Singled Out: The National Parks' UFO

Keavin Wiggins | 10-08-2021

The National Parks just released their new album, "A Mix For The End Of The World - Part 1" and to celebrate we asked lead vocalist/guitarist Brady Parks to tell us about the new single "UFO". Here is the story:

It's starting to sound cliche, but we really are living in such weird times. Everything from the pandemic, to politics to UFO documents being released?? WHAT IS HAPPENING! It's like anything that can happen, will happen. This song (and our new album as a whole) was very much inspired by the world around us and what is going on in our lives. I think it can be so easy to get too caught up in the chaos, the fear, the uncertainty. It can leave us feeling burnt out and alone because of it all.

At the heart of it, "UFO" is a love song through and through. Tbh, it probably all started when the Pentagon announced they were releasing UFO videos and documents. So I kinda took a deep dive into that. And then I re-watched Stranger Things, which was amazing. And then somewhere along the line, I started to think about what someone must feel when they see a UFO! It has to be such a wild experience to be driving and you look up in the sky and see something that you know isn't from this planet. What would you feel in that moment if that happened to you? I felt so drawn to that idea, to the mystery of it all and then started thinking that an experience like that has to be pretty similar in a way to feeling love at first sight. Love is powerful, it can change your life, it can make you feel not alone, it can make you feel like you just experienced magic.

When I picked up the guitar and started to write, it was like my mind was opened to all of these crazy comparisons between love at first sight and seeing a UFO. I thought back to my own experience meeting Megan 6 years ago. It was so unexpected to feel how I felt that day. It was like something in me changed and I felt pulled to her. I didn't know beforehand that something like that would happen. She was like a flash of bright lights in the middle of a dark night in my life. She made me feel like I wasn't alone and so much more. As I was writing the song, I thought back to that moment over and over again.

In a time when it feels like the world needs a lot of love, I hope people can hear this song and know that they aren't alone. Whether they have seen a UFO or not, whether they have experienced a love at first sight type of moment or not, I hope that people know that there is more. I hope listeners know that somewhere out there is something good. I hope that as we all look for love more than we look for hate, or distractions, that we can start seeing more and more of it.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here