Photo Courtesy of AJR (AJR’s single “God is Really Real” was released on July 3, following the passing of their father, Gary, June 22. )

Welcome back to this week’s edition of The Wichitan’s Song of the Week. This week’s pick is “God is Really Real” by American indie pop band AJR. Released July 3, 2023 as a lyric video on YouTube and then officially released July 5, 2023, as a single and the eleventh track of their upcoming fifth studio album “The Maybe Man,” “God is Really Real” is an expression of the band’s feelings towards their at-the-time terminally ill father, Gary. In the song, Jack Met, lead singer for the band, sings about how he wishes his father could simply just get better. The band members express their love for their father, but also their frustration and anger about the situation as they all sing about how their dad might not make it but the world will still go on as if nothing happened. The band initially planned to release the song alongside the release of the album but on July 1, 2023, they announced that their dad’s illness was terminal and decided to release it July 3, when he died, as a tribute.

Formed in Manhattan, New York, AJR is an American indie pop band that consists of the three core members, lead vocalist and guitarist Jack Met, lead keyboard player Ryan Met and bassist Adam Met. The group has several other members, including percussionist Chris Berry, trumpeter Arnetta Johnson, violinist Emelia Suljic and cello player Ruthie Kornblatt-Stier. The band’s body of work has won the group several awards, nominations and domestic and international recognition. In 2005, the three brothers began creating, writing and producing their own material. In 2006, the band began performing mostly at parks and mostly covers of other songs, and then in 2012 they released a self-titled non-streaming EP. On August 22, 2013, the band released their debut single, “I’m Ready” which went platinum only a year after its release and took the band to a meteoric rise to success. After the release of their debut single, they released four studio albums, many EPs and singles – all contributing to the band’s cosmic success and fame. After the end of their Ok Orchestra Tour, AJR announced it will be releasing a fifth studio album, TMM, which was later revealed to mean “The Maybe Man.” AJR’s entire discography has always been heavily influenced by their passion for making music and the power and influence music has on the world, and “God is Really Real” is a perfect explanation of that discographic style.

“God is Really Real” was originally meant to simply be another song on their album, but after their father passed in July, AJR released the song as a tribute to him, July 3. (Photo Courtesy of AJR)

“God is Really Real” is my favorite song from the album, and my third-favorite from AJR’s entire discography (World’s Smallest Violin and 100 Bad Days). In “God is Really Real” the three brothers express their love for their father and their deep sadness for his deteriorating health. On July 1, 2023, the band announced that their dad has been sick for a while, but his condition has gotten worse, so they were going to withdraw from the European leg of the Imagine Dragons, the Mercury World Tour to be with their father. The band released the song two days after the announcement on YouTube as a lyric video, then two days after that as a single. The same day they released it as a single, they announced that their dad had passed away. Over the course of their life and career, the three brothers have always had an interesting relationship with their father. The brothers have written and released songs in the past about their feelings for their father, like growing up children of divorce because their father divorced their mom (My Play) or how they forgive their father for all the things he didn’t do for them growing up (Call My Dad). In “God is Really Real,” we see that all the brothers want is to be with their father and just want their father to get better. “God is Really Real” is a song about the brothers’ love for their father, their hope for him to get better and their frustration with the rest of the world for simply going on.

AJR is an Indie Pop band comprised of three brothers, Adam, Jack and Ryan Met. Their debut single was released in 2013, Oct. 26. (Photo Courtesy of AJR)

As stated in previous editions of the Song of the Week, lyricism is an important aspect of any song and Adam, Jack and Ryan understood that when writing “God is Really Real.” In the song, they utilize personal memories and pathos to narrate their wish for their father to get better. My favorite lyric in the entire song is:

“Now it’s late, I really gotta go.

And we can’t face our feelings, so we’re makin’ lots of jokes.

And we won’t cry about it, no, we’ll be manly men.

“I love you” sounds all corny, so I wrote this song instead.

I’ll sing it for you, Dad, when you get out of bed.

I’ll sing for you when you’re out of bed.”

Expressing their feelings through music is a recurring theme in AJR’s discography. In “God is Really Real,” they sing about their love for their dad but how badly they want him to get better. They created a song about love, hope, dream and wishes. The song is a great listen with a powerful message.