Looking Up

A number of songs on Brand New were born out of internal strife during a period when Paramore came close to breaking up. On this track frontwoman and lyricist Hayley Williams responds to the rumors that were circulating about the band's future after they'd settled their differences.

Williams told The Sun October 2, 2009 about this song: "It was one of the last we wrote for the album and you can tell just by listening to it that we were in a much better place at that point. The lyrics say: 'God knows the world doesn't need another band. But what a waste it would've been. Can't believe we almost hung it up. We're just getting started.' That says it all, doesn't it?"

Hayley Williams told Alternative Press: "Taylor [York, rhythm guitar]. and I kept bugging Josh [Farro, guitar] to write a feel-good, fast-paced song. You know the kind of song that makes you roll your windows down and sing really loud even in dead-stop traffic (for those of you in L.A.)? I drove over to Josh's one day. It was starting to get warmer outside and the sky was so clear. I didn't get out much during this time, so it was an exceptionally good day for me. When I got there, he handed me a demo and I took off with it. While I was driving away, the sun was in my rear view mirror. I rolled my windows down. Then I realized we had that song! All the lyrics are pretty self explanatory. By the end of the writing process for Brand New Eyes, we were in such a different place than we'd started. I felt lucky that we'd made it through our differences and the last year. And I thought how dumb we would've been to give up on everything we built. This is my favorite song on the record because it's the most honest that I could've been about how proud I am of Paramore."