.png)
howdy there fam and welcome to the third installment of my Behind The Music series. today I'll be sharing some of the inspiration behind the third track from Crystal Eyes, "The World Is On Fire".
this song has quickly become the favorite for many people, and I do have to say, I am one of them. (don't tell my other songs.) I know for the first couple of tracks, I got pretty lengthy and in-depth with their entries. but for this one, I really think less is more.
you may know that I only moonlight as molly. by day, I work with pre-teens and teenagers in educational settings.
this song is about them.
kids can express heavy questions and thoughts sometimes. this tends to make adults uncomfortable. I think we don’t like to believe they’re capable of things like that because we expect them to be very carefree and happy all of the time. also, a lot of us aren’t even sure how to confront our own heavy questions or thoughts, so when younger humans come to us with things like that, we panic.
unfortunately, I’ve seen too many instances of adults serving in positions of mentorship or power fail to face their own shortcomings, faults, and inner demons, to the extent that it impacts the kids and young adults who look up to them.
I think we need to stop putting out this idea that these heavy things are just part of growing up and will go away on their own. I think we need to start being honest: these heavy things are a part of life, and for some of us, they aren’t going anywhere.
but that’s okay. practice picking up the heavy things, practice holding them, and examine them a bit more closely, we can become strong enough to carry them around and self-aware enough to know when it’s time to set them down for a bit, rest, and ask for help.
if we want the youth in our communities to grow into resilient adults, we have to become resilient adults ourselves and demonstrate how we’ve gotten there. the last line of the song (“don’t fear the flame when the burn is controlled”) is a nod to this idea.
fire is a powerful thing. a small flame can very quickly grow into a blazing wildfire that engulfs and destroys everything in its path.
but on the flip side of that, fire can be a useful tool to restore and rejuvenate areas that have become densely overgrown. the prescribed burns help prevent the wildfires.
we shouldn't be focused on totally averting the flames. we should be focused on regulating them.