Due to the fact that my girlfriend and I have been sucked in by the first season of True Blood (pun intended), I don’t have a pithy opening prepared for this morning’s post. With that said, let’s get after the latest installment of my 1000 Minutes Project.
57. The Cure – Mint Car (Acoustic Version) (mp3) original on Wild Mood Swings (3:30) [Time Remaining: 717:09]
It could be telling that I didn’t choose a song by The Cure from their heyday, but they didn’t enter my consciousness until long after their peak. The ability to view their career more as a whole than by each release affords a listener a chance to experience a band on individual terms, and “Mint Car” has always been more poignant than their other work.
I have never viewed Robert Smith as a cultish savior of any kind, but I appreciate the description of new love, young love, love of any kind, really. It’s often the ability to express perfectly that which I’m unable to that makes a song more engaging for me. Plus, The Format name-dropped the song too, and you can’t go wrong with them either.
58. The Hold Steady – Massive Nights (mp3) from Boys and Girls in America (2:54) [Time Remaining: 714:15]
If I haven’t made it obvious to this point, allow me to make a blanket statement about songs I like: artists that capture an immediacy in their lyrics, and can translate it into the music will always have a special place in my heart. If you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, take a listen to The Hold Steady’s “Massive Nights” – a stirring tribute to the confusion and passion of being a teenager. And while the specific events the song describes are certainly not applicable for everyone, the overall feeling of the song is undoubtedly universal.
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