Few lyricists in historical past write with the identical depth, intimacy, and poetic precision as La Dispute’s Jordan Dreyer.
Since forming in Grand Rapids, Michigan over twenty years in the past, the band has carved out a singular house on the intersection of post-hardcore, spoken phrase, and emo, binding all of it along with a penchant for deeply introspective storytelling and daring conceptual endeavours.
From gut-wrenching meditations on love and loss to reflections on fleeting magnificence and quiet domesticity, Jordan’s lyrics have turn into a lifeline for many who discover solace in artwork that doesn’t flinch. Inviting us right into a world that feels concurrently common and painfully private, the frontman captures the nuance of human expertise with stark readability – usually loaded with metaphor, and at all times delivered in its rawest type.
A author who has by no means stopped asking questions and has by no means as soon as claimed to know all of the solutions, the band’s newest album ‘No One Was Driving The Automotive’ contradicts itself at each flip: light but abrupt, comforting but jarring, reflective but brimming with anticipation. Pondering the management now we have over our personal lives – and the inevitable finish that awaits us all – it’s a phenomenal exploration of our existence, offered as snapshots taken all through the lifetime of the file’s narrator.
With La Dispute’s music soundtracking 1000’s of lives the world over, and his phrases completely etched into the pores and skin of numerous followers, Jordan talks Rock Sound by way of a number of the lyrics he’s most proud to have written.
“The place you lay sleeping like a ceiling fan in winter // Gently turning because the wind reaches its fingers by way of the window // Simply to carry you, like I held you // Pressed like a rose between my fingers // Or like stones I maintain in pockets // Meant to weigh me underwater” ‘The Surgeon And The Scientist’ – ‘Vancouver’ (2006)
“It is a significantly tough one to speak about, as a result of I consider ‘Vancouver’ so sometimes. I’ve usually averted speaking about it in any significant approach for that motive, but it surely’s fascinating to learn one thing I wrote so way back and attempt to think about what my headspace would possibly’ve been like on the time. That tune was most likely written once I was 16 and it now with 20 years of expertise, I’m shocked by what nonetheless works. It’s an fascinating line, and it undoubtedly bears some hallmarks of my writing which have carried by way of to now. The point out of winter, the thought of a family merchandise like a ceiling fan… A secular picture used to articulate a sense. On the uncommon event I’m going by way of our again catalogue, I see these recurring themes. Once I look again now, I can see how even early work like that is half of a bigger journey. I used to view it as an artifact of a much less polished individual or author, at the same time as one thing embarrassing. Now although, I can compartmentalise and admire its worth. For the primary time now I’m wanting again and considering, ‘Really, that’s cool.’”
“We’re not our losses // We’re solely the extent to which we love” ‘The Fort Builders’ – ‘Someplace At The Backside Of The River Between Vega And Altair’ (2008)
“It’s a type of catchphrase-y moments, which was actually frequent locally we have been reared and developed in. In Midwest screamo and hardcore scenes, there was at all times an emphasis on singalong traces. I don’t really feel these are my favorite items of writing from an aesthetic standpoint, however I do assume they’ve actual worth. This line specifically is a reasonably good encapsulation of our ethos on the time, and a illustration of the worth we obtained from music. Simply to be in a room, connecting with individuals who share an identical ideology, and discovering our place locally. I nonetheless connect with that sentiment, and it’s about how we outline ourselves not by what we’ve misplaced, however what we put out into the world. The older I get, the extra I take into consideration the human expertise, and the extra I would like reminders of that form of considering. This line looks like a distillation of one thing central to each me and our band.”
“As a result of I assumed it would scare you to see me beneath the ice // Make you bear in mind you cared for me // What would you do if I died? // Would you fly out for my funeral? // Get too drunk at my wake? // Would you make a scene then? // Climb in and attempt to resuscitate me?” ‘First Reactions After Falling By means of The Ice’ – ‘Rooms Of The Home’ (2014)
“It’s undoubtedly a morbid line, however I admire the vulnerability it speaks to. The concept somebody’s first thought after a near-death expertise is about the way it would possibly have an effect on another person… It frames trauma by way of the lens of a connection to a different individual. It’s a dramatic first impulse, however a pure one. I like the way it escalates too, from questioning how somebody would react to your dying, to imagining them climbing into the casket at a funeral. I might’ve picked this complete tune, actually. There’s numerous traces on ‘Rooms Of The Home’ I nonetheless actually love.”
“I let the automobile drift some // Eye your uncomfortable pose in profile // The postures of lengthy drives // That limitless biking of your numb and close to sleeping components” ‘Scenes From Highways 1981-2009’ – ‘Rooms Of The Home’ (2014)
“Once we have been writing ‘Rooms Of The Home’, we stayed in a cabin approach up north in Michigan, which is closely forested and never very populated. I used to be having a tough time writing through the first couple of weeks there, and Chad [Sterenberg, guitarist] steered I cease making an attempt to jot down for the patterns and construction of the songs and simply write one thing. So, I wrote a poem, recorded it on the porch right into a voice recorder, and components of that poem turned this tune. This line is nearly word-for-word from the poem, and it really works as a standalone piece of writing in a approach that numerous my writing doesn’t. I like the picture of it. We’ve all been on lengthy drives, falling asleep in uncomfortable positions. I used to be enthusiastic about my accomplice and the way she might at all times go to sleep on automobile rides.”
“There are moments right here solely yours and mine // Tiny dots on an limitless timeline” ‘Girl (In Mirror)’ – ‘Rooms Of The Home’ (2014)
“That is most likely probably the most immediately I’ve written a love tune. That entire file focuses on the bodily representations of a shared life, and the way objects evoke recollections. I’ve come to conceive that these on a regular basis moments are probably the most highly effective representations of affection. The life you share informs the love you are feeling, and if you’re with that individual, the on a regular basis turns into one thing life-defining. I used to be additionally enthusiastic about the transient nature of life, and the even briefer time we share with the folks we love. I used to be enthusiastic about the Carl Sagan quote a few photograph taken of the Earth by way of a satellite tv for pc hurtling into outer house. All you see is a pale blue dot. Our lives are insignificant within the grand scale of the universe, however our shared moments nonetheless matter profoundly and outline our goal. That’s what this line is about. It’s a reminder to personal the time now we have and put worth into it.”
“‘Kill me unexpectedly,’ you mentioned // ‘I don’t need to keep alive // To observe the phrases go first like hers’” ‘Rhodonite And Grief’ – ‘Panorama’ (2019)
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“Once I die let me achieve this beside you // Once we die allow us to go on the identical time” ‘You Ascendant’ – ‘Panorama’ (2019)
“I like the best way these two traces bookend ‘Panorama’. The primary one comes from a fictionalised model of an actual dialog. It’s about somebody dropping a beloved one to dementia and understanding dying in a approach we’re not inspired to. Typically, we see our lives as present in opposition to their inevitable finish. We lose quite a bit by doing so, by not understanding our life within the context of our dying and in equilibrium with it. Seeing somebody lose speech, reminiscence, identification… They’re considering what meaning for their very own life and dying. It’s value noting that the individual works in a trauma hospital, too. The second line is about how I navigate the world with out despairing. By connecting to an individual that I like, by sharing not solely the expertise of life, however the expertise of dying.”
“Amid the forest tones // Amid the tough wind // Amid the echoed howl of wolves // All through the marsh I sat and counted bullets // Simply in case they got here for me” ‘Kinross’ – ‘Meantime’ (2023)
“This one’s from a mission we did throughout COVID, primarily for our personal sanity and to indulge a artistic impulse. We weren’t in a position to get collectively to jot down, and the songs took on a extra atmospheric, spoken tone, which gave me an opportunity to jot down a bit in another way. It led me to jot down as if the one consideration have been the association of phrases on a web page, reasonably than how it could translate into music. I wrote this line considering of my dad, and of spending time within the Higher Peninsula with him. It captures the sensation of being someplace remoted, the thought of being younger and alone in a harsh setting. There’s one thing about being in excessive climate that has at all times appealed to me. It’s a strategy to remind your self of your individual mortality, and of your potential to be brave. Being 14 years outdated, out on a searching journey with my father, holding a rifle and listening to wolves howl… It’s certainly one of my favorite traces I’ve ever written.”
“And to catch the sunshine in you // To be celebrated // Attempt to pull the time behind you ahead // Bends and breaks you // Within the early morning stopped by the ever ticking clock // Not the click when the arms transfer // However the absence of a sound in between // Un-do, un-settled, un-easy // Can you are feeling it? // It’s the alternative of peace” ‘Sibling Fistfight At Mother’s Fiftieth / The Un-Sound’ – ‘No One Was Driving The Automotive’ (2025)
“It was tough to select traces from his file as a result of there are such a lot of I’m pleased with. This was one of many best issues I’ve ever written, and I wrote it about my mother. Life has this undercurrent of impermanence, and we’re tasked with discovering pleasure in what we do. All through that course of, we’re confronted with the on a regular basis anxiousness of life’s violence and volatility. My intention was to personify the sound between the arms of a clock shifting, and that easy prefix of ‘un’ feels just like the hole between a clock’s ticks. It’s the lingering hum of the sound, and it utterly modifications the that means. It’s nearly questioning the absence of sound.”
“Pin all of them on the wall: Within the backyard I didn’t plant, April // Unknown determine silhouetted by telephone display screen mild, final fall // Color examine (black and blue), age 32 // Abstractions (me and also you), [on-going series] // On the freeway at evening, at 29 // Nonetheless life with crimson wine and Vicodin, 2013 // Smiling child with stitched face, age 11 // Color examine (shades of white), 1987 // Exhibition: ‘Work In Progress / Incomplete’” ‘Self-Portrait Backwards’ – ‘No One Was Driving The Automotive’ (2025)
“This one’s just a little odd to see written out, however I’m very pleased with it. The entire tune is about somebody their life by way of imagined nonetheless pictures – drawn or painted – and reflecting on the innocuous moments that have been collected collectively to inform a narrative. Right here, I inform that story by way of titles of fictionalised self-portraits in varied sequences of time. It was a weird construction to work with, however I believe it really works nicely. There’s numerous ambiguity, and that forces the listener to fill within the blanks as they’re interacting with it. The fictional exhibition title on the finish – ‘Work In Progress / Incomplete’ – helps put a cap on the story. It looks like a curated exhibit that explains the mindset of the character within the tune.”
“You carved ‘DIE YOUNG’ with a pen within the pores and skin under your neck // To maintain your recklessness nearer to the chest // A reminder to reject // A perpetual hanging menace // A promise you stored now // True to your self, to the top // In a way” ‘Steve’ – ‘No One Was Driving The Automotive’ (2025)
“That is my favorite tune on the file. It’s a few pal who turned disconnected from our core group and ultimately dedicated suicide. I wished to jot down about it in a approach that didn’t simply current the method of making an attempt to grasp his choice however mirrored on the time we spent collectively. It juxtaposes opting out with how shut we frequently come to hazard in our youth, with out actually understanding it. This line comes from an actual expertise. This pal did carve ‘DIE YOUNG’ into their pores and skin after we have been possibly 19 or 20. On the time, it felt like a dumb punk factor to do, an act of defiance. However given what finally occurred, it was a menace, a promise he stored to himself. I didn’t need to forged judgement on him for making the selection that he did, even when I don’t agree with it. I hope that anyone in an identical state of affairs can perceive that each one issues are impermanent, ache included.”