This three piece rock band hails from Dayton, Ohio. Just to clarify, The Story Changes consists of vocalist and guitarist Mark McMillion, Christopher Popakdak on the drums, and bass and vocalist Chris Serafini. McMillon and Popadak stem from Hawthorne Heights and Serafini from The Stereo. The band began work on a bunch of new songs while spending most of 2020 off the road and at home in quarantine. This was in hopes to follow up their 2018 album titled “To Hell With this Delicate Equation.” Each person within The Story Changes recorded their individual parts of the songs safely by remotely trading files.
Other than Story Changes, “The Longest Year” was mixed by their longtime friend Jamie Woolford. He previously recorded for a couple well known bands like Gin Blossoms, The Smoking Pops, and Punchline. Following the lyrics, the track deals with conquering your own anxiety and depression in uncertain times. Part of dealing with the problem is to acknowledge that it exists, instead of acting like one isn’t feeling sad or just stuffing down their feelings. One shouldn’t be timid of their feelings. Things like sadness, fear, and anger are only natural and happen to everyone, all the time. And in some cases, it’s severe and the cause is depression or so. I believe the song is saying for someone to maybe accept their problem, then to let it all out. With the constant screaming like McMillion is leashing out and the lyrics “You were tossed aside, you were left behind, you were lost and lonely,” it seems like he’s trying to either instigate someone to not hold their feelings in anymore or to just simply relate to them. To maybe just let one know that they’re not alone in this.
The chorus is a very unforgettable riff and the constant screaming actually fits with what a person may be feeling deep inside. The song is very personal and not afraid to speak of feelings of fear, abuse maybe, or heartbreak. I see a lot of people connecting to this one, coming from many different backgrounds or struggles. Try it for yourself if you haven’t already have and see what you think.
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