Fight | 3BOPS

1. Badflower, “Johnny Wants to Fight”

💿 This is How the World Ends • 🏷 Big Machine / John Varvatos • 📅 2021

“Yeah, if Johnny wants to fight, let him fight / Let him kick my fucking ass into the ground.” Day-um!  🎵 “Johnny Wants to Fight” appears as the fourth track on 💿 This is How the World Ends, the sophomore album by L.A. rock collective, Badflower. As always, front man 🎙 Josh Katz is blunt and brutally honest – we wouldn’t have it any other way. He gives us a compelling story.  Prior to verse, there’s a spoken skit that sets up this narrative, which involves “shit’s been going down with your girl” – Johnny’s girl, of course. 

Katz expounds on this on the verses, asserting, “He’s [Johnny] looking for somebody to pound /… He’s fucking mad ‘cause he knows that somebody was with her.”  Of course, later, on the second verse, we find out that Josh was ‘with her,’ hence, why, as the chorus confirms, “Let him break my fucking nose until I’m barely breathing / … Give it everything you got / Because your girlfriend put her body on me / Shallow loser.”  In the process, as you can already see, Badflower and Katz keep those f-bombs flying.  The music = energetic AF.

2. Fantasia, “Fighting”

💿 Sketchbook • 🏷 Rock Soul / BMG Rights Management • 📅 2019

🏆 Grammy winner 🎙 Fantasia released her entertaining sixth studio album, 💿 Sketchbook, independently. 🎵 “Fighting,” the 10^th track from the LP, marks one of the best songs. Expected checkboxes such as voice and production are checked off for Fantasia.  Making “Fighting” even more thrilling is the theme of love and dedication, explored magnificently through the verses.

Love and dedication is summed up perfectly on the awesome chorus:

“As long as you’re here by my side
There’s no storm that we couldn’t survive
I never stopped fighting, fighting for us
There’s no mountain that we couldn’t climb
There’s no ocean, no river too wide
For me to stop fighting, fighting for us.”

The outro is interesting, finding Fantasia embracing the sound of now with an uncredited rapper agilely spitting some prudent, socially conscious vibes: “Why fight with one another? When we can fight with each other / Women fight for your brother / Cold world, they don’t love us.”

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3. Rachel Platten, “Fight Song”

💿 Wildfire • 🏷 Columbia • 📅 2016

“This is my fight song / Take back my life song / Prove I’m alright song / My power’s turned on.” Now that’s a prime example of empowerment! One song and one song only fueled 💿 Wildfire, the 2016, major label debut album by 🎙 Rachel Platten.  That one song is 🎵 “Fight Song” – duh! “Fight Song” greatly elevated the singer/songwriter’s profile.  She co-wrote it with 🎼✍ Dave Bassett while 🎛 Jon Levine serves as producer.

Just reading/hearing the excerpted lyrics, how can you NOT be uplifted?

“And all those things I didn’t say
Wrecking balls inside my brain
I will scream them loud tonight
Can you hear my voice this time?”

“Fight Song” has no shortage of fight, that’s for sure.  It exemplifies being resolute – motivated to fend off any adversity that comes your way. “But there’s a fire burning in my bones / Still believe / Yeah, I still believe.” Yes – say that, Rachel!