AJR's "Bang!" was originally slated to appear as a bonus track on their "Neotheater" album, which contains themes about being "young forever," but the group shelved it at the time. "It feels a little darker, it feels like a next step, being disillusioned a little bit," Ryan Met told Billboard about the hit song in February 2020.
According to a press release from AJR that accompanied the visuals for the song, "Bang!" was about the "middle ground" between childhood and adulthood, per Billboard. "[A] time when we're doing all the things adults are supposed to do, but we don't yet feel grown up," AJR wrote. The track's title and chorus are a reference for people to "go out with a bang."
"We're doing all of the things that our parents did, we're eating healthy, and we're paying our taxes, but yet, something feels off," Ryan told Euphoria in May 2020 when describing the chart-topping hit. "Been a hell of a ride but I'm thinkin' it's time to grow," the group sings in the first verse. "Put quinoa in my fridge/ still I'm not feelin' grown," (via Genius). The second verse opens with a stomach-churning line: "Feel like I'm gonna puke 'cause my taxes are due."
Ryan admitted to Euphoria that "Bang!" was heavier than their earlier hits. "This is probably our darkest song," he said. To offset the thematic heft, the group elected for a colorful Wes Anderson-inspired video. After a long road to the top, it seems that AJR has arrived.
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