Currents’ “Remember Me” Lyric Meaning

We have looked at innumerable rock tracks throughout the years and in the process have come across quite a few which, in one way or another, are critical of mankind’s dependency of technology, especially in the modern world. However, in that regard “Remember Me” is quite unique for a couple of reasons. 

First is that the lyrics do not speak directly to that subject of technology at all — so much so that, devoid of Bryan Wille’s explanation, a listener would be hard-pressed to come to the conclusion that this piece is actually based on that subject. 

Second, concerning said explanation, what the band is most pointedly focused on is what they deem to be the divisive nature of social media. This of course is an increasingly-popular though still largely untouched stance in the music world.

THE INFORMATION AGE & “OUR GROWING DIVIDE BETWEEN ONE ANOTHER”

Or as Wille has more specifically noted, the internet has become such that when a pressing or controversial issue arises, there are so many different takes and opinions on it. These numerous opinions make it very easy for us to basically go in any direction we want. 

In other words, we are not compelled to be understanding, objective, sympathetic or however you want to put it. Instead, we can just cleave to the groups or other individuals who think the same way that we respectively do, which seems to be in part what he’s griping about.

Furthermore, the “instant, infinite perspective across the ideological spectrum”, i.e. the internet, are such that we are constantly bombarded by different views. And the whole situation is “driven further by algorithms and advertising”. So what he appears to be putting forth is that social media, by its very nature, divides us or in the very least has made us accustomed to being divided. And clearly in the mind of Currents that is not a good thing.

THE LYRICS OF “REMEMBER ME”

However, the highly-poetic lyrics, it can be said, steer us in a different direction. Indeed in a way, trying to connect them to Wille’s explanation makes the song even more confusing than it reads on its own.

The vocalist does point out, in what appears to be the pre-chorus, that “all the love is gone, driven apart by what we all have seen”. This is a statement which reads as if it may be an allusion to the above argument. 

But then concerning the title for instance, he goes on to encourage the addressee to “remember me as you loved me”. So all things considered, we will take to mean something like maybe people should be judged by their true, face-to-face personas instead of how they may come off via social media.

Meanwhile, the chorus seems to take a more introspective, though still somewhat-confusing approach. But again going out on a limb, what it appears Brian is trying to get at is that we’re more similar than we are different. 

In fact by the time all is said and done, it becomes more apparent that what the vocalist is espousing is along the lines of loving and embracing your fellow man. But there are a number of lyrical hurdles which must be traversed before realizing that blunt sentiment.

ABOUT CURRENTS

Currents is a band from a part of Connecticut known as Fairfield. The band’s discography dates back to 2013. 

Earlier on they self-released their works, but later down the line, in 2017, the crew signed with an indie label known as SharpTone Records. So it was under SharpTone that they released their first two LPs:

• 2017’s “The Place I Feel Safest” 
• 2020’s “The Way It Ends”

And now, once again backed by that label, they are on the verge of dropping their third studio album, “The Death We Seek”, in May of 2023. Along with making that announcement, they also officially dropped “Remember Me” – which appears to be the project’s lead single – a few months prior, in early February.

As of the release of this song, Currents is being held down by five individuals, none of which actually founded the band. The longest tenured would be guitarists Ryan Castaldi and Chris Wiseman, who have both been down since 2014. They are joined by the following:

• bassist Christian Pulgarin
• vocalist Brian Willie
• drummer Matt Young

That said, there relatively-little information readily available on this act, thus implying that they have yet to score a breakthrough hit. But as it stands now, the most-popular song in Currents’ catalog is a 2017 outing titled “Apnea”.

THE LONG AND SHORT OF “REMEMBER ME”

According to the way this song has been described by Currents’ frontman Brian Wille, its message is a powerful, and some may even say timely one. But the issue, if you will, with “Remember Me” is that even though it is meant to serve as a criticism of social media, there doesn’t appear to be anything about said phenomenon – or the internet or technology in general – in the lyrics. Instead what we are more ascertainably met with is sort of a clean-yourself-up and love-your-neighbor kind of piece. And even in that sense, it can be said that the wording, to some degree, is painfully indirect.