40 Oz. Dream

Album: Youth Authority (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • The second single from Youth Authority premiered on April 4, 2016 as part of Good Charlotte's 20th anniversary celebration. It finds Joel Madden singing of how a lot has changed in music since the band's early days. "For us '40 Oz. Dream' was the perfect song to kick off our new album," guitarist Benji Madden told Rolling Stone. "It's got all the sarcasm and humor we've always loved, and lots of affection for the past and present. As a band that formed in 1996, it's a fun moment to be welcomed back so warmly. We're very happy to have found our place in 2016."
  • The colorful, nostalgic video was directed by Benji and Joel Madden's brother Josh. It finds Good Charlotte, the last band on earth after an apocalypse, driving around the deserted planet. The clip is an ode to the American post-apocalyptic comedy television series Last Man On Earth, which stars Will Forte. Benji Madden described the visual as "A little tribute to our favorite show and the God, Will Forte."
  • The Youth Authority album title came from the record's artwork. Joel Madden explained to HMV.com: "I actually happened with the artist who was making the album cover. We feel like album covers are kind of a lost art and we wanted to work with this guy called Brian Montuori, he's done a lot of the Dillinger Escape Plan's covers and we're a big fan of what he does."

    "We wanted to make an analogue album cover, a real piece of art and so we gave him the record and he lived with it. He wasn't a Good Charlotte fan to start off with and it's not like he became a super fan, but he got to know us and understood the band and he built this installation. It's this huge collage and it's all done by him, no photoshop, there's so much thought into all this and the title came out of that. When we started this band there was no social media, no internet and we had to everything by hand, we had no money and no connections, but we had each other, that's youth authority."

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