Music Review: Bea Miller "Young Blood"

Bea Miller

Young Blood

Album: Young Blood EP

Year: 2014

            Bea Miller sees the future full of possibilities in the thoughtful “Young Blood.”

              Echoing “whoa-ohs” open the single, setting a vast tone. She opens the letter and squeals. She received her scholarship. It was widely sought after scholarship and she thought she wouldn’t get it. She tells her mom she’s going out with her friends to eat. They end up celebrating with some beer and dancing in a parking lot. They talk about adults who have been through it have told them and compare stories. High school is going to be over soon. They are going to be grown up. However, they ask themselves what it really means. They joke, making up alternate futures and enjoying their youth. (“We were making history/Breaking rules and breaking free/Questioning the writing on the wall/Coming from the underground/Laughing as we're falling down/Soaking in the glory of it all.”)

               In the pre-chorus, she says they aren’t ready for when it collapses. They hang onto their hopes and dreams. It’s all they have. They can’t lose that aspect of themselves. (“But in dark times when we close our eyes/It's a nightmare, it’s a nightmare/When the sun don't shine we lose our minds/But I swear, we can get there.”)

               In the chorus, she says they have their entire lives ahead of them. Now is the time to mistakes and figure out their lives. It may too late once they hit their 30s. (“We've got young blood, can't destroy us/We make our own luck in this world/We've got young blood, no one chose us/We make our own love in this world.”)

            She says in ten years they could reunite. The happiness and excitement is what they will want to remember. It’s what will keep them going. (“Someday we could run away/See it all before the pictures fade/And bottle up the feeling in a jar/Pass around to all our friends/We can breathe it in and out again/Huddled in the backseat of the car.”)

             The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

            In the bridge, she mentions there will be a time when they will be tested. They will have fight for what they have. It will depress them, wearing them down. She promises that they can rely on her friendship. She’ll always be there. (“And the voices will get loud/If you never learn to shut them out/If you're lost you can be found/If you follow me until you hear the sound/Put em up, put em up now/If you know we're never backing down/We're never backing down, no/Hey!”)

         The chorus is sung twice.

         In the final section, she repeats the title. (“Yeah, cause we've got young blood.”)

        Miller’s undeveloped vocals haven’t  quite mastered serious emotion yet. At times, she seems too young to know what she’s talking about despite being a teenager. . It’s a relief to see a single where teenagers aren’t enjoying being trouble.  She’s intelligent and trying to send out a positive message. Nonetheless, she’s growing up herself.

      The  unripened  “Young Blood” is a start, but it’s not quite there.