Courtesy of Black Cat.

I‰’ve received nothing but “good advice” from people as I graduated high school, went through my summer internship and began my first and second semesters of college. To be honest, I was pretty sick of it before I even graduated. People always called me responsible and trusted me with many important matters, but would still constantly give me advice for college. Everyone: I‰’m only moving to an entirely new city, being with new people and going to a new school. My decision-making processes haven‰’t changed. I‰’m still going to be able to make responsible decisions about what I‰’m doing with my life, and if I don‰’t, I will have to face the consequences as an adult.

So what does this have to do with music? Well, D.C.-based ska/punk band Kill Lincoln just dropped their new EP  Good Riddance to Good Advice a few weeks ago and not only is it probably one of my favorite releases of the year so far, the title track truly got me thinking about why people, like me, are sick of hearing good advice. 

“Good Riddance to Good Advice‰” seems like a song for people that are considered “fuck ups‰” in life—and are okay with it. They‰’ve accepted their lives in that current state and that‰’s okay with them. But anybody who knows me well can tell you that I‰’m not really one of those people. I have drive and ambitions; I can still make something of my life. I may still be a cynical ass, but I‰’m cynical about other things besides myself. I need good advice in my life and I end up following it anyway. Then, I realize I would have done the same without the advice.

My libertarian tendencies may show a bit here, but I firmly believe that I am free to make my own choices. I‰’m kind of sick of being told what to do—oddly enough, even if I would have done it anyway. And this makes me really want to belt the chorus of “Good Riddance to Good Advice‰” to anyone who attempts to tell me that “I should do [Good Career Move].‰” Like no shit, Dick Tracy.

Say goodbye
to the starting line and thinking twice
say goodnight
and good riddance to all your good advice
and I’m not asking for someone to hold my hand
and growing up, that’s just not part of the plan

Perhaps maybe from my own volition and maybe from some of the “good advice‰” I was given in high school, I will eventually grow up. It may be sad, but it‰’s ultimately true. But this shows one of the things that I really love about music. It allows the listener to enter the mindset of someone else—someone that they may not have the guts to firmly be or even consider themselves fully in agreement with. And that‰’s me with this song. I definitely do not want to hear any more good advice coming from people that care about me. And I know for a fact that it will come and I will “appreciate‰” it as much as I have in the past. But nine times out of 10, it was borderline common sense. “Oh, no! I thought shotgunning 10 cans of Natty Light at a frat party was a GREAT IDEA! Now my weekend plans are ruined!‰” I‰’m not stupid—I‰’ve lived 19 years without much of a hiccup.

Honestly, though, the people that need the good advice the most—the people that would shotgun Natty Light—are the people that won‰’t listen, while people like me and most of my peers from high school are the ones that are absolutely sick of hearing it—perhaps to the point where we begin to wonder what it‰’s like to make a sub-par decision for once in their life. And, while it may be fun once in a while, one still has to make the good decision to stop making sub-par ones. Huh. Was that me spouting the good advice I just said I hated hearing? Maybe. But I‰’m no authority figure. I‰’m a college freshman at his desk typing this on his laptop. You don‰’t have to listen to me.

But maybe then you will…