“Chariots” by Paper Route, Friday, December 2, 2022 (partial repost)

 

J.T. Daly, lead singer of Paper Route, has stayed busy in the music business during Paper Route and after the band ended. In addition to releasing solo records and several side projects, he has composed for an ESPN film, produced several alternative musicians including K.Flay and Pvris, remixed Anberlin, Judah the Lion, MuteMath, and Switchfoot, and worked in visual arts, making band merchandise, phone cases, and even directing music videos for other bands. Of course, Daly isn’t the only creative force in Paper Route. Along with Chad Howat and for their third and on their final record, Real Emotion, with Nick Aranda, Paper Route is a seriously creative band.

YOU PROMISED ME THAT EVERYTHING IS FAIR IF IT'S LOVE AND WAR.  Like yesterday’s song, the imagery in “Chariots” brings my mind to old movies like Spartacus or Ben-Hur. On other songs on Real Emotion there seems to be a classic film theme, notably in the song “Zhivago” and its intro “Lara.” “Chariots” imagines the speaker in a long-distance relationship and from his perspective, he is the only one fighting for the relationship. As a gesture to show his love, the speaker offers to send his chariots to his lover, creating the image of a big gesture likened to wealthy landowners or rulers in the Roman Empire or Lords in medieval times. Thematically “Chariots” deals with Paper Route's most common subject--break ups. While lead singer J.T. Daly maintains his privacy in his personal life, cryptic statements from the stage, such as "This has been the hardest year ever" on two separate years, the lyrics alluding to break ups, divorce, and using "chemicals" to forget, have fans speculating about the prurient details of the singer's love life and mental state. The song "Chariots" depicts the speaker and his love, who is "giving up the fight" which is causing the crash of the "chariots" and ending the relationship. 

IS IT NOT WORTH FIGHTING FOR?  While Paper Route was a tinderbox of production, instrumentation, and thoughtful lyrics, the flame of success was fanned out before they caught on.  The second single from Paper Route's third and final album, "Chariots" Clark McCaskill of Ear Milk calls an "exhilarating 4:36-minute ride," describing the song's "invigorating orchestration of frenetic rhythm, soaring vocals, and captivating chord progressions." The song premiered in the trailer for FIFA 17 and was featured in the game. (Side note: Go Korea tonight!) The band released Real Emotion through Kemosabe Records, a label started by Dr. Luke and a division of Sony Records. A late-night appearance with an almost radio single for “Balconies” played into the narrative of the indie band that could never catch a break. There might be a fourth Paper Route album someday. If it does well beyond fans it will be because of viral success rather than a consorted effort on the band to be bigger than an indie band. Fame was perhaps a “Blue Collar Daydream.” The fickle music industry requires either singular devotion to breaking into it or luck or both. Bands like Paper Route have tried and failed that level of success. And making it comes at the cost of external songwriters and marketing. Is it worth fighting for?



Read the lyrics on Genius.



Live album release performance:





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