I Miss You 182 – A Review of I Miss You by Blink 182

We know that Blink 182 has always been considered the fun-loving, dumb boys of pop rock on the top charts, but with the release of their self-titled album, a new side to Blink 182 was revealed. The song I Miss You expresses most of this dark feeling that is constant throughout the album. Even the music videos on this album were no longer bright and full of slapstick comedy, but raw, intense and sad.

The lyrics to I Miss You are quite simple to understand, but it is this simplicity that creates such a powerful connection between the band and its listeners. And while emotions are predictable when someone hears I miss you, metaphorical images are not. After looking at much of Blink 182’s work, I found that Mark Hoppus has better control over creating witty sentences with great relevance to the topic compared to Tom Delonge. Of course, Delonge has shown quite a bit of his more poetic side since playing with Angels and Airwaves.

I miss you 182

Blink 182’s words created a very sad mood for I Miss You from the beginning. When Hoppus sings “Hello, the angel from my nightmare. The shadow in the back of the morgue,” he is trying to express the feeling of being alone and having his mind terrified by this ghostly image. Most likely, this image is a woman from a broken relationship. He continues with “The unsuspecting victim of the darkness in the valley. We can live like Jack and Sally if we want to, where you can always find me and we will have Halloween at Christmas …” relating his strange forgotten love to the characters. Jack Skellington and Sally from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

I really think adding that cinematic relationship was a risky movie. Personally, when I hear lyrics that make obvious references to movie characters, I start to think twice about that particular band. I start to analyze how good his lyrical skills are and most of the time I realize that most of his material, musical or lyrical, is sometimes not as original as I had previously thought. Of course, Blink 182 is not in danger of losing its powerful status as pop rock legends. It was a risky business to make that connection, but I Miss You really uses that metaphor well.

Tom Delonge’s verse from I Miss You is not so charming in its emotional references. His verse reflects the horrible pain one feels for everyday events that never had meaning until his partner left. When Delonge says, “This strange and sickly darkness creeps up so eerie every time,” he is mentioning how strange and terrifying it is to feel alone. It could be assumed that this song could be about ending a long relationship. Blink 182

I honestly don’t understand how “hesitancy to call” can be related to spiders catching things and eating your insides. I guess that’s why sometimes I feel like it continues with “… And as I watched, I counted cobwebs from all the spiders, catching things and eating their guts like the indecision to call you and hear your voice of betrayal”, which is really cool. Link 182 uses images and comparisons exclusively for the surface layer. I mean, really, it’s hard to have a completely different concept for every song that a band decides to write. Over time, bands duplicate content or use phrases and words for quick appeal. I think that is what is happening in that line of I Miss You.

The rest of the song’s performance can be overpowered, but I think the intentions of the lyrics are obvious when Blink 182 repeats “I Miss You” more than a dozen times. Overall, this song is simple, but oozes substance just like the rest of Blink 182’s works. And it’s a very strong representation of the style used throughout their self-titled album.