Good Charlotte CD Review – The Young and the Hopeless
The album The Young and the Hopeless was one of the biggest selling punk rock albums of 2002. It introduced the world to a little band from Waldorf, Maryland called Good Charlotte. I am going to explain to you what every song means and my opinion of it.
The first song on the album is “A New Beginning.” It is an instrumental and is somewhat of an introduction to the album. It isn’t uncharacteristic of the band to include instrumentals in their shows let alone their albums. Although I don’t particularly care for instrumentals, this one caught my ear and I absolutley love it.
The second song is “The Anthem.” This is an amazing song about not conforming and sticking to your beliefs. It’s also about not succumbing to peer pressure or the pressure of your parents. It’s about being an individual and doing what you feel in your heart is right.
The third song is “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” This is definitley their most popular song on the album. This song is about all the celebrities that complain about their lives. It is also about how their are people who are far worse off then they are. This is a Good Charlotte classic.
The fourth song is “Wondering.” Benji and Joel from Good Charlotte say that they wrote this song about their dog Cashdogg, but many of their fans believe that it’s about a girl. That’s up for debate. An upbeat song that’s really catchy.
The fifth song is “The Story of my old man.” This song is about how Benji and Joel’s dad abandoned their family and left them with literally nothing. It is in a way getting revenge on their dad by writing a song about how their dad left them and lef them with nothing. Awesome song with a good tempo and easy to dance to.
The sixth song is “Girls and Boys.” This song is hilarious. It is about a guy who isn’t cool at all, but has lots of money so he gets the girl and keeps her. Just as long as he keeps giving her money and buying her things. Definitley a good song. One of the better ones on the album.
The seventh song is “My Bloody Valentine.” The inspiration from this song comes from the Edgar Allan Poe poem, ‘Tell Tale Heart.” It’s about a guy who’s in love with a girl who has a boyfriend. He wants her more than anything, so he kills the boyfriend so he can have the girl to herself. An awesome song with an awesome mood to it.
The eight song is “Hold on.” This is an anti-suicide song. It basically says that life gets better with time and how everybody bleeds the same and everybody has troubles in life. Suicide isn’t the answer. This is probably one of my favorite songs on the album. It really hits you in the heart and makes you think about life and analyze your life. It really helps you put your own life into perspective.
The ninth song is “Riot Girl.” This song is about a guy’s girlfriend who is loud and likes to create trouble. She doesn’t take too well to authority, but she does truly love her boyfriend. This song is awesome and it shows Good Charlotte fans what Good Charlotte is all about.
The tenth song is “Say Anything.” This song is about a boyfriend and girlfriend who are on the rocks. He is reminiscing about the good times they had and begging her to “say anything.” This is an awesome song full of emotion and it is easy for anybody to really relate to the feelings in the song.
The eleventh song is “The Day that I Die.” This is my favorite song on the album. It’s about waking up knowing that today is the day that you will die. He spends the day going back home to where he used to live, talking to his mom about dying and living his last day out. One of the best songs on the album.
The twelfth song is “The Young and The Hopeless.” This song is about being young and hopeless and feeling lost in this world but knowing that your better off in the end. Going through hard times will in the end help you. It’s about being ridiculed and when you confront the people who ridiculed you they have nothing to say. This is an awesome song and for a while this was my own personal anthem.
The thirteenth song is “Emotionless.” This song is about Benji and Joel’s dad once again. It isn’t filled with hate, but with questions. They want to know why he left and if his life is better now that he’s relieved of his responsibilities as a father. They also say that they don’t hate him and that their alright. This is an awesome emotional song that shows their true feelings towards their father.
The fourteenth song is “Movin’ On.” This song is about what the title suggests, Movin’ on. It is about making the best out of a bad situation and moving on with your life. Although it is hard, it’s something you have to do. It also suggests that some friends become enemies and some friends become your family. That is my favorite line in the song and that’s what got me hooked on the song.
If I were to give it a grade from A to F, I would give it an A-. It was awesome as a whole, but there were a few songs I didn’t like as much as others. Every song was awesome, but it could have been a little bit more relatable towards me. Awesome, absolutley awesome.
