So Long Soldier

Album: Don't Panic (2012)
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Songfacts®:

  • This autobiographical song tells of All Time Low's rise to stardom, starting from when frontman Alex Gaskarth moved from England to America in 1995 at the age of seven. The second verse tells of the early days of the band when they started pursuing their dreams.
  • The song features guest vocals from Anthony Raneri from the Queens, New York rockers Bayside as well as Hey Monday's Cassadee Pope whose band has toured with All Time Low. Pope later found fame as winner of the second US series of The Voice. "She has such a sick and dynamic voice and a really cool range," Gaskarth told Billboard magazine. "She just always does a good job at lending her talents. It was just nice to finally get her on something. It was very cool."
  • Musically, the song is a return to All Time Low's Punk roots. Gaskarth told Kerrang! magazine: "We wanted a real barn-burner on this record, something that would get people going - a Warped Tour song, if you will. We were actually rehearsing and working on a different song in the studio and we came up with the riff from the intro. We just horned in on that idea and wrote the song really quickly.It's one of those songs that came together really fast."
  • Kerrang! asked Gaskarth if he really considers himself to "voice a generation," which he sings in the chorus. He replied: "The chorus is more of a hopeful thing. It's why I believe in what I do, and it's words of encouragement to ourselves. I'm not claiming that I actually am the voice of a generation - it's more looking back on the reasons we started the band and the dreams and ambitions we had."

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