“The Wind” by The Fray, Monday, May 16, 2022

After The Fray's eponymous second record, they recorded their third album, Scars & Stories with legendary producer Brenden O'Brien. Lead singer Isaac Slade stated that he admired O'Brien's work with Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen, and hoped to create a record that was closer to their live show experience. The album was released in February of 2012, receiving mixed reviews. Critics praised O'Brian's production, but they were getting tired of The Fray and mid-tempo pop-rock bands. 

I SEE THE EMPIRE FALLING TO HER KNEES. Scars & Stories had a promising first week, selling 87,000 copies and debuting at #4 on Billboard's 200 Album charts. The band promoted two singles: "Heartbeat" and "Run for Your Life." The former barely missed the Top 40, charting only at #42, and the later only charted in Australia and on the Adult Pop Songs chart in America. While The Fray's songs may come across as unoriginal, Scars & Stories perhaps suffered from music listeners' shortening attention spans and the growing trend of flashy electronic pop music. What should have been recognized as songwriting growth instead was cast aside for the novel and the flashy. Personal conflicts are the backdrop of the lyrical content on this album. Over the course of their career both lead singer Isaac Slade and guitarist Joe King both dealt with marital conflicts, with the guitarist's 12-year marriage ending in divorce before the release of the album. But rather than being a "divorce record," Slade and King took inspiration from conflicts around the world to create a tension in the album reflecting personal matters. 

WILL THE WIND EVER COME AGAIN?  Scars & Stories' lead single "Heartbeat" takes inspiration from the band's travels and stories they heard about The Rwanda Genocide in the '90s. The follow-up single "Run for Your Life" tells a fictional story and deals the concept of survivor's guilt. The song "1961" deals with two brothers in conflict and references the Berlin Wall. "The Wind," today's song,  deals directly with Joe King's divorce directly. King married his high school sweetheart at 19, and raised two daughters. But after seven years, the couple divorced. The lyrics of "The Wind" deal with instability. King told the Toronto Sun that King began to write "The Wind" during his darkest moments. He said, "My marriage ended and it was the last day of everything. I just went home and had no answer and no clue where the hell I was in life." However months later, he was able to gain some perspective on the situation. Today's song isn't the gloomiest The Fray song, and even has a bit of optimism. King goes on to say: "It was good to have that perspective a few months later on the emotion of it, going from that heavy of a place to seeing some light and the future." I think today's song and its parent album are great for dealing with turbulence. One, it's good to look at others' suffering to help us not feel alone and put our suffering in perspective and even offer empathy when we can. But two, it helps us to remember that it will get better. It won't stay the same. The wind may toss you around, but it won't last forever.

Read the lyrics on Genius.