Fritz Hager navigates the possibility of regret and the reeling of knowing who you are after heart break, in his newest song, Bad Friend.
“You needed me, and I needed more” he sings, “It was my fault that you cut it off / guess I read it wrong / what a waste of it all”.
There seems to be a searching for the faith that love is worth it, even when it was lost. “I didn’t know what I’d lose falling in love with you,” Hager grapples with this dissonance, of how something that brought more to his life leaves loss behind; melancholy underscores the song, yet it’s broken at times with lifting, rejuvenating tones. This vibrant cadence pays homage to the confusion the lyrics embody. “When we wrote this song, we wanted to explore how confusing love can be at a young age when you don’t have the tools to communicate it,” Hager said in a press release. Hager goes on to vocalize his uncertainties about who he was and how he should know himself after this love: “I didn’t know the rules of being a good man / but was I a bad friend”.
The movement of maturity and following bouts of reflection bring their own pain, encapsulated well by the lyric, “Wish you could know all the ways I’ve changed”. This is a song that will make you feel less lonely even if you’re alone.
