Song of the Week: “Spring Came” - the Suburbs
Most of the songs that I write about here, when they come on my ipod I get an immediate feeling of recognition, relief and happiness. Then there are some songs where I realize their brilliance right around the chorus. Sometimes I find myself feeling I’m glad I’m alive just because I got to hear a particular song.
“Spring came” is at a whole other level for me - a song that immediately drenches me in melancholy joy. I think I actually get really sad to realize that I’ve missed so much time when I could have been listening to this song. And I continue to feel sad as every bar of the song disappears into the past - I wish it could stay with me, but at the same time I am grateful for how beautiful the next bar is.
Of course, with “Spring came,” a lot of this feeling probably comes from my memories of other times I’ve listened to it. Any band you worshiped when you were 16 is going to sound good forever. The Suburbs were the first band that I really loved and got to see live. And I saw them as often as I could - they were as close to hometown heroes as we had in Duluth in the 80s. I was right up at the front of the stage waiting for Beej to throw me his guitar pick.
So there are lots of Suburbs songs that I could write about here, but “Spring came” stands the test of time better than most. It’s got a ska-influenced, bouncy beat, and it’s lighter than most of their songs. The composition is serious and somehow more mature than most of what I like from that era — in a good way: every part builds naturally into the next and lasts just the right amount of time. The best part of the song, though, is probably the vocals and the terrific guitar solo. Both are very understated and sneak out at you, building up until you just wan them to really let loose, and when they finally do, the song ends. Kinda sexy, now that I think of it.
God Damn I love Youtube. here are the ‘burbs playing this song LIVE right at the time I would have been standing in the audience - with, unfortunately, a much worse guitar solo and a bad mix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q__bYiQnfic
If you’re interested here’s a better video of them playing a different song, that I think is more representative of them, even though it’s the wrong song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAqxKaTKmw8&feature=related
