should be able to be yourself no matter what, embracing imperfection and who you are without having a single worry. Live life how you want to live it - obviously it can be easier said than done, but it's a nice message that is quite familiar today.
¨Laplace´s Angel (Hurt people? Hurt people!)¨ discusses how it's difficult to define what makes a good person a ¨good¨ person and what defines a bad person as ¨bad¨. Most people tend to justify their own actions so what makes something ¨bad¨ in the eyes of others? ¨Lapace´s Angel¨ is a play on ¨Laplace's Demon¨ as well as ¨Hurt people? Hurt people!¨, a reference to the saying ¨Hurt people hurt people¨.
¨BlackBoxWarrior-OKULTRA¨ talks about the ill-natured ways that are sometimes used to help individuals with their mental health. Sometimes this becomes something that society often defines people by rather than who they are. Though this song doesn't have a confirmed meaning, like many Will Wood songs it's mostly up to interpretation.
¨Memento Mori: the most important thing in the world¨ commentates on the saying ¨memento mori¨, Latin for ¨remember you must die¨. The lyrics go through the many ways of death and how everyone ends up in the same place. By showing how you can't escape the inevitable end, it helps push the message of not stressing about the future or regrets in the past. Instead you should just live in the moment; live life how you wish.
The songs in this album have a lot to say in a short amount of time but manages to state its message quite loudly. With the many unconfirmed meanings and questions scattered throughout the different songs it really leaves the listener to piece together leftover pieces, making it interesting to think about your own meanings when you go through on your own. The music by Will Wood is definitely not for everyone but I can say that if you would like to listen to a lyrical version of ¨Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum¨ I would recommend this artist. For more information on Will Wood or his 2022 tour you can visit www.willwood.net.