Throwback the brick

As amazing as being current on all the new music that a scholar like myself is up on, every now then and I come across a memory or a song that takes me back to a certain memory of the "good ol' days." The other day I stumbled on "Black Star" from Radiohead and it was just as gripping as when I first heard it in 1993 (I'm sure their fans of the new progressive Radiohead don't appreciate the simplicity of the song, not weird enough...assholes) or something like the Lemonheads' "Drug Buddy," a song with obvious connections to teenage wild life being celebrated in a way only a few of us could ultimately feel warm with. The truth is that going back to a glorious time of one's youth to discover musical landscapes that cement the best of times can also make you think about hitting the proverbial rock bottom as a teen as well. So just as "Mayonaise" from Smashing Pumpkins brings me back to crusin' around Emerald Hills smoking cigarettes and laughing about whatever, Concrete Blonde's "Caroline" dredges up images of you saying the wrong thing to the girl that counted the most.

Songs from the past always take you back but often times, they take you to a place that was supposed to be dead and buried. That never happens though. Once you turn to The Cranberries or Tori Amos or even this underrated English band who I loved in high school called The London Suede, it's on. I loved that stuff. I remember when I discovered all that stuff. I was at a crossroads when I hit adolesence because I always had love for The Cure and Depeche Mode and although I loved metal growing up it was becoming parody of the talentless hair bands in the the early 90s. I fell in love with the Pumpkins and Tori Amos so they sort of opened the door to this music that was hard to describe because so many diverse artists were falling into the "Alternative" genre. It was The Cure, The Sundays, Stone Temple Pilots, Bjork, Belly, Concrete Blonde, Buffalo Tom, Oasis, Morrissey, Slowdive, Weezer, Sunny Day Real Estate, early Sarah. I never realized there could be a genre that could rock out and break your heart at the same time. I guess the girl involved would be the one breaking your heart... When you would see her walking in the halls. You had some Lemonheads playing on your headphones as the two of you would trade longing looks and smiles instead of stopping because you didn't want anyone to know as things were not official yet. That's a pretty serious feeling that you get in your gut and the music just intensifies that even more.

I still feel that now as an adult when I hear "Cherry Waves" from Deftones or Ryan Adams' heart-stopping cover of Oasis' "Wonderwall" (It is unbelievable how an artist can cover another artist's song making it completely their own, just totally jacking ownership of the song). I believe when you stop feeling those sentiments, a big part of you stops living. You're always going to wonder what happened to that special person or who got away or more regretfully, the one you let go. Sometimes you have to ask yourself, do you really want to know where they are and what they're doing and who they're doing it with? Do you even care? Let's see, that picture probably contains a lot of diaper-changing and some small town residing. That's not a bad thing. It's not a glamorous thing, maybe not not even your thing. On the flip side, do you think they want to see your image of countless tattoos, your album reviews trying to get published, having rock star friends ( a dream that's come true in the last couple of years) and still having to compete with your best friends? Probably not, but I'll always have the music. I'm lucky to have all the memories I do, but it's only because I have those songs to take me on that ride. So far, the ride is gonna last 3,185 items, 9 days, and 20 gb (I recently got a new 120 gb ipod so I have yet to fill it up with all of the classics, but a few). Enjoy the ride, maybe I'll see you along the way...

- Truelove