What if Growing Sideways by Noah Kahan is not also just amazing but also makes me think of The Outsiders on another level???
“Keep the bad shit in my liver and the rest around my heart.” TWO-BIT. Well I mean, come on. This directly relates to his alcoholism. One of the main organs alcohol affects is the liver. And I think Two feels a lot, but he doesn’t show it the way Soda or Johnny might. He cares about the gang more than almost anything. He’d take hits for any of them if it meant keeping them out of harm’s way. This boy was gonna drive to TEXAS to find Johnny & Pony. Come on.
“But I ignore things, and I move sideways, til I forget what I felt in the first place.” Is so Darry like he just buried his feelings, his grief, under all his work and stress of taking care of his brothers and didn’t come to terms with the loss until they thought they lost Pony and then got him back.
“Cause everyone’s growing, and everyone’s healthy, I’m terrified I might never have met me.” Ponyboy. Ponyyyyyboy. I mean, he literally was so sick after Johnny & Dally died, so in a literal sense he was unhealthy. And then, he’s so entirely lost without those he’s lost. He doesn’t know who he is. He’s so extremely depressed because he doesn’t know how to be without them.
“Oh if my engine works perfect on empty, I guess I’ll drive.” Soda because this boy kept going for his brothers even though their fighting was killing him. He still tried to keep peace even long after it was too much for him. Until of course he ran away/broke down.
“Why is pain so damn impatient? Ain’t like it’s got a place to be, it’s crushing me.” I fell like this is Steve. Steve tries to be the cool one, the unfeeling one, but in the book, he’s the one to start crying about Dally, and in the musical, he’s also WEEPING when Johnny dies, like nearly in more pain than Pony looks to be in. And he tries to hide his pain so much that eventually it just overflows and pours out.
“If all my life was wasted, I don’t mind, I’ll watch it go” Johnnycakes. Johnny, Johnny, Johnny because at least he was loved by the gang, and loved them.
“It’s better to die numb, than feel it all.” LITERALLY DALLY.
“At the end of the day, I know there are worse ways to stay alive.” I’m pretty sure it’s confirmed that Ace is an orphan. If not, she is to me cause I imagine after she was either abandoned by her folks or they died, she found the gang and sort of latched onto them. Maybe she wouldn’t have drank and smoke and stolen before her parents were gone, but she does now and while it isn’t ideal, she knows there are worse ways she could be surviving.
Anyway. 😁 that’s my rant for today.
