earnestness

I hear similarities in the guitar playing, though I think you balance earnestness with a knowing quality I don’t get from stomp-clap.

He characterized the backlash against his song as an aversion to earnestness, one that no doubt existed at the time his single was climbing the charts.

His earnestness is comic and sweet and dangerous.

But it’s clear that there’s a hunger for earnestness amid the irreverence.

And then there’s knowing when to let some of the earnestness go and care a little less — not because of cynicism, but because you actually want to push forward, and that requires working with others.