“Brightside” by The Lumineers

by Amanda London· Published September 21, 2021· Updated September 21, 2021

The lyrics of The Lumineers’ “Brightside” rely heavily on symbolism and metaphors, perhaps too much in terms of actually making it understandable to the average listener. But apparently the vocalist and the addressee, the latter of whom reads like his romantic interest, are living a transient lifestyle, i.e. bouncing around with no clear destination at the moment. And they seemingly made this decision after she grew “tired of [living in] Tacoma”.

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So now it’s like they’re on the road, and the trip is proving less than ideal. And interesting in that regard is that fact that the vocalist seems to imply that she left her children behind in the process and that the cops may be looking for her, if not the both of them. So it may be that they’re on the run from the law or something like that, as, once again, the details of the narrative aren’t really logically clear.

But anyway, the thesis sentiment revolves around the vocalist advertising his willingness to ‘be her brightside tonight’. So by the looks of things, he is offering to brighten up her evening via some lovin’. Or put otherwise, he is hoping to edify their night amidst an overall depressing situation.

The Lumineers

The Lumineers are a duo of musicians, lead vocalist Wesley Schultz and multi-instrumentalist Jeremiah Fraites, who specialize in the folk rock genre. There have been other members of the crew, which originated in 2005, throughout the years. But Schultz and Fraites, being the founders of The Lumineers, have held the brand down throughout.

“Brightside”

This song, which came to us on 20 September 2021. The Lumineers made it the lead single and title track from their fourth studio album. This project is a product of Dualtone Records, the indie outfit that the band opted to sign with in 2012 as opposed to a major label.

And to note, The Lumineers have been really successful on the UK Albums Chart and especially their native Billboard 200. For instance, their sophomore LP, Cleopatra (2016), topped both charts.

The aforementioned pair of musicians wrote this song. And it was produced by Simone Felice and David Baron. Also, according to Wesley Schultz, this piece was “recorded in a single day”.