"Somebody Else" by blessthefall Song Meaning: staying unapologetically authentic

Alternative music mainstay blessthefall’s song “Somebody Else” from their 2025 album Gallows clearly encapsulates a refusal to conform that has defined their band — and a genre. 

The band has been fronted by Beau Bokan since 2008. The revered frontman made time to sit down with HeartSupport at Welcome to Rockville to talk about “Somebody Else,” refusing to conform, and the way pop punk and alternative music have always been home for the misfits. 

What events inspired “Somebody Else?”

For Beau, the inspiration for “Somebody Else” has to begin with what inspired him to get involved with the genre to begin with.

“My first show ever was Blink 182, and it was way back in the day, 1997,” Beau recalls. He was just a teenager at the time, but the show left an indelible mark. “Just being in the crowd, moshing, crowd surfing, and seeing the camaraderie and people helping pick other people up, people just putting your arms around like total strangers and singing — I'm looking around, I'm like, ‘Holy shit, we all like this one thing and we've all been touched by this one thing. We don't know each other. We all come from different backgrounds. The whole spectrum of race, creed, color, everyone — it didn't matter. We're all here just for this reason.’ And that night I was like, ‘I want to do that. I cannot play an instrument, so I'm going to have to learn how to sing.’”

He continues, “ I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but I was literally just like, 'I want people to feel that way.’ Because I went and then I couldn't sleep. I was up all night. I was just like, I just witnessed the coolest thing I've ever see. The next day at school, I just had stars in my eyes the whole day and I couldn't stop thinking about the concert.”

These days, Beau’s ongoing staying power in the music industry is motivated by a sense of that same solidarity — matured by decades in the industry and his own pathway into parenthood alongside his partner (the Canadian alternative musician known as Lights).

“I've made it past all the trying to be cool,” he says with a smile. “I was made fun of through high school. But I've always had kind of like an ‘I don't care’ attitude to a certain point. I used to rollerblade in high school. It was not when it was cool. I don't think it was ever cool, but specifically in the late '90s, skateboarders would beat you up if you had rollerblades. And I'm like, ‘I don't care.’ I'd have a shady pineapple bleached haircut, giant raver pants, and rollerblades. I just was like, ‘This is what I like.’ 

“I’ve started seeing my daughter do that now. She's just turned 12, and she's just so cool as she’s finding her own personality. I'm hoping I pass some of that down to her, like, ‘Dude, don't worry about what people think. Like what you like. You don't have to like what everyone likes.’”

His daughter is already embracing that second-generation freedom wholeheartedly. 

“She's very against buying stuff on Amazon because it's fast fashion. She's literally said that to me, and she wants to go to secondhand stores and put her outfits together,” Beau says with admiration. “She doesn't want to wear what everyone else wants to wear. I'm kind of seeing some of me in her as far as that goes. And I'm like, ‘That's awesome. It's going to help you just get through life if you have that attitude of let it roll off your back, move on, be yourself. It's going to be the most fulfilling life. Her mom's very cool like that too. So she gets it from both sides. She sees us living the way we want to live. Maybe it's a little alternative. Maybe it's not your run-of-the-mill relationship, or whatever type of music that you like. But I think at the end, she'll see that we're very fulfilled being who we are, living the way we want to live.”

What is the meaning of the song “Somebody Else?”

That commitment to authentic self infuses “Somebody Else,” a song blessthefall created as a collaboration with rising metalcore act Caskets.

Beau Bokan says, “‘Somebody Else’ is about not changing who you are and not trying to be somebody else. That's kind of what the whole message is: someone should love you for who you are. Your friends should love you for who you are, whoever your partner is should as well. And you shouldn't have to change what you believe in and the things that make you, you, just to fit into a mold, or to fit in with somebody that you think you're in love with, or someone you think is your friend.”

In the eyes of this longtime industry veteran, anyone expecting you to change isn’t someone who is authentically a friend anyway.

“Be who you are, be comfortable in your own skin,” Beau says earnestly. “I know that's easier said than done, because we've all been through high school. We've all been through our awkward phases where you want to fit in somewhere. But it's okay to be a punk. It's okay to be left to center and weird. That makes you unique.”

What is blessthefall’s message on mental health right now?

As Beau admits, it can be easier said than done to stop internalizing others’ critiques of you — especially when you’re young. But he wants everyone who listens to blessthefall to have that freedom.

He adds, “I guess it's easier said than done to just say don't care. But honestly, those people shouldn't affect you. They shouldn't have a negative effect on you. You shouldn't let them dictate how you're going to live. Just let that roll off your back. Just try a little ‘fuck it’ attitude. Honestly, that's all it is, having that attitude. Not to the point where you don't care about someone, obviously. But find what you like and go confidently in that direction.”

Beau even thinks that it might lead the way for others if you choose to show up with that kind of attitude, just as he’s paved the way for his daughter. 

“Other people will see you and follow you, because they're going to be like, ‘Whoa.’ You will set the example for other people who are going through the same thing. It's like a chain reaction when you choose to be yourself.”

Full interview with blessthefall

Beau Bokan also shared more about where blessthefall finds themselves in 2026, two decades into an acclaimed career.

“I think there's a lot of proving to ourselves that we still have it,” he says determinedly. “I think that was part of it, is that we're constantly like, 'I want to show that we can still do it. I want to go up on the stage like this and play to a lot of people that have never seen us play and prove to ourselves that we have what it takes to hang with all the rest of the bands.’ There are a hundred bands on this festival [Rockville]. And to the fans that have stuck around with us, it's huge to us. We hear them, we see them.”

You can watch the full interview below. blessthefall is touring throughout 2026, and you can find a full list of dates at blessthefall.com. Gallows is streaming everywhere and can be found at https://blessthefall.lnk.to/GALLOWS. 

“Somebody Else” by blessthefall lyrics

Don't let me tell you, what I'm about to
When you crash into me, the pattern repeats
Say you won't but you always do
Now we walk this graveyard in my head
Haunted by the things I never said
Let's not burn the pages yet

'Cause if you run, will love still drag you back?
Tell me if you need somebody
Tell me if you need somebody else
I could tear myself apart
To rebuild what we had
But I could never be somebody
I could never be somebody else

I know what you're thinking
There must be a reason you're in when I'm out
We lost what we found
It's tearing me up when I'm dragging you down
You asked and I tried
Too blind to see through my pride
We don't look we don't hide
The things that make us feel alive

'Cause if you run, will love still drag you back?
Tell me if you need somebody
Tell me if you need somebody else
I could tear myself apart
To rebuild what we had
But I could never be somebody (somebody)
I could never be somebody else

Tear me to pieces
I can't bear to see this
The pattern repeats and you fall from me
Fall from me

'Cause if you run, will love still drag you back?
Tell me if you need somebody
Tell me if you need somebody else

And I could tear myself apart
To rebuild what we had
But I could never be somebody (I could never be somebody)
I could never be somebody else (somebody else)

Now we walk this graveyard in my head
Haunted by the things I never said
Let's not burn the pages yet