Stay Together for the Kids

“Their anger hurts my ears, been running strong for seven years. Rather then fix the problems, they never solve them, it makes no sense at all. I see them everyday, we get along so why can’t they? If this is what he wants, and it’s what she wants, then why is there so much pain?” –Blink 182, Stay Together for the Kids

"Stay Together for the Kids" single cover by Blink 182 - source: www.amazon.com

Salah satu band rock terkemuka asal Amerika Serikat, Blink 182, merilis album keempat mereka yang bertajuk “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket” pada tanggal 12 Juni 2001. Album ini meraih sukses luar biasa secara komersial. Debut di peringkat pertama tangga lagu US Billboard 200, dengan hasil penjualan minggu pertama setelah perilisannya mencapai angka 350.000 salinan. Hingga saat ini, album tersebut terjual lebih dari 14 juta salinan di seluruh dunia. Sebagai single ketiga sekaligus terakhir dari album “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket”, dirilis sebuah lagu berjudul “Stay Together for the Kids” pada tanggal 19 Februari 2002. Lirik lagu ini ditulis oleh salah satu personel Blink 182, Tom DeLonge, berdasarkan pengalaman pribadinya pada masa remaja dulu ketika kedua orang tuanya bercerai.

“Stay Together for the Kids”, as you all can guess from its title, is a song about children’s feeling and point of view about a broken home and divorced parent. “It’s hard to wake up, when the shades have been pulled shut. This house is haunted, it’s so pathetic, it makes no sense at all. I’m ripe with things to say, the words rot and fall away. What stupid poem could fix this home? I’d read it every day.” Whether parents realize or not, they put their children in a terrified state when they fight in front of them. The children feel it’s hard to wake up and that the house is haunted. Why? It’s because the image of their parents fighting is the scariest nightmare ever. It’s worse than any ghost. What makes it worse is that in front of them, the children lost for words. They can’t even yell back at them. They can do just nothing but watching and hearing as their heart wrenching.

"Take Off Your Pants and Jacket" album cover by Blink 182 - source: www.musicradar.com

“Their anger hurts my ears, been running strong for seven years. Rather then fix the problems, they never solve them, it makes no sense at all. I see them everyday, we get along so why can’t they? If this is what he wants, and it’s what she wants, then why is there so much pain?” Sometimes parents think that separation is the best solution, rather than they keep fighting in front of the children. But how could they call it as the best solution when they never even try to solve the main problem itself? In this case, separation is for them who are too lazy to find a way out and want the easiest one, without considering their children’s feeling. If it’s the best way, then why the children hurt? “So here’s your holiday, hope you enjoy it this time, you gave it all away. It was mine. So when you’re dead and gone, will you remember this night? Twenty years now lost. It’s not right.”

Sebuah music video (MV) dirilis untuk lagu “Stay Together for the Kids” dengan Samuel Bayer sebagai sutradara. Pengambilan gambar MV ini diambil pada tanggal 10 September 2001, tepat sehari sebelum tragedi WTC. I remember very clearly when I was a kid, I watched this MV on MTV (which was the hottest TV station back then in my country). Up until now I’m still amazed by how a little kid like me could fall in love and even understand the meaning of this rock song. “Stay Together for the Kids” was probably the first Blink 182’s song that I love. It feels like screaming out (well, Tom DeLonge was literally screaming out the chorus part of this song) to all parents out there who sometimes don’t even remember who’s really suffering when they’re arguing and shouting to each other. This song was dedicated to all children in this world. And to the parents too, stay together for the kids.

“So here’s your holiday, hope you enjoy it this time, you gave it all away. It was mine. So when you’re dead and gone, will you remember this night? Twenty years now lost. It’s not right.” –Blink 182, Stay Together for the Kids

“It’s hard to wake up, when the shades have been pulled shut
This house is haunted, it’s so pathetic, it makes no sense at all
I’m ripe with things to say, the words rot and fall away
What stupid poem could fix this home? I’d read it every day

So here’s your holiday, hope you enjoy it this time, you gave it all away
It was mine

So when you’re dead and gone, will you remember this night? Twenty years now lost
It’s not right

Their anger hurts my ears, been running strong for seven years
Rather then fix the problems, they never solve them, it makes no sense at all
I see them everyday, we get along so why can’t they?
If this is what he wants, and it’s what she wants, then why is there so much pain?

It’s not right”