NOTES

MILLENIAL MOANING
I never ever wanted to write about politics because it's a whole clusterfuck of things that I can't possibly understand at such a young age no matter how many times I try before the deflation and frustration settles in. But it's clear that our generation is very politically interested in a politically frustrating time and seems to be one of the more common ailments that we suffer. This is especially true for those that align with left-wing politics that young people find the most suiting given their moral-based view of the world in the abscence of experience.

Millenial Moaning is an attempt to capture the young romantic's helpless revolutionary thoughts regarding their country. We are a generation that is not excited by the prospect of the comfort of a career so that we may one day buy a house & start a family, we are a generation that wants fufilment. But the options presented to find this are slim, and high risk. I also tried to be honest to the fact that many of us around the age of 19/20 have very little intellectual solution to our grievances with British politics - we don't really understand it, or any solutions, and the desire to tear everything down is seen by the older generations as little more than a naive whine based on childish dreams.

GENERATION ME:
So what the fuck do we do about it? Open laptop. Open browser. The world outside doesn't seem to care about you?? Fuck it! Who needs it. You, and others like you, are all you need.

It is almost impossible to write or create anything about our generation without the internet as the crown jewell that holds it all together. Social media has given us a mirror to look at ourselves, where we can decorate and manipulate our reflection until we see a perfect version of ourselves. Favourite bands, film quotes, photography, raising awareness of your beliefs, documenting your every breath to make sure you, and everyone else, remembers that it happened.

The result is an absolutely fascinating narscism. But I don't want people to think that this is a criticism: there has NEVER been a better time to be narcistic. The ways you can explore & express your identity through the internet and its infinite audience is an absolute gift to fulfil those vain desires that, I think, we all have. Is it a monstrosity? A little bit, yeah. But it could be the start of something good. Communities can be created, ideas can be spread, loneliness can be numbed.



This whole piece was written pretty quickly after Sportswear Punk, carrying on the ideas of contrast & hyprocrisy within the makeup of our generation's personality and centered around the idea of politics & the internet.

It was also the first time I tried to experiment with form & structure based on this contrast idea from Sportswear Punk, and so I decided to write a song that was actually two songs, the second a direct reaction to the first, kind of like a 'cause & effect' type of structure. The addition of Tom's monologue at the end was a later addition but I think it is perfect tonally in caricaturing the absurdity of a social media timeline.

final note: excuse the reference to the prime minister that is no longer actually prime minister. same shit different smell.
Joel xx