Q101: 2004

How did we get here?

2004 (Or, the year I realized that there was even a place for violins in my alternative music)

5. “Numb” – Linkin Park

I've become so numb / I can't feel you there / I've become so tired / So much more aware

The Meteora album ensured that the Linkin Park gravy train would roll on.  We craved more Linkin Park and they delivered.  Even Jay-Z recognized LP’s awesome power and did a collaboration album with them.  “Numb/Encore” was one of its more popular remixes, even making the Q101 countdown itself.  As someone often acutely aware of his surroundings but numbed to the point of inactivity, I can relate to the song.  Random thought:  the girl in the video was too attractive to be cast as the social pariah that she was.

4. “Broken” – Seether Feat. Amy Lee

The worst is over now and we can breathe again / I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away / There's so much left to learn and no one left to fight / I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

I don’t really have anything to say about the song so let’s try and link it to the time period instead.  It was right around 2004 when I started playing adult slow-pitch softball.  Half of the team at the time was from Braidwood so our men’s games were played in Godley.  Where the hell is that?  That’s exactly what we all asked.  It’s pretty remarkable that a town would have a park district and softball leagues when its only other buildings of significance were a post office and bar.  Speaking of that bar, it sponsored the local powerhouse team of the same name – Stumble Inn.  Many of us were not baseball players so there were some routine beatings in those early years, especially at the hands of Stumble Inn.  I particularly recall the time we were slaughtered by them in 3 innings and managed 1 hit ("1 god damn hit?" as Harry Doyle would say) and 1 walk (that was me, just sayin’).  These guys weren’t quick and athletic; they were big middle-aged biker dudes who knew they could just outslug you.  But we eventually got better over the next few years and became a .500 team.  We even managed to take Stumble Inn the full 7 innings losing by a respectable score.  We must have earned their respect because they even invited us back to their local establishment for some brews after that game.  The place was exactly as seedy as I had imagined.  I enjoyed my beer and shot some pool all while keeping an eye out for the shiv I was expecting to have jabbed into my side at any moment.  Anyway, the rides to and from Godley were lengthy so there was plenty of time to hear songs like “Broken.”  Our theme song, however, came from the movie EuroTrip, a cult favorite among me and my buddies.  It was mandatory that we backed out of our driveway with “Scotty Doesn’t Know” blaring.  It’s probably the best cameo work that Matt Damon has ever done.

3. “Breaking The Habit” – Linkin Park

I don't want to be the one / The battles always choose / 'Cause inside I realize / That I'm the one confused

A second showing in the top 5 in a strong year further validates Linkin Park’s greatness.  I think I took to this song immediately because it was a deviation from the other LP stuff we’d heard.  Mike Shinoda’s background rapping was absent and the music had a different sound to it.  (That doesn’t make the other stuff bad if that’s what I was implying.)  If you like Japanese animation, this video is for you.

2. “Vindicated” – Dashboard Confessional

Vindicated, I am selfish, I am wrong, I am right / I swear I'm right, swear I knew it all along / And I am flawed but I am cleaning up so well / I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself

Yeah, another Dashboard song.  Let me have it.  I’m confident enough in my manhood these days to stand up and admit that I like this song.  That wasn’t always the case.  Here’s an example of an encounter that may have occurred a few years ago:

                [“Vindicated” comes on at a restaurant/bar]

                Friend of a friend I just met:  This song is so gay.  What kind of audience do they think they have here?

                [Friend of a friend mockingly sings a line from the songs and looks to me for agreement]

                Me:  Oh…yeahhhhh, they really ruined that solid run of songs they had going.

                [I make an excuse to get another drink and slink away so my enjoyment of the song goes undetected.]

The main chorus spoke a lot on my behalf when I tried to convince myself that I was making strides in my life.  I know I’m selfish and my rules may be flawed but there’s still a lot to like if you scrub off the surface of dirt I’ve covered myself in.

1. “Ocean Avenue” – Yellowcard

If I could find you now things would get better / We could leave this town and run forever / I know somewhere, somehow we'll be together / Let your waves crash down on me / And take me away, yeah yeah

My introduction to this song, and Yellowcard, for that matter, was through its video.  I was intrigued by the storyline being portrayed in the video.  I mentioned in the previous year’s post that I increasingly became a fan of alternative music with non-traditional elements.  Any group with a violinist would seem to fit that bill, right?  I became addicted to the ending of the song where the violin was so prominently featured.  I broke my rule and bought the album of the same name based on the strength of “Ocean Avenue.”  I was not disappointed.  It played on a fairly steady loop back in college.  Yellowcard’s presence remains strong in my playlists.