When it comes to Waterparks’ “Watch What Happens Next”, are you really listening?

Waterparks released their newest track, “Watch What Happens Next” earlier this week, along with detailing their forthcoming record, Fandom.

The song is a pop-punk powerhouse to say the least. It enters with an electrifying guitar riff and carries out the rest of the way with Awsten Knight’s confident vocals. The song as a whole has remarkable melody transitions which helps in keeping listeners on their toes and their ears open.

Along with the new track came a video, directed by frontman Knight himself, creating an entertaining aesthetic. From alligators to agents interrupting band practice, it’s very on brand for the band.

With that being said, the video, while captivating, is also distracting. YouTube comments seem to focus on the alligators or that Knight “deserves an Oscar” for his acting at the end of the video, all in good fun, of course. These comments carry on throughout Twitter and social media, understandably so, but it seems the lyrics may be getting overlooked throughout all the Fandom, craze.

Knight is showcasing some real stresses in this song. From industry struggles to overall treatment of the band. From being jipped out of money and being restricted artistically; not just by the industry but from fans. Just speculating, but it seems pretty obvious in the lyric, “I put autotune on Worst and caught all their disgust.” Thinking back, “Worst” is a track Knight released on his own.

So what makes the assumption that Knight is talking about frustrations with fans? Well, after praising hip-hop for being able to “do whatever it wants, like make country songs and hit number one”, he goes on to emphasize that Waterparks could never do that, singing “all the fans that like us need an easy fucking format.” He also refers to the treatment of their music being a “cultural hold-back.”

The song also leads into a bridge where Knight seems to have an argument with himself where he highlights issues such as only having enough money to pay rent, and being told to fuck himself when asking to try new sounds with the latter seeming to be industry related. The most skin-chillingly line of this track to go along with the industry jab would have to be “tell me all the things you want and I will give up me for you.”

The whole song is very telling from beginning to end. It shows how fans and the industry are guilty of making artists and bands feel restricted. As someone who is guilty herself of saying “It’s good, but I like their old stuff better,” this track opens up eyes to the kind of toll it takes on an artist who is creating something they’re proud of. We never want to add to the stresses of being in this industry or make a musician feel “defeated as fuck”, right?

Cheers to Waterparks for making one great eye-opening anthem of a track. Check it out below!

Looking for THE scene podcast? Look no further. Unplugged w/ Tyler Winters & John Pearman is exactly what you need. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Follow or Subscribe below!

or another podcast platform.