Music Review // Stonehocker "Take Everything"

 

There is a certain melody which comes through the acoustic sound of Stonehocker.  This begins the song and stays throughout the duration.  In some ways, it can remind me of an artist such as Dashboard Confessional, but when it was a full band and not just acoustic guitar + voice.  There is a very full sound here and it almost becomes angelic in how uplifting it can feel.  I suppose in some ways, lyrically, this song can also be uplifting.

Sometimes one of the toughest things in life can be asking for help when we need it.  You can get into this mindset of "I started this so I need to finish it", but there isn't any shame in asking for help.  This comes out in the songs lyrics when it says: "It's too much for me".   That idea of taking everything could just be about handing control over to someone else because you can no longer handle it, and that way of asking for help should be talked about more.

What I also feel exists in here is there very real sort of existential way of looking at life and the things we own.  "Take Everything" could be both an emotional and physical state of mind.  With the lyrics: "When my home is not a home / Take everything / Here it is" I think about someone just having all of these physical possessions they do not need and just wanting to rid their house of them.  It just makes you think about objects in a sort of Buddhist way.

That physical possession aspect of this song could still be considered something mental, while overall I think the song does tend to focus on the mental side of things, in the way that you kind of want to take the reigns for you, to take control, but not in a literal sense but an emotional one.  Whether you feel this way or just know you might one day, this is a great song to put on as a reminder that asking for help when we need it is okay.