5 Songs On mgk’s Tickets To My Downfall That Deserve More Recognition

On September 25th, 2020, mgk changed the course of pop-punk history and brought an overlooked genre back to the mainstream spotlight with the release of Tickets To My Downfall. He recruited pop-punk titan Travis Barker as executive producer, brought on some of our fave alternative artists for unforgettable features, took over MTV and the internet, and was so confident in all of it that he tattooed the album title along the base of his neck. That confidence and his full-send passion for the album earned him his very first #1 on the Billboard 200, as well as giving us one of the most iconic eras of his career.

Let’s celebrate Tickets To My Downfall and its impact on mgk and our lives by spotlighting some underrated tracks from the album! We’ll limit it to five, but just know that we’d spend all day gushing about every single track if we could.

‘lonely’

Maybe a predictable choice, but ‘lonely’ deserves all the recognition and will always be one of the first songs we recommend to new fans who want to really understand mgk’s music. It’s a touching reflection on his relationship with his dad who passed just a few months before the album came out, and also pays tribute to his late aunt. Kells poured so much emotion into his vocals and the lyrics, to the point where you’ll feel like you’re sitting next to him and sharing family stories while you look through old photo albums. ‘lonely’ is an absolute masterpiece that captures how much soul he puts into his music.

“The last time I saw you
I cried, I wished you had more time left
The last time I heard you
They held the phone, you took your last breath…”

‘jawbreaker’

Justice for ‘jawbreaker!’ This song is an absolute pop-punk gem, complete with catchy melodies, guitar riffs you can practically sing along to, and even a few questionable lyrics. Seriously, we’re still wondering what “she’s not landing, LAX is in Miami” means five years later. Is an L.A. ex of his in Miami, and he’s just making a pun with LAX being a Los Angeles airport? Whatever, ‘jawbreaker’ is still one of our fave mgk anthems, and we’re forever jealous of the people who heard him mash it up with ‘why are you here?’ and ‘sid & nancy’ on the mainstream sellout Tour.

“Would it kill you to smile?
Let me occupy your mind
We’re at a million miles an hour…” 

‘nothing inside’

It scratches a very specific itch in our brains when we hear mgk and iann dior’s voices together, and ‘nothing inside’ remains one of the most elite collabs that either of them have released. From the moment those intro drums kick in, it hits you just how intensely each of them are feeling because of the relationship issues the song describes. The choruses repeat the same lines over and over, like they’re trapped in certain thoughts and keep spiraling back to them. The idea of a girl seeing ‘nothing inside’ could mean either she doesn’t see his true feelings or reciprocation in his eyes, or she feels nothing for him or the future they could’ve had together anymore. Add in some trap-influenced beats and you have an amazing song that brings together Kells’ rock and hip-hop influences. And that Operation-themed scene paired with this song in Downfalls High? Poetic cinema.

“I’m running low on serotonin in these empty moments
I’m having trouble operating without my main component…” 

‘play this when i’m gone’

On his last few albums, mgk has made it a tradition to save what might just be the most heart-wrenching song the last track, and that pattern really kicked off with ‘play this when i’m gone.’ The final track on the standard Tickets To My Downfall album is a letter to his oldest daughter, Casie, to comfort her after he passes. Yup, cue the waterworks. Even with the dark themes, there’s something so calming about this song that reminds us that it’s okay to let ourselves feel whatever we’re feeling. We’ll never forget the bittersweet magic of hearing this for the first time!

“I’m not gonna lie and tell you it’s alright
You’re gonna cry and, baby, that’s alright…” 

‘body bag’

“You’re supposed to love me better, baby, so put me in a body bag” walked so “life’s just death if I can’t have you” could run on ‘orpheus.’ Dramatic, sure, but a lot of the best pop-punk is! The SOLD OUT deluxe track ‘body bag’ brings mgk together with Bert McCracken and YUNGBLUD for an unapologetically edgy, vampy tale of twisted love that you won’t regret sinking your fangs into. It flips the drum line from Fall Out Boy’s ‘Dance, Dance’ for some extra classic pop-punk flair and intensity that cranks things up to an 11! 

“I’ve got my issues, but I have the right to think you’re wrong
You’re just a witch and I drank your poison, baby…”

BONUS: ‘why are you here?’

We all make mistakes, but we don’t know if we’ll ever truly forgive Kells for not putting ‘why are you here?’ on the tracklist of Tickets To My Downfall. Sure, it made it onto mainstream sellout’s life in pink deluxe eventually, but still! It tells the story of a less-than-perfect connection in which mgk and a woman are both seeing other people, only to run into each other at a party and realize how strong the pull between them really is. The guitar riffs and Goody Grace’s backing vocals (which also appear on ‘bloody valentine,’ tying the two together) are peak pop-punk, and this track would’ve been the perfect bridge between the Hotel Diablo and Tickets To My Downfall eras in our humble opinion. 

“I know that I said I was at home
Okay, yeah, you caught me
I thought that you said you were all alone
Look at you lying…”

Which of these underrated songs do you love most? Do you agree with our choices? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! You can also buzz on over to our Reddit community to chat with us.

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