#tom started AVA and went 'well i'm gonna write about LOVE and HOPE and the UNIVERSE and everything BEAUTIFUL'

[touchd0wn-boy]

May I ask you, because I never really listened to AVA except for the first few singles which are still some of my favorite songs, do you know did Tom ever write any songs that could be seen as about Blink or about Mark or Travis?

As far as I know the only one that's explicitly about blink is Start The Machine.

Obviously the emotions that came with the breakup are evident in a lot of songs, especially throughout that first album (starting anew, moving on, finding new purpose, war as a metaphor for a ruined relationship, it's all in there), but Tom always saw AVA as a way to become something more than 'Tom from blink-182' so he doesn't address any of it as openly as Mark does with +44. It's all more concepts and abstractions.

Oh, and Rite of Spring is Tom recapping his entire life up to that point, so it mentions blink too. During the Lifeforms tour in 2021 he actually dedicated it to Mark a few times and used it as a backdrop to talk about their restored friendship, so he clearly associates it with blink and that time in his life.

Also: listen to AVA. They're really good, I promise.

#i guess suburban kings from tom's solo/demo album in 2015 kinda relates to blink as well but it's in the same vein as rite of spring #i.e. 'i'm from a broken home in the suburbs and i'm gonna start a punk rock band about it!' #tom started AVA and went 'well i'm gonna write about LOVE and HOPE and the UNIVERSE and everything BEAUTIFUL' #whereas mark just kinda published his diary--anger and angst and hurt and bitterness included #but one of them was high on painkillers and the other in the worst mental state of his life so their music definitely reflects that too #thanks for the ask!!