Well, well what do we have here? A complete breakdown of Wild Youth’s new single ‘Modern Colosseum’? Okaaay, let’s go! We’ve officially moved on (pun intended) from the happy sad love songs and into the realm of socio-political commentary which is enough of a sudden 180 in terms of theme to cause whiplash. In the current global climate however, it’s hard to ignore what’s going on in the world and this song is a testament to that. Poverty, war and the disconnect between the ideals of young adults and current world leaders are all prominent concepts. Modern Colosseum stands as an anthem to remind people that the next generation aren’t as apathetic as we are made out to be.
Firstly, I’m going to break down the title for you. The inclusion of the term modern is fairly self-explanatory considering the references to cancel culture, war, poverty and other issues that have been hugely prominent in current news. The next thing we need to look at is the Colosseum and, as a Classical history nerd, I know quite a bit about the Colosseum but I promise I’ll only tell you the bits that I think are relevant to the song. The Colosseum is the world’s most iconic amphitheatre and the arena can be seen as a place for the public display of struggles for the world to see. The Colosseum was used for public spectacles like executions and animal hunts as well as gladiatorial contests. A quick note on gladiators: Most, but not all, gladiators were slaves, had no choice in when or if they were fighting and they were generally socially ostracized as they fought to earn their freedom. This reference to a colosseum throughout the track could imply the constant struggles, pitched battle/warfare in the public view and that we, as the gladiators in this arena, are fighting against indifference and against a generation intent on destroying the world before we get a chance to call the shots; a struggle that has been constant and long standing in society that never seems to change, much like the Colosseum. It is a monumental struggle that never ends.
Did I dig too deep into the title of the song probably but it does make reference to the area in which I hold my Masters degree so I regret nothing. Anyway! On to the next part! The production!
This is probably Wild Youth’s most upbeat release to date and is loaded with some stunning drums that really drive the beat and rhythm of this track at breakneck speed and that means I have to stop and recognise the talent that is Callum McAdam whose drum fills are what I can only describe as Pop Punk excellence akin to Ashton Irwin. The track’s pace is frantic and frenzied as though the song, along with the world, is desperate to get the point across as quickly and succinctly as possible. It’s a lot to process and take in in the three and a half minute runtime but it could be considered a reflection of the current state of the world we live in where it’s one ‘once in a lifetime event’ after another. It’s almost hard to keep up with how much information you’re given as the listener.
The opening is a synthy and echoed which gives the song such an upbeat and dreamy quality which is a massive contrast to the message the song actually conveys. It will definitely garner the band a lot of attention as the beat emphasizes the key aspects of the track’s message but also because of its pace. This is without a doubt a song that should easily find its way into regular radio rotation. The track as a whole does make you wonder if the beat and rhythm of the track are being utilized to distract from the very serious message and whether or not that is intentional in order to make such a harsh message a little easier to swallow. Once again, Wild Youth have brought two very contrasting concepts together: the serious message of the state of society and our world and what can only be described as cheerful, up tempo music. The lyrical and musical juxtaposition is functional dissonance: it works in practice but on paper feels like it shouldn’t. The band have done this before with their ‘happy sad songs’. The song is at odds with previous releases and very much a step away from the retro sounding vibes of Forever Girl for Wild Youth.
However, for all those positives, I do have some problems with the track. If I have said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: ENUNCIATE! With the use of vocal fry and the speed at which Dave Whelan’s vocals are delivered, the lyrics become blurred and nigh on incomprehensible at points which could impact how people receive and understand the message. There is also a very heavy handed use of echo on the spoken word segment of the track and, without the lyrics, I would have had no possible way of understanding what was being said. I do understand the goal with the spoken word segment; however, I feel like the production could have been utilised far better and found the echo on the spoken word a tad excessive. That may, of course, be my personal preference but it’s, unfortunately, something I can’t overlook.
Now, we get on to the fun part of the review: my breakdown of the song lyrically. To make this simple, I’ll give my general opinion of the lyrics then I’ll include the song lyrics I found most notable and the meanings I found behind them. Overall, the lyrics are an incredibly in-depth, insightful look at modern life. The lyrics really make the listener look at the world around us and how issues are more apparent now than ever. So, let’s have a look at some individual lyrics:
– “Fall from grace in the media” – a reference to cancel culture and how it has become the new norm in society.
– “When I don’t believe in any old Jesus” – Whether this Bell X1 reference is intentional or not, it suggests that life, as it is right now, tests even the most staunch beliefs.
– “Speeding and no one’s at the steering wheel” – The world and life is very much beyond our control and we have just become passengers in the chaos that is life.
– “They consider us as normal people” – at odds with the concept that everyone is special which we are force fed at a young age and yet we are the generation that are called ‘snowflakes’ which are inherently individual. It’s a paradoxical cycle.
– “Watch my life play out behind a screen” – We are viewers of life as it goes by but what we see wouldn’t be considered a pleasant experience. It may also suggest that there is very little we can do to change some major aspects of our lives as we are simply viewers as the story unfolds.
– “Glued to the news but nothing seems to change” – Almost like waiting for Doomsday to be announced considering there’s never anything good on the news any more, just more of the same.
– “I don’t believe in leaders, preachers, Dancing on the TV” – Performative actions by people in power are done under the guise of ‘helping’ “normal people” but the simple reality is that these leaders are doing nothing but performing in order to distract from more pressing issues.
– “Stuck in a modern colosseum” – We aren’t in this pitched battle by choice because our choices have been taken from us.
– “Woke kids at 2am out of their minds” and “children with guns” implies that from childhood we are expected to fight to survive rather than being protected by our elders.
– “F*cking your freedom” – by law or by action we are regularly screwed over by leaders who are taking from the next generation to help themselves.
– “Another shooting in America” – The repetition of “another” in the spoken word aspect of the song suggests that none of these things are a surprise any more. We have become desensitized to all these horrific things.
– “Throwing fuel on the fire, to watch it burn our desire” – social situations and crises are escalated in the hope that we will lose the will to fight for them but instead this has the opposite effect.
‘Modern Colosseum’ is out now and on all good streaming platforms and Wild Youth will be on tour across Ireland very soon so don’t forget to pick up the last available tickets as quickly as you can. A very big thank you to Conor O’Donohoe for helping me grasp the lyrics and thanks to Niamh for letting me do this single spotlight almost completely on my own.
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