We Need More Bricks
Note: This originally appeared in my newsletter in March, 2024. If you like what you see, you can subscribe here.
Hello friends,
Greetings from dreary, beautiful London, England. I’m in a cafe this morning in a lovely off-the-touristy-path neighborhood called Stoke Newington.
When visiting a big city like London, I know that the key isn’t to try to do it all. Instead, grab a map, close your eyes, plop your finger on a random neighborhood, and explore there.
Like New York, every neighborhood in London has its own feel, character, and culture.
But I’m not here to write about urban life or my ongoing battle against car dependency today.
Today, I’m here to talk what has been a call to action for me to make the world a better place.
Last night in London, I saw one of my favorite bands, the UK pop-punk band Neck Deep.
It was my fifth time seeing them live since February.
(This is something I’ve done several times over the last few years. When one of my favorite bands has announced a tour, I’ve followed them. Last month, I saw them in Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.)
Each era of Neck Deep I’ve connected to in a different way, in a different era of my life.
Their old music (2012-2014) has a hardcore edge to it that allowed punk to be my chaotic escape, a complete expression of any and all emotions.
Their 2015 album Life’s Not Out to Get You is what helped me embrace that go-out-and-chase-your-dreams energy and push me to ponder of what’s possible in life.
Yet I’ve been inspired most by how they use their platform to talk about problems in the world, to use their political voice.
That’s summed up in the song, ‘We Need More Bricks’ on their new album that came out in January.
We Need More Bricks is a political call to action to stand up for what’s right, to get out there and make the world a better place.
The saying wrap up the song’s chorus. It goes…
“We need more fight and we need more grit. We need more punks and we need more bricks.”
“Bricks” is a metaphor for taking action towards building a better world. They can both build new buildings and tear existing structures down. We can use bricks to tear down highways and build more mass transit, more community gardens, and more homes.
Yet, it’s the mosh-ready bridge that is the part that makes taking action a necessity, something I can no longer ignore. They sing…
“Yeah we need more punks and we need more bark and we need more bite. Just because it’s not on your own doorstep, doesn’t make it right.”
I feel as if the whole last year of my life I’ve been reading about the ways we need to reshape society so we can have a cleaner more equitable future. I covered this in my newsletter on the most impactful books of 2023.
But while the intellectual is great, it’s the soul-inspiring, movement-feeding, two-stepping anthems like this that shake me out of whatever trance society has put me in.
Much of this energy I’m channeling into my writing.
Go listen to the this song, but put on your moshing boots first.
Be ready to move.
The Ripple Effect
One of my favorite parts of every Neck Deep show is how the lead singer Ben, talks between many songs.
Before ‘We Need More Bricks,’ he told the story of how, when he was frustrated with the world, his friends pushed him to talk and write about it, to use his platform.
This is where songs like ‘We Need More Bricks’ evolve out of: realizing that we’re not powerless, however often it can seem. This has in turn inspired me to write more about how we can’t turn a blind out to the climate crisis.
Because if we’re to make the world a better place, we need more punks and we need more bricks.
Cheers, (A British sign-off)
~David
P.S., if you want to see what a Neck Deep show is like, you have to watch this video from a show in Philly two years ago.
P.P.S., If you know somebody who will enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them. If you were forwarded this email and would like to join the list to receive monthly emails, you can subscribe here.
3 Comments