Live a Little Longer: “Dreamer and I” by Primes Single Review
Photo Courtesy of Pillar Artists
I think about FOMO sometimes. Frequently, actually. I am not in the place I thought I would be ten, or even five years ago. While I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m walking to the beat of my own drum - for better or worse - this is a difficult concept for many people of my generation. People post their lives on social media for all to see - vacations, promotions, celebrations, births, stepping stones of life they’ve crossed they want to shout out into the ether. But to those who are still finding their way, it can give them the sense that they’re falling drastically behind.
Boy, what is it with this band and tapping into my existential crises?
Primes is no stranger to dealing with the heavy stuff. Their last single, “Nine Lives,” had a similar theme: a fear that you’re wasting your life. But Primes has come to tell you that, despite what the world may be implying, you’re probably doing okay. With a bass that matches the beat of your heart, power chords that get your blood pumping, and drums that get you on your feet. “Dreamer and I” sets out to cheer you on and take you out of your own head for three minutes.
The first verse feels like someone taking you by the shoulders and begging you to snap out of your funk. It’s a wakeup call in the form of a powerful belt that rouses the soul: “You’ve changed for your age/Would you notice how you’ve grown?” Of course, you wouldn’t have seen how you’ve evolved: you can’t step outside of yourself. You haven’t established any perspective. You’re blind to your own progress, stuck in the endless cycle of comparing yourself to the growth that everyone else has had.
The pre-chorus, however, is the call to action, the voice of reason in the face of the breakdown: “Live a little longer, live and let me in/Live a little longer, where do I begin?” You have time to start. You have time to cut loose. You have time to “live a life of sin,” make mistakes and grow, and even have a bit of semi-regrettable fun. But you have to give it time. You have to let yourself live. After all, “the bright side of this life is nothing’s ever set in stone.”
This song is a battle cry in the face of an ever-growing oversharing society, and I mean that both figuratively and literally. The vocals on this track are like a call to arms, both loud to my ears and to my heart, as the guitar and the drums couple well to make a very powerful pop-punk power ballad. If Ollie Kitchen asked me to delete my Facebook right now, I probably would.
The pre-chorus gives Sarah Monteith-Skelton and Reece Ryan a chance to shine vocally as well as with their instruments, which they handle with technical precision. But more than that, you can feel with every reverb and crashing of cymbals that the band really does feel what they’re shouting at you through your headset. Wakeup calls need to be loud. Positivity needs to be shouted. Every note of this song can be felt in your bones.
Just as it should be.
