For over a decade, Plain White T's have been playing to packed audiences craving for that perfect pop-punk punch. Their journey, which began in a small suburban basement playing covers, has taken the band to Warped Tour three times, and landed them opening slots for bands like Jimmy Eat World and AFI. Plain White T's are road warriors in the truest sense and with their first major label album, Every Second Counts, the band is ready to rock in a big way.
PWT's story started back in high school, when frontman Tom Higgenson first stepped into Chicago's famed rock club the Metro and saw his future on the stage. With the local music scene exploding nationally courtesy of bands like Smashing Pumpkins and Veruca Salt, he decided the time was ripe for his own dreams to be realized. Armed with paper, pen, and guitar, Tom went to task, experimenting with lyrics and melodies on a four-track in his parents' Villa Park, Illinois home. Once he'd reached a level of comfort with his songwriting, he worked up the courage to hand off a tape to Christian Lane, singer of 90's buzz band Loud Lucy, and to his surprise, Christian actually listened to it.
Once he'd recruited a group of school pals, including guitarist Dave Tirio, it was only a matter of a couple years before Plain White T's, who'd attracted a loyal following thanks to Tom's ridiculously melodic tales of teen angst and loveless nights, were playing the Metro themselves.
The music industry took notice of that success and after selling thousands of copies of their self-released 2002 debut, Stop, PWT's were picked up by Fearless Records who re-issued the album along with 2005's All That We Needed. But it was their heartfelt, acoustic-tinged "Hey There Delilah" that cemented their status as potential hitmakers.
Tom's songwriting evolved after the success of the romantically frank "Delilah," which really was a departure for a band known for their energetic powerpop. On Hollywood Records debut, Every Second Counts, Tom, along with bandmates Mike Retondo (bass and vocals), De'Mar Hamilton (drums), and Tim Lopez (guitar, vocals), continues to turn the personal into the universal. Throughout the album, he sings of hook-ups and break-ups and the emotional rollercoaster in between. A prime example is lead single "Hate (I Really Don't Like You)." In a similar vein, the lyrics for "Friends Don't Let Friends Dial Drunk" also showcases Tom's offbeat take on love and life, while its melody sucks you in with every turn of phrase. Delving slightly deeper into emotional territory are upbeat tracks like "Our Time Now" and "Come Back to Me" as well as one of the album's quieter numbers, "Write You a Song."
In 2008, the group released the album 'Big Bad World'. The album had two hit singles: "1, 2, 3, 4" and "Natural Disaster". Both were on the American Top 40 at numbers 1 and 2 for three consecutive weeks. By late 2008, the band had joined the Rock Band Live tour with Panic! at the Disco, Dashboard Confessional and The Cab. Later that year, the band played at the Give It a Name festival in the UK. In 2007, the band performed the single "Our Time Now" on an episode of the Nickelodeon television series, iCarly. "Our Time Now" was also the theme song of the ABC Family dramedy series, Greek.
The band's "Rhythm of Love" single was the first to be released from the group's 2010 album, The Wonders of the Younger.' The song reached number five on the Hot AC chart, and was in the top ten in 2010 as well. In 2012, the band also covered The Ramones' "Pet Sematary" for the song soundtrack of the 2012 Disney film Frankenweenie. Should've Gone to Bed, a four-song EP, was released on April 9, 2013.
The band left Hollywood Records after creative conflicts with the label during the production of the American Nights album. 'American Nights' was released by Megaforce Records on March 31, 2015.
In 2015, they also appeared on Blues Traveler's album Blow Up the Moon, co-writing the song "Nikkia's Prom." On November 22, 2015, the band released a music video for "American Nights" featuring Higgenson's son, Lennon.
In May 2017, Plain White T's released a music video for their song "Land of the Living." The band, which had left their label Fearless Records in 2005, returned to the label. As of April 2017, the band have said that they are currently writing new music.
Big Bad World
Plain White T's Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We're doing what we can
Sometimes we fall on our face
Before we even learn to stand
But we get back up
Shake off all the dust
And take it step by step
With all the dead wrong choices I've made
And even though we try to learn
From each others mistakes
[Chorus]
We'll do it again (doing it again)
We'll do it again my friend (doing it again)
We'll do it again and again
'Till eventually we change
The way its always been
It's a big bad dream
Following your heart
Sometimes the one you
Need's the one that tears you apart
So you say goodbye
Kiss her one more time
And cry the whole way home
I can fill up the driest river
With all the tears falling off of my face
And even though we try to learn
From each others mistakes
[Chorus]
We'll do it again and again
'Till eventually we change
The way its always been
Just running 'round in circles
Tripping over every hurdle
We're just trying to do the best that we can
Well it's a big bad life
All that we can do
Is try to make it right
Tomorrow something new
So if a big rain cloud
Follows you around
Don't let it get you down
[Chorus: x2]
We do it again and again
'Till eventually we change
The way it's always been.
The song "Big Bad World" by Plain White T's is a poignant and insightful look at the challenges that we face in life. The lyrics open with "It's a big bad world, we're doing what we can, sometimes we fall on our face, before we even learn to stand." This sets the tone for the rest of the song, as it acknowledges that life is difficult, and we are not always prepared for the challenges that come our way. The chorus echoes this sentiment, as it repeats the line, "We'll do it again, we'll do it again my friend, we'll do it again and again, 'till eventually we change the way it's always been." This line serves as a reminder that although we may make mistakes, we can learn from them and strive to do better in the future.
The second verse of the song focuses on the pain that comes with following your heart. The line, "sometimes the one you need's the one that tears you apart, so you say goodbye, kiss her one more time, and cry the whole way home" is especially poignant, as it captures the heartbreak that comes with letting go of someone you love. Despite this pain, the song encourages us to keep moving forward and to try to "make it right" in the future.
Line by Line Meaning
It's a big bad world
The world can be harsh and difficult to navigate
We're doing what we can
We're trying our best to get through life's challenges
Sometimes we fall on our face
We make mistakes and fail
Before we even learn to stand
We struggle and fail before we even get a chance to succeed
But we get back up
We persevere and keep trying
Shake off all the dust
We move on from our failures and mistakes
And take it step by step
We keep going, one step at a time
I can fill the whole floor to the ceiling
I've made a lot of mistakes
With all the dead wrong choices I've made
I've made a lot of bad decisions
And even though we try to learn
We try to gain wisdom from our mistakes
From each others mistakes
We also try to learn from the mistakes of others
We'll do it again (doing it again)
We'll likely repeat our mistakes
We'll do it again my friend (doing it again)
Our friends are likely to repeat their mistakes too
We'll do it again and again
We'll keep making the same mistakes
'Till eventually we change
Eventually, we'll learn and make better choices
The way its always been
We can break old patterns and make positive changes
It's a big bad dream
Following your heart can be challenging
Sometimes the one you
Sometimes the person you love
Need's the one that tears you apart
Can also be the one that causes you the most pain
So you say goodbye
You have to let go
Kiss her one more time
You want to hold on to the good memories
And cry the whole way home
But it's still painful to let go
I can fill up the driest river
I've cried a lot over my mistakes and losses
With all the tears falling off of my face
I've cried a lot
Just running 'round in circles
Feeling like you're stuck and not making progress
Tripping over every hurdle
Encountering obstacles that make it hard to move forward
We're just trying to do the best that we can
We're doing our best, even when it's hard
Well it's a big bad life
Life is challenging
All that we can do
But we can still make the most of it
Is try to make it right
We try to do better and make amends
Tomorrow something new
We can always start fresh tomorrow
So if a big rain cloud
If things seem difficult
Follows you around
If problems persist
Don't let it get you down
Don't give up or lose hope
We do it again and again (x2)
We'll keep making mistakes until we learn
'Till eventually we change
But we can make positive changes
The way it's always been
And break away from negative patterns
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHRIS TOMPKINS, JAMIE LYNN SPEARS, LIZ ROSE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind