History
Formation and It's Our Time (2001–2006)
Rise or Die Trying, Explains It All (2006–2009)
The band's 2007 release Rise or Die Trying with I Surrender Records peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in its debut week. On the back of their increasing popularity, the band was signed to Decaydance Records in February 2008.
On July 21, 2009, Four Year Strong released an album of covers from the 1990s, titled Explains It All. The album features guest appearances from Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die, Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes, and JR and Buddy of Less Than Jake. The band explained their reasoning behind the album in a MySpace blog, saying "It’s what we grew up listening to. Everyone has those songs that instantly transport you back to when you were younger. Whether we were in our bedrooms playing air guitar, or riding in the car to little league practice, or it was just that song that was all over the radio during that awesome summer at the Cape. These songs have impacted us in some way and we want to share that feeling with you."
Enemy of the World (2010)
The band's 3rd full-length album, Enemy of the World, was released on March 9, 2010 on Universal Motown Records. The band released the album's first single, "It Must Really Suck to Be Four Year Strong Right Now", on December 21, 2009. The name of the song is a reference to the final sentence of a review in Alternative Press in which the magazine praised Set Your Goals' new album while remarking on the future of Four Year Strong and how their record would compare. The vinyl record was made available to pre-order on March 2, 2010. The album sold 12,400 copies in its first week, debuting at number 40 on the Billboard 200.
On April 3, 2011, it was announced that Josh Lyford would be leaving the band. Initially, it was implied that Lyford had chosen to leave in order to focus on his side project, Foxfires. However, it was later confirmed by both Lyford and Alan Day, that the band had elected to remove synthesizers from their sound leaving no room for Lyford to continue. The band has said they will continue as a four piece.
In Some Way, Shape or Form (2011–present)
On April 13, 2011, in an interview with Alternative Press, the band revealed that they had been in the middle of recording their fourth studio album with producer David Bendeth in New Jersey's House of Loud. The band is set to return to the studio, without Josh Lyford, to finish the album in June, after they finish touring with Rise Against. Vocalist Alan Day has also revealed that the new songs the band had written were very diverse, and that the new material is different than anything the band has ever written. While touring with Rise Against, they have been playing a newly recorded, yet unreleased song called "Falling on You".
On August 18, 2011, the band released "Stuck in the Middle", a new song from the upcoming album. The band announced that the new album will be titled In Some Way, Shape, or Form, and will be released on November 8, 2011. On September 8, 2011, the band released another song from the album, entitled "Falling on You." The first official single from the album, "Just Drive", is set for release on September 27, 2011
During the Fall 2011 AP Tour, the band played another new unreleased song which will be released on the upcoming album. The band dedicates it to fans who have been there "from the very beginning, and will be there till the very end." a video of the song has been leaked on YouTube. It is called "Fairweather Fan."
Touring
The band has done multiple national tours, sharing the stage with such bands as The Starting Line, Slip On It, Hellogoodbye, From First to Last, Every Time I Die, Meg & Dia, Hidden in Plain View, Alexisonfire, All Time Low, Mayday Parade, New Found Glory, Bayside and Steel Train. The band toured in February–April 2009 as part of the Taste of Chaos tour, alongside Thursday, Bring Me the Horizon, Pierce the Veil, and Cancer Bats. They undertook the Summer co-headline tour with Set Your Goals, and also Fireworks, The Swellers, Polar Bear Club, A Loss For Words, Drive A and Grave Maker from July to August 2009. Four Year Strong also performed on the Australian Soundwave festival in February and March 2010, alongside headliners Faith No More, Janes Addiction, Placebo; also playing alongside Alexisonfire, Set Your Goals, A Day To Remember, Paramore, It Dies Today, Gallows, Emarosa, A Wilhelm Scream, Anthrax, All Time Low, Escape The Fate, This Is Hell, Enter Shikari, Anti-Flag, Baroness, Comeback Kid, The Almost, Dance Gavin Dance, Architects, You Me At Six, Rolo Tomassi, Dichi Michi, Sunny Day Real Estate and many more. The band was in the lineup for Vans Warped Tour 2010 and played on the Altec Lansing stage along side Breathe Carolina, Hey Monday, and Set Your Goals.[7] They also played the first day on the Bamboozle festival. Late 2010, Four Year Strong headlined a tour with Comeback Kid, The Wonder Years, American Fangs, and Mountain Man. The tour was entitled "Tonight We Feel Alive!", and spanned the entire United States. In February 2011, Four Year Strong co-headlined the Kerrang! Relentless Tour 2011 with Good Charlotte with support from Framing Hanley and The Wonder Years, The tour began February 3rd in Dublin, Ireland. On the 15th February 2011 it was announced that they had been added to support Blink 182 on their UK tour alongside You Me At Six They will be joining Rise Against and Bad Religion on a US summer tour in 2011. They have also announced that they will come back to Australia later in the year to play Soundwave Revolution along with already announced bands The Damned Things, Story of The Year, Every Time I Die, Hellogoodbye, We Are The In Crowd and many others. They still have yet to announce an upcoming Detroit show. It is long overdue.
Musical style
The band's sound can be described as popcore a blend of pop punk, hardcore punk, and power pop. This genre is popularly referred to as "easycore" or "happycore". The band simply developed their sound off the idea of playing 'exactly what they want to hear' or music that they would listen to, but no one else was playing at the time.[8] The band has cited their influences as being Lifetime, Saves the Day, Gorilla Biscuits, Blink-182, and New Found Glory, to name a few. Though the band would primarily start out as a post-hardcore , the release of their demo in 2004 would mark a shift from post-hardcore to more synthesizer-heavy tracks, where the band would begin to embrace the styles of power pop and general hardcore punk. Prior to the release of and at times within Rise or Die Trying, the band also incorporates more facets of modern hardcore, such as double bass drums, breakdowns and screaming vocals. For their 3rd studio album, Enemy of the World, the band decided to expand upon their hardcore influences.
Influences
The band has many references to 1990's pop culture. They have been known to quote lines from '90s films in lyrics/song titles/ and in conversation. They were influenced by all the bands on their cover album Explains It All.
Seventeen
Four Year Strong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
and savor the reality
The lyrics to Four Year Strong's song "Seventeen" touch upon themes of youthful rebellion, self-discovery, and nostalgia. The opening lines express a sense of dissatisfaction with the world and its shallow values, referring to it as a "rotten youth" where people consume each other socially, searching for scraps of validation. The singer, feeling disillusioned and detached, decides to cut ties with these societal expectations and seeks to fill themselves up with something more meaningful.
The chorus reflects a longing for the innocence and excitement of being seventeen, a time when life seemed more vibrant and full of possibilities. The lines "Scatter me, pick up all the pieces, all the memories" suggest a desire to hold onto the fragments of that youthful spirit and hold onto the memories of that time. The singer longs to be transported back to their seventeen-year-old self, where the world seemed less intimidating and their sense of self was stronger.
The lyrics also challenge the opinions and judgment of others, expressing a sense of confidence and indifference towards their criticism. They see through the facade of others' words, claiming to be deaf to their sound. The mentioned euphoria represents the temporary pleasure society offers, whereas the reality that chokes the singer may refer to the harshness and disappointments of adulthood.
Line by Line Meaning
We could have it all
We had the potential for greatness and success
Just another social cannibal
Just another person desperately seeking validation and connection
Searching through the rotten youth for one more scrap left on the bone
Searching through the decayed innocence of our youth for any remaining ounce of joy or hope
Cut the chord
Let go of the past and move forward
I don't even need this anymore
I no longer require what I once held onto
So fill me up and watch me overflow
Allow me to feel complete and witness my overwhelming emotions
You had to know that I was built to crumble
You knew from the start that I was destined to fall apart
Scatter me
Break me into pieces
Pick up all the pieces, all the memories
Collect all the fragments and recollections of the past
So I can still remember being seventeen
So I can retain the memories and essence of my youthful self
Pack me up and put me in a time machine
Wrap me up and transport me back to a time when we were seventeen
You don't intimidate me
Your attempts to intimidate or threaten me are futile
Cuz I don't give a damn what you've got to say
Because I genuinely don't care about your opinions or words
In one ear and out the other
I hear your words, but they have no impact on me
I'm deaf to the sound
I am immune to the noise or influence
In the end we all pretend that the world keeps spinning around me
Ultimately, we all pretend that the world revolves around ourselves
Sipping on euphoria but choking on reality
Indulging in fleeting happiness while struggling with the harshness of reality
Close your eyes and picture all the times we got it right
Immerse yourself in memories of when we succeeded and made the right choices
and savor the reality
Yet, appreciate and cherish the truth of our experiences
Lyrics © Red Brick Music Publishing
Written by: ESTHER O'CONNOR, JAMES DUFFIN, LOUIX LAVAUX, TIMOTHY O'CONNOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
The Music B&B
Anyone else find this song their favourite off the album because of groovy chorus guitar riff?
WizZite
Same!
Jason
Ya it has a slight resemblance to the Hell Song which I used to listen to when I was seventeeen. TOO GOOD!
Jono Bennett
100%
JadderUsa
Delete! Delete! I prefer Get out of my head
Lucas Freire
Man... THIS GUITAR RIFF !!
Mike Cerosky
It gets me man, banger for sure
Tom Haggerty
Dude for real I love this whole song but the guitar…. Is prime
Tren Is Okay
For real ...
Col10
the guitar riff at 0:52 gave me chills.....