Gregorovich wrote:Jeremy Kill wrote:Had Deryck and Avril divorced after 10+ years of marriage, I think he would've written a slightly different album.
In fact, I'm almost interested to hear what kind of album Sum 41 would've put out if Deryck and Avril were still married today. I believe the music would be similar (Jessica Kill and A Dark Road Out of Hell were already demoed by early 2009) and Tom still would've shown Deryck the Gob demo that eventually became Screaming Bloody Murder. Except for Jessica Kill, the main themes of the songs could've been completely different.
Well a lot of the songs from SBM really have nothing to do with the divorce, but also weren't even inspired by them. Take TFYTG & BYDWK for example - I heard Derycks say in an update that neither were about the divorce, and they really do sound like the kind of music the band would make if the album hadn't been so dark. All the darkest songs, with the exception of BIME aren't about the divorce - even Crash was written years before. So the biggest difference I guess would be no BIME or WAITS.
I'm pretty sure the majority of the songs are about the divorce. You have to really listen about what the songs are saying. Sure, none may be as explicit as What Am I to Say or Blood In My Eyes, but pretty much all the songs have some motivation from Deryck's breakup. Watch Don't Try This At Home again and it will be obvious that Screaming Bloody Murder was a remedy to help him through that. The two tock & roll songs could be an exception since the lyrics are very bland and vague, but they are still about relationships nonetheless. The party after climbing out of rock bottom? That's how I see those songs. A Dark Road Out of Hell is pretty much confirmed it was about the divorce by Deryck thanks to Tomi. The rest of the songs allude to the divorce vaguely, but you can be sure that that is what Deryck is talking about.
Reason to Believe - "Cause after all, you can't get everything you want now."
Screaming Bloody Murder - "God will set you up to bleed and no one can deceive what is meant to be"
Skumfuk - "Take the pictures off the wall, erase the thoughts forget them all"
Back Where I Belong - "I'm on my own, but I am back where I belong"
Exit Song - "It's time to let you go and bow out of this game"
Of course, these songs could be applied to anything shitty that happens in life. I'm not saying these songs are 100% written about the divorce, but they are definitely inspired by it. I believe there to be at least one line from every song on that album that spawned from the breakup. For instance, picture Deryck singing the last line in Crash ("I was supposed to grow old with you, but that ain't gonna happen"). Do you think he thought about that guy in the accident or about Avril when he recorded that line? I think songwriters will always tie in something personal, something that means to them in their songs, even if it isn't anything to do with their lives. How are you supposed to make something come off as believable if you don't feel like it happened to yourself as well?