Death for My Birthday

Album: Say Anything (2009)
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Songfacts®:

  • Vocalist Max Bemis explained this song to Alternative Press: "This song is another example of something I find inherently wrong with society and it comes from a different place. I'm a pretty spiritual and religious guy - not traditionally religious by any means - but very cerebral. One of the things that is promoted in spiritually is this understanding of death being a kind of gate to another world and that life isn't the only thing that exists in the life of your soul. Life on earth is only one part of it, but I think there are people who become obsessed with that notion. I've even been guilty of that at certain moments, but I'm a pretty live-in-the-moment kind of guy. Some people forget that life is important and their fascination with death or the idea that it will take you to a perfect place keeps them from living their life as if it's their only life. This song is about someone who drifts through this middle-of-the-road life and never really feels emotions strongly or is thankful for what they have because they're so focused on the notion that they will eventually die. They believe this life doesn't matter because it's all temporary, and I completely disagree with that. I believe in the afterlife and that earth is only one perception that we will be experiencing for a certain amount of time, and that there's more to it than that. I think that you have to love it for what it is and treat it as the most important thing in the world."

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