The first time I heard Today’s Song of the Day, “To Be Completely Honest” by Dawes, it was live, at The Masonic Lodge at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary. The album, All Your Favorite Bands, which this track is from, had just been released that day, and the band was showcasing it at this live show. I’d been into Dawes for a while before that, but after this album, and seeing and hearing them play it live, I became a forever fan.
“To Be Completely Honest” was, and still is, my favorite from the album. It is one of my Top 5 favorite Dawes songs, too.
“To Be Completely Honest” by Dawes
from the album, All Your Favorite Bands (2015)
Song of the Day
“To be completely honest,
I think I know how it ends:
the universe continues expanding,
while we discuss particulars of just being friends.”
This song may be one of the most “honest” breakup songs I’ve ever heard. It is filled with the roller coaster of emotions that happen when in the midst of, and after, the ending of a relationship. The quote above especially hits deep because really, how many of us haven’t been there?
Whether you are the one being left, or you are the one that’s leaving, the idea of negotiating to be friends after, one of those things that “look good on paper”, but is so hard to make a reality, is just impossibly awful to hear. And really, to say.
The album, All Your Favorite Bands is said to maintain a theme of sentimentality and nostalgia, looking backward and wishing well friends and lovers with a very universal thought that all your favorite bands stay together.
To me, it iterates the idea that music is personal and vital to human existence, that love may fade, friends may drift apart, but your favorite music, and bands, they stay with you forever.
“To Be Completely Honest” embodies all of this, and then some, to me.
