“what hurts me...” is the elaboration of “my prayer.” and the continuation of “what keeps me up..” in this chapter, normal sings about his hurt and pain stretching over the last year and a half of his life. from loneliness, to un-loyal significant others, to his lament of just wanting a break from it all.

this is the first time we see the idea of the list. the entire album is one big list or one thought strain as each song moves into the next seamlessly without stop. each song has a comma to let the listener know there is another point in the cadence.

normal shows his ability to string together multiple genres into one project and still stay true to his brand of music. it is best described as a pallet of colors. all the colors match to make a beautiful, cohesive painting. yet, each color is distinct and memorable.

this was the first time normal realized that people didn’t just think the song was catchy (it couldn’t be because the song styles changed too often), but rather it was the story that people had become extremely invested into. this was the moment where the priority of the story was told from elements of sound, visual, and lyrical. the intention behind each moment was what made it all so special.