"We hope that somewhere out there, someone was made to feel less alone"
Paramore has explained how their latest single ‘Rose-Colored Boy’ deals with overcoming the stigma that surrounds depression and anxiety.
The band took to Colbert on US TV this week for a colorful performance of the track from their acclaimed 2017 album ‘After Laughter‘ – racking up nearly 200,000 views on Youtube. After the popularity of their appearance, the band took to Twitter to explain how the lyrics to the song were written as a call for people to be more open about their mental health.
“‘Rose-Colored Boy’ is a song about feeling pressured to look at the world with blind optimism when you actually feel very hopeless about the world and your part in it,” they wrote. “There is so much social pressure to be (or appear to be) “happy” that we can actually feel shame when we aren’t.
“Adding shame to sadness is a pretty toxic cocktail. It’s hard enough to deal with sadness, depression, or any type of anxiety without the added societal expectations. It’s important AND more healing to meet people where they’re at – EMPATHY – than to try and paint everything rosy.”
Thank Colbert for allowing them to perform, the band added: “We hope that somewhere out there, staring into a screen, someone was made to feel less alone by the ideas in ‘Rose-Colored Boy’.”
FOR HELP AND ADVICE ON MENTAL HEALTH:
- YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
- CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably for young men
- Time To Change – Let’s end mental health discrimination
- The Samaritans – Confidential support 24 hours a day
The post Paramore on the meaning of ‘Rose-Colored Boy’: ‘There is no shame in sadness and depression’ appeared first on NME.
