2008 (Or, the year even old favorites such as Foo Fighters, Weezer,
or Linkin Park couldn’t relight the extinguished flame of alternative music
that once guided me through life)
5. “Breakdown” – Seether
So break me down if it
makes your feel right / And hate me now if it keeps you alright
Seether finds itself on my countdowns more often than I
would have guessed. I’m definitely going
to cite subpar competition as the reason for their inclusion in this particular
installment. 2008 offers a slightly better top 5 than 2007 but the
year’s overall contribution shall not stand the test of time. I could go about 15 deep on my 2008 rankings
and any of those songs could make the top 5 depending on the day you
asked. I ultimately settled on
“Breakdown” because it was my favorite (at the time) of the 3 Seether songs I
put in the top 15. Thus, I felt
something off the Finding Beauty in
Negative Spaces album deserved some recognition.
Fun fact (opinion?): it’s been
said the song is about Shaun Morgan’s ex, Amy Lee of Evanescence.
4. “Sometime Around Midnight” – The Airborne Toxic Event
And all of these
memories come rushing like feral waves to your mind / Of the curl of your
bodies, like two perfect circles entwined / And you feel hopeless, and
homeless, and lost in the haze of the wine
“Sometime Around Midnight” has made a slow, steady ascent up
my personal charts from when I first heard it.
I find myself gaining a stronger appreciation for what it represents as
I mature. There is a certain trendy
coolness that I’ve decided accompanies the song. In my mind, I’ve validated myself among the
musical snobs by including it in my top 5. It’s pretty much the exact opposite effect of
including another Nickelback song (I only had one!). The song was written by the lead singer in
isolation after seeing a former girlfriend at a bar and discovering he still
had feelings for her. I haven’t decided
if the singer has eloquently described the situation unfolding around him in
perfect detail or if he’s swept up by a suffocating paranoia. Either way, I think it’s brilliant. These are exactly the sort of thoughts my
imagination would invent. Is she going
out of her way to make sure I see her or am I so fixated on her that I can see
nothing else? That’s just a sampling of
the mess my brain always seems to find itself in.
3. “Calling All Skeletons” – Alkaline Trio
Here it is again yet
it stings like the first time / Seems it never ends, double nickels on your
dime / I thought we were friends, I guess it just depends who you ask / These
feelings tend to leave me with a hole in my chest
It’s my belief that Alkaline Trio probably got more play on
Q101 than they did nationally simply because they’re a local band. That’s a shame because their work is good
enough to demand a larger audience. Agony & Irony is a pretty solid
album top to bottom. I so wish “Love
Love, Kiss Kiss” had made Q101’s list because that’s a song I’ve drank away
many a lonely night to. It’s playing in
my head every time I go a wedding or see a public display of affection on my
Facebook feed. It’s nothing against the
happy couple. My feelings of melancholy
and jealousy do not discriminate. I’ll
wish you and your significant other a long and prosperous future together and I
will truly mean it because I don’t seek to deny anyone the right to be
happy. However, if a war ever broke out
between the Singles and the Relationships, I’ll proudly fight side by side
along the throngs of my tribe. We may be
friends in times of peace, but I’ll thrust my bayonet deep into your chest
should we come face to face on the battlefield.
I wonder which side would be favored in such an epic clash. One side has something tangible to fight for
while the other side has a cause and feelings of oppression spurring it onward. The Relationships will have the advantage of
teamwork, but the Singles have developed a sense of adaptation that would
translate well in the trenches. I should
probably stop now before my “taken” friends start to fear for their lives. You two
make a great couple! Don’t you think
Alkaline Trio is an underrated group?!
They don’t make you think about killing at all! .... Um, sure, Dave,
they’re alright. I, uh, just remembered I left the, uh, door to the, uh,
parakeet cage slightly ajar and I need to go make sure the bird hasn’t flown
away. … But you don’t own any pets. … I’m bird-sitting for my next door
neighbor. … But your next door neighbors
don’t own any pets. I’ve met them,
remember? … Gotta go.
2. “Love Me Dead” – Ludo
Love me cancerously,
like a salt sore soaked in the sea / High maintenance means you’re a gluttonous
queen, narcissistic and mean
After watching the video for this song, I came to the
conclusion that these guys had a ton of fun making that video and I’m convinced
the lead singer could launch a successful career on the Broadway stage if he so
chose. I just think they’d be some cool
guys to hang out with. I was glad when
Mandie included this song in her
’08 top 5 and her stories seemed to confirm my thoughts about the
group. The posted lyrics for “Love Me
Dead” are just a small example of the eerie serenading often exhibited in a
Ludo song. You really need to listen to
“The Horror of Our Love” for a complete appreciation of the band. You will never hear love described in such a
beautifully creepy manner. Both songs
are off the You’re Awful, I Love You
album (did you expect a different title?), which earns my full endorsement. I worked the Sunday morning shift at Sports
Authority for several years and was responsible for setting part of the weekly
sales ad. We started pretty early in the
morning and the employees were granted control of the music until the store
opened. I had some Ludo songs on my mix
CDs and I remember being extremely self-conscious whenever something like “The
Horror of Our Love” came on. I just knew I was going to have explain myself
for what I was subjecting these people’s ears to. It ranks right up there with the orgasmic
beginning of White Zombie’s “More Human Than Human.” Fortunately, nobody is really listening to the lyrics of
anything at 6 in the morning. Ludo –
what a weird little band.
1. “Cath…” – Death Cab For Cutie
The whispers that it
won't last roll up and down the pews / But if their hearts were dying that fast
/ They'd have done the same as you / And I'd have done the same as you
I first became aware of Ben Gibbard through his side work
with The Postal Service. It was solid
stuff but nothing game-changing. I guess
that’s how I feel about Death Cab.
“Cath…” fought off some weak competition to claim the top spot of
2008. I sympathize with the song’s
subject, a woman who is marrying out of desperation. He isn’t her ideal suitor but she recognizes
the clock is ticking. I realize that my clock is ticking; I’m not 21
anymore. No, I’m not looking to get
married tomorrow or even in the next few months. If you know one thing about me, it’s that I
never rush into anything. It takes me a
while to find somebody I like and often even longer to work up the courage to
ask them out, if ever. I’m getting
better at it…I think. I can’t possibly
imagine how long it would take me to arrive at a proposal. I guess I’ve just finally reached a point in
my life where marriage is something I’d like to at least pretend I’m working towards.
I guess the one difference between Cath and I is that I won’t marry out
of desperation. If it doesn’t happen,
then I’ll accept that. There is no rule
that says happiness comes from marriage; I’m just taking my best guess, like
everyone else, at how to achieve it for myself.
I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know that it’s short-sighted
to close the door on any potential outcomes simply because it’s convenient to
do so. You have to allow for change in
yourself and you have to be willing to let things happen to you.
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