Easter Special: “You Were Right”

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Today I was talking to a friend of mine, who, after mentioning her unusual mood swings of late, asked, “What does manic depression feel like?”

Built to Spill Well, I said, smiling, “Manic depression’s a frustrating mess.”

“Wait a second,” she said. “Who sings that? Led Zeppelin?”

“Nope,” I said. “Right era, wrong rock legend. Jimi Hendrix.”

“Oh, you’re right,” she said.

But the way she said “you’re right” reminded me of a song from one of my favorite albums during college. The song is “You Were Right,” from Built to Spill’s Keep It Like a Secret (1999) album, which references the following classic rock artists, in this order:

  • Bob Marley (“Everything’s gonna be alright”)
  • Neil Young (“All that glitters isn’t gold”)
  • Kansas (“All we are is dust in the wind”)
  • Pink Floyd (“We’re all just bricks in the wall”)
  • Jimi Hendrix (“Manic depression’s a frustrating mess”)
  • The Rolling Stones (“You can’t always get what you want”)
  • Bob Dylan (“It’s a hard rain’s gonna fall”)
  • Bob Seger (“We’re still running against the wind”)
  • John Mellencamp (“Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone”)
  • The Doors (“This is the end”)

It’s a nice little song. Plus, making this list of references reminded me that Badly Drawn Boy also has a song called “You Were Right” that references the deaths of Frank Sinatra, Jeff Buckley, Kurt Cobain, and John Lennon.

Cadbury Creme Egg And so then I got on a Google and Wikipedia tangent about dead musicians and songs that overtly reference other musicians. Which reminded me of another group from my high school days, For Squirrels, who had a song about Kurt Cobain’s death called “Mighty K.C.” I really liked those guys. It was very sad to learn of the tour bus accident that killed their lead singer, bassist, and tour manager in 1995. What was left of the band became Subrosa, but I mainly liked For Squirrels for their lead singer Jack Vigliatura IV.

In Easter-related news, I hope you’ve all checked out the latest South Park episode about the true meaning of Easter. Stan inquires into the logical gap between the story of the resurrection of Jesus and the fluffy bunny rabbit known for hiding chicken eggs dipped in colored vinegar.

Speaking of eggs . . . how about a 10,000 calorie Cadbury Creme Egg?

I have fond memories of that special time of year when Cadbury Eggs became available. When I was a kid, I always liked to run structural integrity tests on them. And by “structural integrity tests,” I mean me throwing the egg-shaped candies into walls as hard as I could. They are surprisingly durable little things. Got a nice thick chocolate exoskeleton.

By the way, Easter is cancelled.

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