Boy in December are a band of brothers who have been playing together since… Read Full Bio ↴Boy in December are a band of brothers who have been playing together since birth. Growing up in Huron County, the Husseys - Mark (bass), Matt (piano, vocals), Micah (guitar) and Manny (drums) - fell into music one after another, driven to make it, play it and put it out for everyone who’d listen. Coming from a family of nine children, they had a built-in audience from day one. After playing together in the band Silence, and experiencing a rush of success with an ornate, progressive rock sound and showl, the brothers came to the point where they had to make a change, and went back into the studio determined to find a new direction. It took them four years to break apart their old sound and rebuild themselves. Working with a new producer, the Husseys began to approach their songs differently, focusing on strong hooks and arena-ready choruses, crafting songs that captured their intensity and integrity as performers and lifted their music to a new level. “Making this album was an unbelievable process for us,” says Mark Hussey, whose background in music production and engineering makes him a key contributor to the band’s overall sound. “We were relentless with each song, working at it from every angle until we were satisfied, until we had an album’s worth of songs that we knew were really strong. And now, having gone through that process, we can’t wait to get out there and play these songs for people.” That difficult process of changing their sound has paid off for Boy in December. Their debut release provides listeners with a range of songs that break down barriers and appeal to a broad spectrum of music fans. In a time when music and entertainment is ruthlessly marketed with an ever-tighter focus to very specific audiences, the Hussey brothers show that they are capable of tearing down the walls between target markets and focus groups and replacing convenient labels with a simple concept: playing great songs. And there is a huge audience of people out there hungry for just that.

Island
Boy in December Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Turned me into rain
Before I ran to fire
One man's wake to shame
Is another's cold desire

Pushed up to the edge
With such a believable fall
One man's arcade is

Another's wrecking ball

Chorus:

And still I stay on my island
My island
And still I stay on my island

Tune me in from grain
Before the signal's lost
One man's limits fall
On another's rising costs
One's man putdown
Is another's anthem glorious
All that we toss away
Comes back to

Chorus X2
But you can't say I'm not trying

What are we waiting for?
I've been billed a sale
Made out of the veil
I held over my view
Now I'm overdue
Coming through to you
To fall out of my view

How long can
You withstand
The length of our commands
How long can
We pretend
We're on own our island
How long can
We defend
Our own meridian
How long can

We depend
On this old oxygen

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Boy in December's song Island present the idea of individualism and isolation, as the singer finds comfort in their own island. The first verse speaks of being turned into rain before running to fire, indicating that the singer has experienced pain and suffering before finding solace in their island. The second line suggests that shame is subjective and can either be a wake-up call for one person or desired by another. This is followed by the imagery of being pushed to the edge with a believable fall, likened to an arcade game for one person or a wrecking ball for another. The chorus repeatedly declares the singer's will to stay on their island, a metaphor for their emotional isolation.

In the second verse, the singer reflects on the perception of limits and costs, indicating that one man's limit-breaking can be seen as rising costs for another. The concept of anthem is also introduced, as one man's anthem is another's putdown, further highlighting the idea of subjectivity. The third line hints at the idea of karma, indicating that what is tossed away will eventually come back to the singer. The chorus is repeated twice, emphasizing the singer's determination to stay on their island despite their awareness that they are trying.

The bridge section starts with a question: What are we waiting for? This line marks a shift in perspective from individualism to the larger society. The following lines mention being billed a sale made out of the veil, hinting at the idea that the singer has been sold a false sense of security, and now they are overdue, trying to fall out of their view. The final section of the song altogether poses a series of questions about personal dependency, societal obligations, and the limitations of life, making the song an introspective and relatable piece.

Line by Line Meaning

Turned me into rain
I was washed down so much that I felt like I was turned into rain.

Before I ran to fire
Before I ran to the danger that awaited me like fire.

One man's wake to shame
One man's mistakes bring him shame.

Is another's cold desire
But another man has a desire for what that one man caused.

Pushed up to the edge
I feel like I am being pushed to the very edge of everything.

With such a believable fall
Getting close to the cliff's edge made me believe I was about to fall off.

One man's arcade is
One man's game is

Another's wrecking ball
Another man's destruction.

Chorus: And still I stay on my island My island And still I stay on my island
Even though I am surrounded by danger and people have different opinions and desires, I am staying where I am.

Tune me in from grain
Help me to focus.

Before the signal's lost
Before it's too late to start communicating.

One man's limits fall
One man's limitations diminish.

On another's rising costs
While another man bears the rising costs of that one man's freedom and growth.

One's man putdown
One man's insult

Is another's anthem glorious
Is another man's inspiration and glory.

All that we toss away
All the things we throw away.

Comes back to
Will eventually come back to haunt us.

Chorus X2 But you can't say I'm not trying
I may be staying where I am, but it's not because I haven't tried to leave or make a change.

What are we waiting for?
Why are we just sitting around?

I've been billed a sale
I've been sold something.

Made out of the veil
Something that was not really there.