America (You're Freaking Me Out)

The first song on Hello Exile features a sack load of observational social commentary and political comment. Frontman Greg Barnett told Kerrang the lyrics were inspired by seeing a lot of America firsthand as the band tours the country. "It's even in little things, like getting an hour outside of Philadelphia and suddenly seeing the billboards change and the bumper stickers on people's cars getting more angry," he said." I hear politicians on the TV and think, 'There's no way anyone actually believes this stuff.' And then you're in a coffee shop in Alabama and you hear people talking and realize, 'Oh, people do believe this kind of madness.'"

Barnett sings about the disconnect between the youth and their parents. Oh, ain't it a shame what we choose to ignore What kind of monsters did our parents vote for? He explained to Kerrang: "We're constantly having to have these difficult conversations, with the people that you love, of, 'How could you vote against the interests of your own children about the environment, and about everything?' It's really difficult when you love somebody so much, but they don't really see that your future is being jeopardized."

Every song on Hello Exile went through three or four different versions; for this track, Barnett wrote around 50 verses before it was finished.