Kris Together

[Avery]

Written by: Kris Allen, Lindy Robbins, Greg Kurstin
Produced by: Greg Kurstin

[taks]

WHAT HAS BEEN SAID:
Slezak says "it's got a certain urgency to it" and it's got "a little angst to it." Kris said, "we got in the studio and we were just sitting there and ended up writing something. Really love it, I think it's great man. We're going to do some tweaks to it to make it a little bit better but it's one of those songs that I think a lot of people are excited about. [...] The lyrics are a little, y'know, not so happy. [...] I think [fighting for that relationship] is what a lot of people go through." [Source: 1:40 of the 9/21 Slezak interview]
Lyndsey says, "the stuttering guitar intro of this uptempo powerpop-rocker brings to middle Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" or maybe a kinder, gentler All-American Rejects. And it boasts a bright, sunshiny chorus." [Source: Album Preview 10/21]

And now I'm going to go through all these threads and make predictions so I can look back and say "LOL WTF WAS I THINKING?"
My prediction:
This is totally about the pent up anxiety Kris feels all the time because he is worried that his shoes might come untied. Obviously, the powerpop-rocker refers to the soaring chorus:

And these shoes man, they're not so brand new
No matter what they say, it's just not that fun
To not know when those laces will go askew
This is too much pressure before we come undone

...

No? You don't think so?
In all seriousness, the song is apparently lyrically angsty but still "bright" and "sunshiny". I'm sort of imagining the I-Was-Played vibe except with less twang and more rock. I'm still going to say that the song, even the chorus, likely aren't as "sunshiny" as they are uptempo - which creates "urgency". Y'know, that sort of rushed, overwhelmed feeling. Oh and there will totally be a crescendo to a complete stop at some point, because like, that's how these songs roll.

[summerdaze]

Ooh, good call on the I Was Played comparison. I was having trouble reconciling the angsty theme Kris and Slezak talked about with the bright sunshiny sound Lyndsay talked about, but IWP is a perfect example.

[robinsparkles]

Okay, while everyone else is evidently flailing over CSA, I'll be over here in the corner by myself squeeing about this one because from the clips I LOVE it. Slezak seemed to capture the feeling well, with his "angsty" and "urgent" comments. I can't wait to hear the whole thing.

[julieitis]

I like it more the more I hear it. I just can't hear it very well, LOL!

[Maryma]

Okay, while everyone else is evidently flailing over CSA, I'll be over here in the corner by myself squeeing about this one because from the clips I LOVE it. Slezak seemed to capture the feeling well, with his "angsty" and "urgent" comments. I can't wait to hear the whole thing.

I'm with you, robinsparkles. I really liked it.

[Emily]

Okay, while everyone else is evidently flailing over CSA, I'll be over here in the corner by myself squeeing about this one because from the clips I LOVE it. Slezak seemed to capture the feeling well, with his "angsty" and "urgent" comments. I can't wait to hear the whole thing.

Oh, you'll need to make room in that corner. From the crackly, slightly blurry one minute clips I heard, I LOVE this one too. I like how the tempo and melody changes up at places but it still maintains coherency. And I agree that Slezak did a good job capturing the feeling. I couldn't really hear the lyrics in this clip, but the urgency and angst still comes out with the music. I really like it, and am super excited to hear this whole one.

[squirt]

I LOVE THIS!!!!!

[bada]

I can't decide which one I love more...

[SarahBeth]

I need a clear audio version of that for my ipod. But muffled it was still pretty good! Have I mentioned how excited I am for the album?