“Part of It” and "(Outro)*" by Relient K, Tuesday, August 30, 2022 (reworked repost)

Forget and Not Slow Down is Relient K's sixth album. The band had shifted away from "tongue-in-cheek" lyrics in previous albums and had enjoyed mainstream pop radio success as well as topping the Christian charts. Forget and Not Slow Down, however, starts to see a shift away from the safety of the youth group, as vocalist and songwriter Matt Thiessen's writes about the dissolving of a  relationship with radio DJ Shannon Murphy, the details of which Murphy shared haven't been confirmed by the Relient K frontman, but the lyrics become clearer in the context of this interview.

IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD, JUST YOU AND ME. Forget and Not Slow Down is a breakup masterpiece, and one of the most cohesive and listenable, yet under-rated Relient K records, particularly if you don't like Relient K. Musically, the band is joined by The O.C. Supertones and Project 86 guitarist Ethan Luck, playing on the drums for this record. The band is also joined by their friends Tim Skipper (House of Heroes), Matt MacDonald (The Classic Crime), Adam Young (Owl City), Aaron Gillespie (The Almost, Underoath), and Brian McSweeney (Seven Days Jesus). The East Nashville production, the American rock 'n' roll before it gets processed into country music make the album more Springsteen and less Blink-182. Lyrically, on Forget and Not Slow Down, the speaker is often in denial about his infidelity, yet comes close to admitting it several times throughout the tracks. He moves from being repentant to accusatory, from self-righteous to self-deprecating. Forget and Not Slow Down has a very Tennessee feel to it--not twangy country music, but the album artwork describes it all. Painted by Thiessen's uncle Linden Frederick, the cover art tells a story about the album. The flat fields of Southern Tennessee in Franklin County where Thiessen hid away, writing, processing his break up.

IF A NIGHTMARE EVER DOES UNFOLD, PERSPECTIVE IS A LOVELY HAND TO HOLD. "Part of It" (see below) is the fifth track and the fourth full-length song on the record. The first song, the title track, sets a tone about moving on from mistakes. The second, the break up hits Thiessen, but he feels slightly numb realizing that he doesn't need someone else to define him. By the third track, "Candlelight," Thiessen is only remembering the good parts of the relationship. By "Part of It," Thiessen has released that all the "adhesives" in the world couldn't repair their relationship. However, the outro to this song, which should be listened right after "Part of It," Thiessen is begging his ex not to believe the rumors. Following the outro, Thiessen has a chance to process his breakup in the songs "Therapy" and "Over It," the former which sees him "driving in the country just to drive." I imagine a man who hasn't slept much for awhile, un-showered and greasy-haired, in his sweatpants, driving through the backwoods of Tennessee. The album mostly plays on similar themes until the closers "This is the End" and "(If You Want It)," which use the same melody, making the latter just a continuation of the same song.

Read the lyrics on Genius.

Here are the tracks unseparated for your listening pleasure:

*Unfortunately, Forget and Not Slow Down is not available on AppleMusic, so I am substituting their live version of "Forget and Not Slow Down" as it "I Don't Need a Soul," and "Sahara" are the only tracks available from the album.