Actual Pain

Album: Generation Rx (2018)
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Songfacts®:

  • Good Charlotte's Generation Rx album was largely inspired by the death of Lil Peep on November 15, 2017 from an overdose of prescription drugs. The band was invited to perform Lil Peep's "Awful Things" at the emo-rapper's memorial service and the event was the impetus for the record.

    Spurred by the tragic passing of Lil Peep, the band's Joel and Benji Madden made a conscious decision to return to their emo roots. This dark and heavy song delivers a message of hope to today's youth generation living under the shadow of the Opioid epidemic.

    All this pain I feel
    That's tearing me apart
    Is what makes you real
    Deep inside my heart


    The Madden brothers said: "Our generation was the first to have so many ways to deal with pain. Throughout this century, we've seen the whole opioid crisis get worse. We wondered if we were really doing our part. We wanted to bet back out there on the battlefield and spread insight, share experience, and give anything we could to improve lives. The message is you can get through the pain, survive it, and have the life you want."
  • The album's prevailing lyrical themes are trauma, pain, and loneliness. Joel Madden explained to Kerrang: "All of us self-medicate in some way with something, I watch young kids today and feel for them, I understand the pain almost more than they do, because I got through to the other side of it. What this record is about is sparking that conversation."
  • Directed by Jake Stark, the introspective music video examines the album's prevailing lyrical themes as we observe a young boy's difficult relationship with his struggling mom, and how the bad times affect him as he grows older.

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