Pop punk is a genre that seems to ebb and flow through the zeitgeist of the world. But to the true fans, the genre is never dead, and there are always bangers coming out. Ray Hawthorne is setting out to make a name for himself with his new solo EP Heartbreak Feels Good in a Place Like This and with his second single “Heartbreak Feels Good in a Place Like This (I'm NOT Ryan Gosling)” is set to be a pop punk banger.
The song delves into the idea of real-life romance vs romantic movies. With the music video framed as a video dating interview. Ray introduces himself to the camera with the tropey charismatic charm you would expect of a hunky guy flirting with the camera. But it’s when the lyrics kick in that Ray gets into the real aspect of what a relationship might be like with lyrics like:
“And I'm gonna be an asshole sometimes”
“My dogs gonna be a cock block sometimes”
“We're all gonna be a lost cause sometimes”
“We're all gonna be fucked up sometimes”
These lyrics are juxtaposed with imagery of Ray green screened into movies like Barbie, Spider-Man, Pretty in Pink, Ricky Business, and others. Seeing him alongside these leading men helps set the image in your mind that he is perfect like Ryan Gosling. But it’s the lyrics of him crying out in earnest, expressing that he has faults and is human. Singing “I'm NOT Ryan Gosling.”
Ray Hawthorne crafted a fun upbeat pop punk sing a long song. But it’s when you pay attention to the lyrics that you realize the truth about how we all get compared to these perfect movie characters that we can never live up to.