Why short, simple lyrics sometimes hit harder, through the words of Tigers Jaw

I feel like I cracked the puzzle when I realized why simple, short lyrics sometimes hit harder than poetic, cryptic lyrics. I believe it’s because simple, emotional lyrics leave space for you to insert yourself into them, and in turn, it’s super easy to feel like they’re relatable.

Photo of Tigers Jaw from Boulder Weekly

Simple, short, and vulnerable lyrics are one of the many reasons I love bands like Tigers Jaw and Title Fight. I just feel like they prove that sometimes less is more, and I think it is so fascinating how just one honest, vulnerable line can make you feel such complex emotions and hit you right in your chest.

While I have loved the way the band Title Fight has accomplished this for years, I have recently been listening to more and more Tigers Jaw, the late 2000s/early 2010s alternative/indie rock band, and loving their relatable, catchy songs. While Title Fight writes more of their music about internal struggles, Tigers Jaw writes a lot about relationships with people, and I want to share some lines that have made me recognize the fragility of friendships, helped me really appreciate my friends, and show how sometimes short, simple lyrics can tell more.

Tigers Jaw’s sound adds to their honest, raw feel from their imperfect vocal production, vocal doubling, and their commentary on relationships. Lyrics like “We are made from chemicals / But what holds us together is so much stronger than that” from the song Chemicals makes me really make me stop and think about how lucky I am to have the people I do. The line “What about your friends? / What about your friends do they make you happy?” from The Sun makes me reflect on my past friendships and why I keep my friends close. I’m happy to say that my current friends are people who really make me happy and are not relationships built on convenience or the fear of being lonely.

Photo from Tigers Jaw

More lyrics I love are “Today I needed a break / My friends are up in mountains and I’m drowning in lakes” from I Saw Water, “I learned a lot about being a friend when I was alone” from Never Saw It Coming, and “How do you act towards the ones you love / its harder to be honest when you’re young” from Crystal Vision.

To explain what I mean when these short lyrics allow the space for audiences to insert themselves, I feel like these lines are just so naturally human, and no matter who you are, anyone can relate to these lyrics in their own life. Short lyrics aren’t telling you how to feel, but they’re describing a feeling in such simple ways that people can interpret it however they want and resonate with it because it’s something they’ve also felt before. I really love it when lyrics do this; it makes me personally feel so connected to the music.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Caleb G / Industry Insider