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“Just like country in Nashville” it’s only Natural that Valley drops a new album that strips their hearts bare. Their sophomore album, Lost in Translation, continues their brilliant honesty and dreamy instrumentals. Valley classics and hidden gems tend to contain some of my favorite lyrics ever written. All four band members and their team put their blood, sweat, and tears into the making of this album. As such, I’m going to attempt to do the same with this deep dive into a few of the songs on Lost in Translation. 

lost in translation

“No, so what I wanted to say was, um-”

Oddly enough, out of all the songs on the album, I struggle the most with putting my finger on the meaning of this one. What does lost in translation actually mean? Dictionaries define the phrase as “to fail to have the same meaning or effectiveness when translated into another language.” This is true, but language isn’t rigid, it can mean many things. 

I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in the writing of this song. I get a fond feeling as a fan when new lyrics contain references to old songs. There are at least 9 easter eggs you can find in this song if you look hard enough (or look it up). 

“Sometimes I really wish I never did change ” 

This line is repeated seven times, indicating its significance. Perhaps Valley implies that the true loss in translation is our own sense of self.

With change comes new identities we adopt, new people in our life, new places, and new experiences. With all these new things, it’s not difficult to forget the old ones. But, when you get a text or call from an old friend that shoves those memories to the forefront, sometimes who we were before can get lost in who we are now. 

Break For You

This has to be one of my favorite songs on the album, hands down. It was the pre-release that I had in multiple playlists and queued up every time I got in my car. 

“Break For You is about taking all the pressure. It’s about being the glue to hold it all together when someone can’t, even if it breaks you,” Valley says on their Instagram. It covers an emotion that a lot of us feel, but don’t know how to translate into words. 

Longing. ‘I long for you so much through this distance I would do anything to be your rock when you can’t be strong for yourself. So much so, it breaks me. I would break for you.’ To love someone so passionately that you would give them all of yourself just to see them smile is the power of relationships. This is not just a song for your long-distance significant other, even though that was the inspiration behind the song. It can translate into friendships as well. 

Life isn’t meant to be lived alone. With everything going on in the world, sometimes that message gets lost in translation. So, Break For You is a simple reminder you’re not alone. 

i thought i could fly

How do you talk about your hardest moments? The times when you’re so low you can’t get up. The times when you miss a version of yourself that is only kept alive in pictures. The times when you have to say goodbye to something you’re not ready to let go of yet. 

i thought i could fly is about accepting reality. 

Rob described this song on his Instagram saying, “I’ve struggled with growing up my entire life. I wish I could remember the moment that my imagination shrunk.”  

“Twentieth floor, I almost did it / I get so low I try to fly / My hands got tired of all this steerin’ / They built the car but there’s no lights” 

These four opening lines are so alluring. The first part is actually quite dark but is written so beautifully it hits you like a whisper instead of the slap in the face it is.

They say your childhood dies the moment you lose your imagination. Growing up can feel like you’re drowning even though as a kid it sounds so exciting. This song highlights when you’re tired and want to give up. What I love about it is there’s no answer. It’s an open question. It acknowledges a feeling without providing comfort. If you listen to this song, let it surround you like a blanket and just sit with the song like you do with your feelings.

Fishbowl

If you’ve ever heard the song “Waving Through a Window” from Dear Evan Hansen, you’re no stranger to songs that talk about looking at the world through a glass barrier. 

Sometimes I find myself in situations where I’m living life and experiencing things, but I’m not feeling any of it. When I’m with my friends but still feel like an outsider. I think this is the idea that they were trying to get at with a “fishbowl.”

There’s a beautiful evolution of meaning as the lyrics unfold. The message goes from, ‘Can someone break this fishbowl’ to, ‘Can someone just come live with me in this fishbowl’? 

As this is the last song on the album, we’ve experienced all the hurt and pain that can put us in a fishbowl. So, if we’re gonna live with all of it, maybe it’s best not to do it alone. 

Lost in Translation is full to the brim with stories of relationships. At its core, it has messages of emptiness, anxiety, doubt, passion, and longing. 3 years in the making, this passion project is finally in the world. Listen to it, absorb it, enjoy it, and share it with the people you love. You won’t regret it.