In November 2004 Five Times August’s song “Better With You” was featured in MTV’s hit show Laguna Beach. The series’ music supervisor had found the song at random via online web portal CDBaby.com. By the end of the year that exposure had snowballed into an underground following for the one-man band, catapulting Myspace listens and iTunes sales. By Spring ’06 Five Times August was a national touring artist, performing solo acoustic shows across the country (to date FTA has performed in 43 of the 50 states). More song placements soon followed, with features on networks ranging from The CW and MTV to ABC, FOX and Lifetime, among many others. In 2007 Five Times August became the first unsigned act in history to accomplish national distribution through Wal-Mart stores.
It doesn’t stop there. Most recently you may have heard Five Times August in a national GMC commercial promoting their big summer savings event. Also, if you own any of HBO’s 2009 DVD releases, you’ll most likely be hearing the song “Do It Again” in a quick ad before the menu pops up.
“Life As A Song” is a twelve-track collection of Five Times August’s most popular songs in recent years. Based on fan favorites and the most licensed songs, Skistimas went back into the studio with Grammy Award winner Andy Zulla (Kelly Clarkson, Jessica Simpson, Rod Stewart) to polish and shine each song for more commercial success, re-recording many of the tune’s instrumentation and vocals from the ground up. “It’s an album of growth and change,” Skistimas says about the quazi “best of” album. “At the start of the album you’ll find me where I was as a songwriter, more innocent and raw. By the end you’ll see I’m not the same songwriter anymore, there’s a deeper outlook on life in the newer songs.”
The album includes new mainstream versions of underground college cult-hits like “Up To Me” and “Better With You” (the latter has sold 58,000 digital singles to date). Alongside those fan favorites, the album also includes a few new songs, one being the stand out piano ballad “Break,” which shadows influence from Nilsson’s classic hit “Without You.” Brad explains “the beauty of this album is that even though a lot of my fans may know the songs already, it’s going to be a brand new listening experience for them. They are going to hear these songs as if for the first time.” Skistimas’ mind rests knowing songs like “Wherever” and “The Lighting” finally sound like he had always envisioned.
Brad is furthering the expansion of Five Times August with a new concrete touring band. After spending the last three years touring solo, Skistimas is changing gears on the road, transitioning his intimate set list into a full on concert experience. Five Times August will be on several national tours surrounding the release of “Life As A Song,” in stores October 13th, 2009.
Before
Five Times August Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't want to be with out her tonight
These days are passing and I don't think that I'm the last thing
That she's going to dream of in her mind
It's never ending, 'cause I'm full of wishful thinking
And it's nothing that will make it right
With all I'm losing, like her beauty, it's a good thing
She'd tear me down
From all the things I was before
Drowned me out
To solve the piece she never knew before
I'm going crazy my mind is spinning in these circles,
I don't want to be with out her tonight
These days are passing and I don't think that I'm the last thing
That she's going to dream of in her mind
She'd tear me down
From all the things I was before
Drowned me out
To solve the piece she never knew before
The song "Before" by Five Times August, conveys the desperate feeling of a person who has lost someone very dear to them. The singer is going insane thinking about the person he lost and desperately wishes to be with them tonight. He cannot stop thinking about the countless moments he has spent with her and how he might never get them back again. The singer admits he's full of wishful thinking and that nothing can make it right. He has lost everything, including her beauty but is relieved that she won't be coming back tonight.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the point that the singer has lost his identity due to the loss and the person he was before. The person he lost has drowned him out, and he struggles to find a piece of himself that he can hold on to. The singer acknowledges the significant impact the person had on his life before she left and how she tore him down from all the things he was before.
In conclusion, "Before" by Five Times August is a song about loss and the complexities of grief. The lyrics convey a sense of helplessness and confusion that comes with letting go of someone we love very much. The song is emotional with strong lyrics and can resonate with anyone who has loved and lost.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm going crazy my mind is spinning in these circles,
The writer is feeling overwhelmed and disoriented.
I don't want to be without her tonight
The writer is missing a specific person and would like to spend time with them.
These days are passing and I don't think that I'm the last thing
The writer is concerned about their position in the person's thoughts and feelings.
That she's going to dream of in her mind
The person is being romanticized in the mind of the writer.
It's never ending, 'cause I'm full of wishful thinking
The writer is stuck in cyclical thoughts and unrealistic hopes.
And it's nothing that will make it right
No action or external force will fix the writer's feelings.
With all I'm losing, like her beauty, it's a good thing
Despite the negative feelings, there's a silver lining to not being with this person.
That she won't be coming back tonight
The person the writer is missing won't be returning for the night.
She'd tear me down
The person the writer is missing has the power to make them feel small and insecure.
From all the things I was before
The person has changed the writer.
Drowned me out
The person has silenced the writer's voice.
To solve the piece she never knew before
The person was trying to fix a puzzle they didn't understand.
I'm going crazy my mind is spinning in these circles,
The writer is once again overwhelmed and disoriented.
I don't want to be without her tonight
The writer still wishes to spend time with the person.
These days are passing and I don't think that I'm the last thing
The writer is still concerned about their position in the person's mind.
That she's going to dream of in her mind
The romanticized image of the person persists.
Contributed by Hunter Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Planetgonenuts
“From the days of the Ancients have been heard the lamentations of the woeful and disheartened, and they ask the winds, “Where have we failed for the God we pray to remain unresponsive?” They air their goodness and virtues and ask why these have gone unrewarded. It becomes a grievance with them and they know not where to seek the answer. In this, our generation, goodly men have been robbed of their estates by warlike strangers, and their wives have even ravaged by men who have studied the ways of weaponry. Their possessions have been sold to provide earthly pleasure for those who revel in things of the Earth, and their households have been despoiled to give pleasure to fornicating fighters. In their dire despair they seek to lay the blame upon a God who does not strike down wrongdoers and seemingly rewards those who are earthlywise. Wherein have they failed? This is the echo in the corridors of the ages.
They have failed because they have left to God the things which they, as God’s overseers on earth, should have accomplished. It is men in the mass who permit evil to flourish in their midst. Their woeful lamentations ascend to Heaven and call upon the Heavenly Hosts for aid, but better by far would it be were they to call upon their own resolution and fortitude and fight the good fight, to bring about the rule of right and justice
All this is wrong with the world has at its genesis in men, and if evil stalks the land, then it follows the attitudes and acts of men. Therefore, it is men who must make recompense for their lack of effort-producing concern. If the people establish the way of iniquity as their way, then it is the wrongdoers who will be rewarded with bounty, and this is not God’s will but man’s.
If the people lament and are disenchantment with the way things are, then it is a time for action rather than a time for prayer. Pray not for heavenly help, but for a strong right arm and righteous wrath and resolution. The gospel of despair is for weaklings.
If evil be established by the sword, then it is because the swords of the good have lacked strength and numbers. Those who petition The Great God for help must be sure they have lacked nothing in their own preparations. They must fight strength with strength, and were they lack numbers then they must fight with subtlety, but above all else they must fight. This is the law they have ignored, and their woebegotten lamentations are a stench to The Most High.” – The Kolbrin, Wisdom of the Ages, The Book Of Manuscripts Incorporating The Treasury Of Life, Chapter Twenty, The Commentary of Frater Astorus.
FiveTimesAugust
Thank you all for watching, liking, and sharing, please keep it up and get this one out there 🙏 “God Help Us All” is also available now on all digital music platforms.
SanDiegoSteve1
Beautiful song. I just love your music so much! Thank you!
Ninja 77
Sorry I was so late to here the song but brother that was great! May you come closer to the Lord our God and may He give you an abundance of wisdom through dreams and visions. God bless.
ThiccBee
My new favourite song. Nice job!
Radagast
You sell tabs to this? I'll buy.
L. Sanders
The anthem for critical thinkers... thank you!!
Vicky Lynne
This is beautiful. The message says it all. We have strayed so far and need God’s saving grace.
Sue Watson
Yes we will need our Savior and our God to get us through this season of life 🙏🏻♥️
wigspike Jethern
Amen!!!
Tommy9789
Brother, you sang from the heart, what most of us believe in our soul. And you are correct, God Help Us All!