: I feel “Definition” sort of sets the stage for “impact” to be a theme of the album. The song started from ideas of impermanence, particularly in a band, or any other risk-my-future venture—knowing it could literally end at any time. I feel like that applies to a lot of things. I remember much of the time when we started writing this song was also when the straight-edge hardcore presence was growing in Knoxville. I have a lot of friends who are straight-edge and respectable, and I would never dog someone for embracing that lifestyle; but unfortunately we started seeing a lot violence at shows in that time also. A lot of kids have this tired argument, of “we’re just here to have fun,” that they’ll vomit out, just after clothes-lining a seventeen year old girl, and I think that’s a shame. It made me think about how the actions of an individual can impact an outside perception of a group, and sort of made me re-asses what I project. It’s sort of about how, like it or not, you stand for and represent something, no matter who you are, even if you don’t aim to. The embodiment of that for me, in a big way, is On My Honor (“into embodiments of broader thoughts, I’ve come to let define me”). From that realization, the song sort of becomes about being as genuine and proud of your actions and work as possible, and how that can bring an internalized satisfaction that benchmark accomplishments (tours, reviews, numbers) really can’t. I wrote a lot of “Definition” after having the thought, “I want this to be what it is, and not working for or from something. Eventually this band won’t exist, eventually I won’t exist, but someone could still come across this song or this record, and that could be their only representation of this band.” It’s almost like a revision and re-introduction to a “carpe diem” mentality for me.
-Drew Justice (via Property of Zack)
lyrics
What if these are the last words I ever get to say?
And the only reminders left
Are chips in teeth from where they made their way
Out of my head to where they need to be
Into embodiments of broader thoughts
I've come to let define me
I turn this body to a time capsule
To one day be opened up
Hoping it translates well
That burns and scars we made were deep enough
To keep spirits high when legs won't run
Options seem exhausted
Diving deeper than the skin
Exploring depths and knowing what the cost is
What if these are the last words I ever get to say?
And the only reminders left
Are chips in teeth from where they made their way
Out of my head to where they need to be
Into embodiments of broader thoughts
I've come to let define me
I thought we were all in this together
And I still want to so I still will
Can you proud of what defines you
And all you've heard about yourself?
What do you let define you?
What if these are the last words I ever get to say?
And the only reminders left
Are chips in teeth from where they made their way
Out of my head to where they need to be
Into embodiments of broader thoughts
I've come to let define me
It's not a contest
But we're all trying to place
The finish line, it does exist
But these ribbons are all myth
And that's fine
A chance to make myself mine
Find definition and clarify my place
And that's fine
A chance to make myself mine
Find definition and clarify my place
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