I Think I’m Okay

June 6, 2019, the day my favorite musical artist, Machine Gun Kelly, released his song “I Think I’m Okay”, featuring Yungblud and Travis Barker. Less than a year later, I never would have imagined that one song could hold so many fond memories in such a short time frame. I am grateful to say this song unlocked a door for me towards an amazing artist I hadn’t took notice to prior to the release. Yungblud is currently my other favorite artist and his off the wall lyrics have inspired me through some difficult moments. The premise behind the song itself is that despite life continuously aiming to knock you down, in the long-run, everything turns out okay. The line, “I think that something's fucking wrong with me.” acknowledges we all possess impurities, flaws, self-doubt, weaknesses, and so on. Often I feel as though I’m not worth enough, or that I’m less than others, and my whole life I’ve struggled with fitting in and the desire of being enough and being accepted as an individual. This passage tells me and everyone else listening who feels similarly, that we aren’t secluded and others carry the same experiences. “I can taste it on my tongue, I can tell that something's wrong but I guess it's just my life and I can take it if I wanna”, this verse is proclaiming that if you aren’t happy with your life or where you are in life, you can take it back, change it, transform it, you can write your own destiny, and essentially manifest your future. Last summer, I had a small group of three. Every week we’d get together, usually we drove around for hours listening to music. We always ended up listening to this at some point during the night. One of the main memories I have attached to this song, is the three of us were driving down the main street in our town, blaring this song in the car, singing at the top of our lungs. I remember feeling content with life for a few moments, like nothing take our friendship away, like everything in life was okay. A few months later, I receive a call that flipped my world upside down- our trio no longer exists. We lost one to suicide, no one expected it and nothing’s been the same since. At the end of the song Yungblud writes his verse, “You'll find me alone at midnight. Inside my mind, tryna get things right. They want to keep you calling, so you don't wake in the morning.” This verse is recognizing the depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, etc. that so many people have to go through. Although it is a sensitive topic, I think it needs to be addressed more publicly so others know they’re not alone, so we can develop a safe space and community where people don’t have to be afraid to express their emotions. Every time I listen to that verse, I think of him and our trio and I’m instantly pulled back into all the memories we had, the good and the bad. The song is a timestamp for the summer ‘19; the summer I spent with two of my favorite people. In conclusions, at the beginning of the song, the artist is singing about his problems such as paranoia, substance abuse, unintentionally abruptly ending close relationships, towards the end, they go on writing about depression, and to wrap up the title being ”I Think I'm Okay” is stating, despite the downfalls, my story continues. I personally think everyone can relate to the story to some extent, which is why it's helped so many people. Music is therapy.