tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1024601136131203836.post3365946362465176463..comments2023-04-19T15:57:23.293-04:00Comments on Moodicarus: Album Review - The Get Up Kids, Something To Write Home AboutKyle Moodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13906682194620775311noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1024601136131203836.post-41819231474601441052011-03-28T13:39:49.443-04:002011-03-28T13:39:49.443-04:00Sorry for the repost. Typo fail.
Kyle, I'm wi...Sorry for the repost. Typo fail.<br /><br />Kyle, I'm with you on a lot here. I do, though, find it odd in a way that you are performing this analysis at all, because I've literally never thought about it. For my friends and I, each of us being this same idiot in our own way, we lived every part of the album, with the music in question there for reflection every step of the way. I think you're suggesting something similar here, yet for me, this music is so intricately weaved into my own past that any attempt to analyze it objectively approaches impossible. So I'm both in admiration of and confused by this post's existence.<br /><br />With that, Justin's comment is all the more foreign. These kids never had any intention of trying to be popular until after it started happening. For the songwriter, the songs were written for himself and his friends, and anyone more than that caring at all was bonus. Each emotional wave that smacked him in the face due to life-sized fail was caught in a song, with all of the emotion still turned up to full blast, often obscuring the story, even from the writers own subjective perspective. The unintentional goal was depth--not breadth--of relatability. As a result, the bottom line is if you didn't live it, you're not supposed to get it.<br /><br />I think Nirvana ushered in a new mini-revolution for younger kids, and punk (under the lead of Green Day) subsequently welled up a bit more into the everyday world. It brought the ideals of unity slightly more into the popular world, and it also opened up the opportunity to be musicians to a whole new tier of kids. You didn't have to be a great singer or guitarist to be famous anymore; you just had to strike the right emotional chord with enough people.<br /><br />For kids like Matt Pryor, whether said chord was presented with artistic clarity or musical self-consistency was not terribly relevant; in fact, a little bit of crypticness due to bad wording or incomplete thoughts was even "cool" in a way. We were a sub-generation of kids full of more emotion than we could handle and +/- 30 cents pitch. It didn't matter if it sounded off-key or hollow. We loved it, because it was true, and because we could all sing and play along.manateehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11243727369013582954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1024601136131203836.post-10294282105890071282011-03-05T14:51:46.230-05:002011-03-05T14:51:46.230-05:00at first listen, i really wasn't a fan of this...at first listen, i really wasn't a fan of this album. the lead singer was off key throughout, the lyrics didn't hold much weight with me, the music sounded hollow. then i listened to it again. and again. and again. <br /><br />the lead track seemed way out of place. it felt rushed, empty, and unnecessary. but then i took the time to listen to the song. too many times i hear a song and dismiss it without actually listening to it. then i got it. <br /><br />it starts as a, 'you bitch you broke my heart and i want you back,' blah, blah, blah. not interested in that. then, in the second act, the song grew some balls:<br /><br />'your absence speaking everything you think of me<br />now that I am faced with opportunity<br />you're not remembering<br />I'm not asking you anyway'<br /><br />in other words, he is saying, 'fuck you. i don't need you anyway. i know what you think of me and i don't care.' that's more like it. <br /><br />slowly i began to realize what the album was about. this is nothing more than a coming-of-age album with ups and downs and back again. the character throughout is asking, who am i? what am i doing with my life? do i like it? do i even like myself? this is teen angst at its self-loathing best. <br /><br />what saves this album from being completely written off as emo is the heart injected in the lead singers voice and lyrics. dare i say this album deserves an asterisk? - *based on true events. <br /><br />and the hollow music? perfect. the holes left in the tracks is perfectly reflected in the journey of the lead singer looking for something to fill the void. nothing will ever fill it, as we find out, like the love lost from the very first track. <br /><br />moody, this is where you and i disagree. the last track is about the hope of redemption and that sometimes, sometimes things work out. the track starts with the lonely realization of no matter what she did to you, she is the one who holds your heart. <br /><br />'your arms in mine, anytime<br />i wouldn't trade anything<br />you're still my everything'<br /><br />once again, the teen angst is beginning to creep back up as the lead character is reflecting on his life. then, inexplicably, things work out.<br /><br />'to my surprise, before my eyes, you arrive<br />don't worry I'll catch you<br />don't ever worry'<br /><br />this says to me the woman of his dreams has come back to him. he doesn't deserve it, but she is there. they have both made mistakes, but both realize they are star-crossed. when i hear, 'i'll catch you,' those three words speak magnitudes. he is saying, 'no matter what, no matter your past, your mistakes, your baggage, your craziness, your love, your hate, your everything, i will be there with you. i will be the one to come home to and the one to wake up to because you are the only one i've ever loved and ever will love. it took me this long to figure it out, and i will spend the rest of my days not letting you slip away again.' i know, it's quite a bit for three words.<br /><br /> 'don't ever worry<br />no need for reminding... you're still all that matters to me'<br /><br />the lead singer directly references the first song about the bitch that crushed him. now she's back and his life is complete. not bad for a teenager with nothing to lose, but a life to gain.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00916045731595181576noreply@blogger.com