When most artists reflect upon their adolescence it is done through a rose tinted lens, ignoring the issues you experienced at the time and instead focusing on the unbridled joy you felt from having no responsibilities and being truly free. However will hyde doesn’t take this stance in boy., instead he goes for a raw honest approach to how his younger self would view him now. Knowing deep down that his younger self would look at him in horror, like some terrible bad dream and he knows, as much as he doesn’t want to say it, that he feels the same. It’s unflinchingly real, with him knowing the struggles his old self will soon face and realise the uphill battle that life is, becoming the man he is today as a result and sometimes that the change you go through can lead to something better.
This intimate portrayal of growing up is tough to take in, the tender guitar melodies give his soft spoken vocal an impactful edge to make the introspective lyrics the centre piece of the track. It gives us vivid flashbacks to our younger self and wonder with him, what would they think about us now? Would they hate how we’ve changed? Despise what we’ve become? Or, just maybe, they will love everything about us and just be proud of who you are and excited for this future to become their reality. This journey of self discovery perfectly displays will hyde’s endearing songwriting talent that is well beyond his years and how his younger self might look at him with pride in their eyes.
“The premise of the song is around accepting change as a good thing. Forgiving yourself for changing. When I was younger I was surrounded by people at that particular time who seemed to resist any attempts I made to change myself – from the way I looked, to the views I had on life. Maturing and growing up can be scary but embracing the human you are becoming makes it a lot easier to be at peace with.”