Johnny Walylko speaks the truth in his 2017 indie-rock song “After the Sun.” With a soft and emotional vocal, that really sends the message, he sings about his friend overdosing on opioids. Unfortunately, many American people can relate to the compelling lyrics in the song, as the epidemic continues to sweep across the nation taking lives and breaking families. Johnny’s lyrics really capture the devastation of drug addiction and death by overdose.
Aside from the important lyrical content, the song stands well melodically and has an incredibly strong chorus that will hit you right in the heart. Musically, it sits well with a great acoustic guitar part.
If you have been effected by the growing epidemic you will relate to this song and you may need to grab a box of tissues. If you haven’t been effected yet, this song will help you understand the pain that everyone who has gone through this feels. This song is very important and needs to be heard by all.
Stream the song on Spotify now:
We asked Johnny for a little more information about the song and his friend and he said this:
“I really based the song around his funeral where I walked up to offer my condolences to his mom, I felt like I was whispering a chorus into her ear, and although his body was only a few feet away, I was hoping he could he hear me. My brother was there, who I hadn’t talked to in years, and he completely avoided me, keeping his head down the entire time. Nick’s best friend, who I also hadn’t seen in years and call “so commando” in the song, is now a Navy SEAL and was asking around for the name who got Nick hooked on pain killers. When the chorus hits, I say “Somethings are not meant to be alright, but that will keep me digging until it’s time.” I think that’s the point of the song, like yea, it’s a fucked up situation, but in a way, that’s what drives to be the best version of myself and achieve certain things before I die, because the situation reminded me how fragile life is. Also, Nick was a National Wrestling champion and died at age 23.”
You can find out more about the singer-songwriter here: https://johnnywalylko.com
We made a Spotify playlist with songs about the opioid epidemic that you can stream here:
“Every day, more than 115 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids.” (Source)
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Written by Ryan Cassata