Post by JVH (f/k/a Bob Dubilina) on Apr 25, 2005 3:30:39 GMT -5
Knuckle Sammich:
The Best Songs of 2004
The Best Songs of 2004
CD I: Fan Mai Dii – The Best of the Best[/b][/center][/size]
The following is an extremely detailed breakdown of the absolute best songs of 2004. (The track listing is arranged in descending order from most outstanding to quite impressive – let’s not forget that this is the best of the best.) Just so you know, Fan Mai Dii is Thai for “Bad boyfriend!” My ex-girlfriend (damn, it feels so weird to say that) used this phrase so much after we visited Thailand that it inevitably became a term of endearment. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a girl who can castigate me in an exotic language.
1. Paris, Texas / Bombs Away (from Like You Like an Arsonist)
When everything goes to hell, controlled anger becomes my finest quality. Over the years I’ve learned to transform pure rage into an intense resolve to absolutely destroy any problem that comes along. (Fortunately, I’ve also learned how to give fair warning to anyone who might stand in the way of resolution, so the body count is still relatively low.) PTX’s Bombs Away is the perfect description of what it feels like to truly harness fury and frustration to your advantage. You don’t need to listen closely to hear the conviction in Scott Sherpe’s voice. He practically hollers out the lyrics because this pointless bullshit has gone on long enough, and he’s completely fucking adamant about not letting it overwhelm him. 2004 didn’t just provoke this attitude, it demanded it, and that’s why Bombs Away instantly became the best goddamn song of the year.
www.paris-texas.com
2. The Great Crusades / God Gave Me (from Welcome to the Hiawatha Inn)
If it wasn’t for the fact that 2004 needed a bold anthem to respond to one crisis after the next (PTX’s Bombs Away – see above), The Great Crusades would have easily taken the top spot. I’ve always appreciated relationship stories with a sinister edge, and God Gave Me is just that. From the ominous growl of the opening guitar to the growing intensity of the lyrics, this song is MENACING. God Gave Me is one of those rare works in which the listener truly gets a sense that the music is an extension of the lyrics. It’s not only the alarming declarations of the narrator that invite uneasiness but also the idea that the music is actually part of the turmoil in his head. We truly come to understand how dangerous this man’s obsession with his ex-lover has become, and we’re abruptly left with dread of what’s next. This is story-telling at its finest; the boys of The Great Crusades should be proud.
www.thegreatcrusades.com
3. Dogs Die In Hot Cars / I Love You ‘Cause I Have To (from Please Describe Yourself)
Personally, I Love You ‘Cause I Have To took irony to unimaginable heights. This song went from whimsical retro-80’s pop to an incredibly bleak statement about my relationship. (Why is it that synthesizer-saturated compositions do so well with exposing our innermost feelings? Discuss.) Even more ironic is the fact that I first heard this song with my girlfriend. We were holed up in a deluxe hotel room in Hat Jomtien, Thailand, recovering from a nasty bout of food poisoning, when the music video appeared on V2 (the British version of MTV). The moment I heard this quirky, bittersweet tribute to New Wave, I fell in love with it. When I returned to the States, I granted it weekly rotation on BFN for the rest of the year. Alas, art quickly dictated life (albeit without the razor ties and big hair), and the more volatile and frustrating my relationship became, the more I Love You ‘Cause I Have To became a bitter expression of how much the train had jumped off the tracks.
However, what makes this song even more ironic – see, it just never stops! – is that it’s a grand testament to the sheer power of pop. Even with all the drama associated with this song, I still feel like I’m “walking on sunshine” (or maybe even “whipping it good”) whenever I hear it.
www.dogsdieinhotcars.com
4. A Perfect Circle / Passive (from eMOTIVe)
After witnessing a devastating lack of resolve consume several of my best friends in 2004, I think it’s quite fitting that the most malevolent track in this compilation happens to be a song about turning your back on people who thrive on avoidance. When I first heard Passive, it was obvious that this would be my personal anthem for the year. No other song could possibly capture my outrage at having to suffer this much bullshit just because my nearest, dearest friends were too afraid to speak up and take care of their business.
If PTX’s Bombs Away could best be described as my rallying cry at the start of the war, APC’s Passive would depict the aftermath. By mid-November I was exhausted with being ignored, avoided, underappreciated, disrespected, lied to and forgotten, yet I was always the one who had to make peace. (For the record, I’ll be the first to admit that I certainly wasn’t a saint last year. Like any other wicked opportunist, I deserved a lot of coal in my stocking. But if I did do something wrong that I wasn’t aware of, I’d gladly pick immediate conflict over finding out through the rumor mill weeks after the fact.) I had never punched so many walls in frustration in my life as I did in 2004; for months on end my knuckles were so sore that I could barely make a fist. And here comes APC mouthpiece Maynard James Keenan with enough force in his furious howls to blow right through those walls and teach me that the best way to help myself was to gain distance from the madness.
Passive is not a protest song that inspires solidarity and respect. Instead, it doles out the cruel truth that not every bond will stand the test of time. If someone aggravates/disgusts/bores you that much, it’s best for both parties to move on. In my case two marvelous, intimate friendships didn’t survive 2004. It’s a damn shame, but maybe we’re better off this way.
www.aperfectcircle.com
5. William Topley / Handle With Care (from Sea Fever)
In order to fully explain why this song is so important, I must discuss the genesis of my relationship problems. In late March my girlfriend began to allow her insecurities to overwhelm her. Numerous factors were involved with this internal struggle, but the major factors (at the time) were as follows: her noble (yet naïve) desire to make the people in her life happy, regardless of her happiness first; her nature to avoid issues rather than deal with them promptly; a newspaper internship in St. Louis which required her to be alone in a big city; general worries about the future of her career as well as our relationship; bad headaches and possibly other chemical imbalances due to the side-effects of birth control; and last but (certainly) not least, my hope that she would open to the idea of a threesome (or even just a little girl-on-girl action), which of course brought everything back full circle by giving her the desire to be the “perfect girlfriend” by doing something that no other girl had ever done for me, regardless of whether or not she even wanted to do it. (Yikes!)
That said, Handle With Care was the first song to truly reveal my own doubts about our relationship. It had been close to two months since Jen’s worries began chipping away at the foundation of Us and I was driving home from work when William Topley’s warning shot fired through the speakers. I was left speechless because I understood his message all too well. Sure, things with Jen had been damn near perfect, but how much longer would it take before I fucked it up? I’m always the bad guy, right? Wasn’t it my relentless drive to get what I want playing a major role in torturing this poor girl? Sure, I would never guilt or force her into doing anything she didn’t want to do, but would I ever really stop actively pursuing my dreams, no matter how far-fetched they might be? I didn’t want to break up with Jen, especially over something this absurd (“Honey, I love you, but you won’t get it on with another chick, so I’m out.”), but how much longer was I going to make this girl miserable?
William Topley’s greatest asset is his candor. Handle With Care is a painful self-condemnation in which he warns a girl to leave him before he destroys her just like he’s done with countless others. I’m not sure what’s more heart-breaking about his lyrics: the fact that he’s so burdened by his terrible past or the fact that he’s so direct to the point of cruelty with her because he knows he’ll more than likely fuck up this relationship, too. This isn’t the first time that Mr. Topley held up a mirror to my life (not to mention the way I’ve lived it); I’m certain it won’t be the last.
www.williamtopley.com
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