The Voice Inside My Head by Galaxy Parade

This song changed my life. On the spot, in the first six bars, maybe the first five notes to be honest. This may sound melodramatic, but I swear it is 100% pure and accurate. The very first time I heard this song, were tears and shivers.

Why? Let me take you through it.

The very first notes come dancing in on the sweetest guitar, sounding almost like a classic synthesizer: sincere, almost plaintive, but with a hopeful glow and just a little buzz of power. Here is a subtle detail: the very first notes have a slight “fade in,” like a reminder that this song has always been playing in my head, but I am just now hearing it.

Next, the bass, building intensity and setting the tone that this is a rock song speaking with a blend of natural and electronic. This happens to be where my musical heart has its “forever home,” so I immediately anticipated the full band entrance. I was not disappointed and I did not have to wait long.

With a satisfying drum and guitar “cha-guh-guh” lead-in, the full band enters with a glorious wall of distortion and drums, with that sweet synth-y guitar still crouching in the background.

Then, Galaxy Parade messes with our collective minds in the best way possible: the wall drops and we are left with the lead vocal front and center. The vocal sound is perfect for this song. It is sort of understated, yet on point, full of emotion. For me the brilliance lies in this: the vocals sound a little “spent,” like “I have been going through this in private for so long, but I can’t keep it up, I’m so tired. I need you to hear this.” And then they tell us.

The verse builds piece by piece musically as the lyrics tell the story of being faced with the potential of a deep emotional connection, but not being emotionally ready. It leads into the chorus with a powerful metaphor likening a future “good headspace” to a physical destination that is being searched for, literally framing the emotional journey as an epic quest. This is so powerful because these mental/emotional challenges can be as dangerous and sometimes painful and sometimes joyful as any heroes journey or knight’s tale.

After setting the stage, the first chorus enters with all its glory and emotion, that sweet intro guitar once again underpinning the buzz. Two important shifts happen here.

First, incorporating the idea of a “voice inside my head” implies the depth of mental battles being fought. That term is often associated with loss of reality or even mental illness. I can only speak for myself, but for me that hit like a sledgehammer. Sometimes emotions are as real as having another person inside whispering, sometimes screaming in my ears. I know that I carry the fear inside that maybe I am broken. With a simple turn of phrase Galaxy Parade adds that concept to a chorus that, incredibly, becomes hopeful at the same time.

That is the second brilliant aspect of the chorus. Somehow, even while exploring the emotional conflict, the tone takes on a hopeful shimmer for the first time in the song. It is a combination of the vocal tone, the chord structure and that dang synth-y guitar skipping about under it all. Brilliant. The chorus then cuts short. Also brilliant, leaving us wanting more.

The second verse continues the story, and adds a subtle twist. I challenge you to listen to the tone of the lead vocals in the second verse compared to the first. The tone in the second is distinctly more confident, less tired, as if getting the first chorus said out loud was a relief that gave them focus and determination to get to that emotional destination.

The second chorus continues the tradition of growing autonomy, much bolder and more determined than the first, and we are blessed with two times the length. This leads in to bridge and a great rock middle section that builds the emotion and tension, like the soundtrack to a movie montage of an epic hero on a quest, and then it does exactly as it should.

Everything drops away to remind us that this is personal. Despite the metaphors and pageantry, this is about deep seated personal struggle. It’s a brief respite from the adventure, a moment to catch our breath, close our eyes, inhale through our nose and-

BOOM. All of the pageantry returns with a grand vengeance. Guitars crunching, synth-y guitar buzzing, drums full of brass and life, vocals soaring above all proclaiming “I can’t sleep, the wounds keep bleeding...the voice inside my head reminded me of you.” Now the tone is everything all at once: tired, determined, hopeful, fearful, confident and sad. I could almost hear the voice inside my own head whispering, or screaming, along with the lyrics, threatening to go public.

And then it ends abruptly, almost unexpectedly, all of the rocking and buzzing and adventuring evaporating into a single cymbal crash, and then silence. What happened? How does it end? Maybe that is when the song leaves it’s Galaxy Parade nest and the story becomes all of ours. Maybe the whole thing is a question: How will YOU finish the journey?