Without even having to set foot into any parallel dimensions we know there are multiple version of ourselves that exist. There is the way we see ourselves, and there is the version of ourselves that others perceive us as. But what if in becoming conscious of said perceptions we begin spontaneously creating and collapsing entire realities in an effort to control them? That’s what Mike Legere gets at in his new single “Yourself,” though without mentioning any of the apocalyptic consequences.
“I wrote it on Thanksgiving a while back,” says Legere. “It was the first holiday I had spent alone. I come from a big family, very tight-knit. I wrote it about how the people in our lives have an idea of who we are that ends up influencing our behaviour, and the loneliness that comes when you stand in opposition to that.”
“We have this idea and other people have this idea and the truth is somewhere beside that—also it can be elusive and change and other people and ourselves can be slow to accept or acknowledge that.”
Naturally, that’s the everyman version of the song, relatable for those of us kept safely out of the spotlight. However, there’s also an implication of the pressures people face when donning the mantle of a musician and becoming subject to public scrutiny, opinion, half-truths and rumours (not to mention whatever the reviewers think).
Legere has constructed his upcoming album, Ourselves In Public, on the entire concept that there are multiple facets to our social identities, of which “Yourself” is just one. The experience of being forced into the spotlight gets its own song.
“There’s a song on the record about that aspect in particular. I’m getting more comfortable and accustomed to that, but it can amplify the identity crisis at times. It’s a bit of a trip to stand up and demand people’s attention—I feel like I want to be really specific with what I’m presenting, which leads to the question of what that actually is.”
Wherever your ultimate form might exist, there’s a line in “Yourself” that is the key to all of it:“The biggest part of everything is in the smallest parts combined.”
Mike Legere will be releasing his album Ourselves in Public on June 8th, 2018.