Behind The Tracks: American Standards - The Pendulum, The Podium (Single) (2021)

About the writing process:

American Standards has always written at our pace. Sometimes it’s at the speed of opening the flood gates and other times it’s a slow trickle. Either way, we never want to force it. With almost two years off during the pandemic, we started prepping for a charity live stream event. Although the intent was to get sharp on old material, we had a few riffs we had been sending each other in a group chat. We decided to jam one and it basically became what it is today in the course of a few play throughs. We took it to the studio and that’s where we really got to refine it and make it into something that we’re all excited about.

Lyric Dissection:

The Pendulum, The Podium is about the balance between optimism and realism. I always want to assume positive intent in others but expecting more from people only to be continually let down can be exhausting.

“Hope be a widow. Oblivion in her eyes.”

I wanted to paint the picture of going off to battle, only the one you’re leaving behind is hope.

“Write it down.”

A simple refrain that to me means keeping track of who people really are. I think a lot can be said about a person during hard times. That’s when their true colors show.

“I search for something but nothing has a hold of me. I’m left with nothing but now something won’t let me leave.”

This was a play on words to explain how it feels when you try to make something better only to realize you’re going in circles.

“I don’t care about god or religion if you’re telling me this is the vision then I’m burning it all to the ground.”

This line may seem blunt, but it’s the one that the whole song was built around. Although it speaks directly to religion, it’s really about using old ways of thinking to justify shitty actions. We need to evolve and be better to each other.

“Walking hand in hand with complacency you and me. We pray to the god of survival tied to the machine as the pendulum swings.”

Everything is cyclical. We overcorrect and swing from one extreme to the other.

“And they display what they kill but they don’t answer for the blood.”

Decisions that others make often impact more than themselves yet no one is held accountable.