I Like The Masking Noise Quiet Of Your Breathing Nearby
When Nada Surf's latest album The Weight Is A Gift was released I immediately purchased it. I felt like I had to. For those of you who feel like the name of the band sounds familiar but you just can't get there, Nada Surf had a huge hit in the mid 90's with the song "Popular". Since then, in the mainstream, you hadn't really heard all that much from them. Nada Surf, however, never went away. The band released two albums between their first and this latest one; The Proximity Effect, and Let Go which in actuality had moderate success. Seemingly by chance The Proximity Effect found its way to my ears one day when I was a young high school bloke. I fell in love with the album instantly, and when Let Go was released, months earlier in the UK than it was here in the States, I ordered it through Amazon UK and found that the album was their best yet. So, yes, I had to buy The Weight Is A Gift the day it was released. The problem was I had already heard a couple of the songs from this new album, and I didn't really like either one of these songs. I was afraid that this was a bad sign. I was afraid that I wouldn't like the album. After a few listens my fears were realized. This band which had my loyalty failed to give me something that I could embrace, and so the disc that carried the album got lost in the pile of CD's on my desk that barely get touched.
The other day, as I was trying to find something to listen to in the car, I came across my copy of The Weight Is A Gift. I decided to give the album another chance. I figured maybe I just wasn't in the right state of mind to judge a new album when I had first listened to the album. As I was driving the album played, and something happened. I was feeling it, at least a little bit. This was good news. Maybe there was hope for this album after all. I continued to drive and the music continued to play. All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, it hit me. I heard something I liked...a lot. I had to replay the song. Yup, the song was great. The craziest part of the entire story, is that this song was one of the two songs that I had heard before I bought the album; one of the two songs that made me apprehensive towards the album. The song is "Do It Again". It captures everything that is great about Nada Surf and then some. It is by far the best song on the album, and one of the better songs I've heard in a while. I can't tell you what it was about the song that made me think I didn't like it in the beginning, but I can tell you for certain that this song is great. Still, it wasn't just "Do It Again" I found myself enjoying the album in its entirety. It is a good solid album; the same way Nada Surf is a good solid band. There is, however, a question to be answered: Why is it that now I enjoy the album? Either, I was just flat out wrong before when I disliked it, or I honestly didn't like it all that much , but it had grown on me to the point where I now think it's a great album.
This phenomenon isn't all that rare. We experience this many times throughout our lives. As kids we detest anything that is considered a vegetable. When we're older we find that some vegetables actually taste decent. The object doesn't always have to go from being disliked to being very much liked. Sometimes it's kind of just there. You are indifferent towards its existent until one day when you discover the beneficial qualities of its presence in your life. This is not unlike bread. You grow up and bread is kind of just there. You use it for sandwiches, occasionally you may even snack on it, but it's nothing you'd ever make a big deal over. Then one day, while waiting for your meal at a restaurant, your server brings over a basket of assorted breads. You pick one up, thinking that it can't be better or worse than the other breads in the basket, butter it up and take a bite. This is the most magnificent bite of bread you had ever taken in your life, and all of a sudden you have a new appreciation for bread and its role in your life. Sometimes you even like the object in question quite a bit. Then the switch happens and you find you love it more than you ever thought possible. This one is the most interesting to me. Why? Because the best example I can give for this is the one of the two friends who find one day that they had fallen for each other and decide to take the leap.
They say, especially for women, that we are able to decide whether or not a person would be a suitable partner for us in the very first few moments of knowing that person, with decent accuracy. In other words, love at first sight, in a sense, does exist. This makes me wonder about the couple from our example. Why is it they realize now that they have romantic feelings towards each other? Either they were wrong before that they only had platonic interests for each other, or they had grown to feel love for each other over time. My not so humble opinion is in line with the former. I think that couples who have been through this would probably disagree with me. They would tell me that they definitely had nothing but friendly feelings for each other in the beginning which grew into these fantastic feelings of love. I, of course, would argue with them. While it seems more sensible to say that the intimacy of friendship over time could have helped spark a feeling of romance rather than say that the two involved were just flat out wrong about their feelings in the first place, I would argue the opposite. To me it seems much more logical that the two had these feelings from the start. The thing is whatever it was about the two that sparked the romantic feelings of the two was most likely the exact same whatever that drew the two to supposedly become friends. It is not impossible to be wrong about your emotions. They are tricky like that. I say our couple was wrong just like I was wrong about not liking The Weight Is A Gift. They always had more than friends type feelings for each other, because everything that made them feel this way was always there. Everything that makes Nada Surf's album a great album was always there.
The other day, as I was trying to find something to listen to in the car, I came across my copy of The Weight Is A Gift. I decided to give the album another chance. I figured maybe I just wasn't in the right state of mind to judge a new album when I had first listened to the album. As I was driving the album played, and something happened. I was feeling it, at least a little bit. This was good news. Maybe there was hope for this album after all. I continued to drive and the music continued to play. All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, it hit me. I heard something I liked...a lot. I had to replay the song. Yup, the song was great. The craziest part of the entire story, is that this song was one of the two songs that I had heard before I bought the album; one of the two songs that made me apprehensive towards the album. The song is "Do It Again". It captures everything that is great about Nada Surf and then some. It is by far the best song on the album, and one of the better songs I've heard in a while. I can't tell you what it was about the song that made me think I didn't like it in the beginning, but I can tell you for certain that this song is great. Still, it wasn't just "Do It Again" I found myself enjoying the album in its entirety. It is a good solid album; the same way Nada Surf is a good solid band. There is, however, a question to be answered: Why is it that now I enjoy the album? Either, I was just flat out wrong before when I disliked it, or I honestly didn't like it all that much , but it had grown on me to the point where I now think it's a great album.
This phenomenon isn't all that rare. We experience this many times throughout our lives. As kids we detest anything that is considered a vegetable. When we're older we find that some vegetables actually taste decent. The object doesn't always have to go from being disliked to being very much liked. Sometimes it's kind of just there. You are indifferent towards its existent until one day when you discover the beneficial qualities of its presence in your life. This is not unlike bread. You grow up and bread is kind of just there. You use it for sandwiches, occasionally you may even snack on it, but it's nothing you'd ever make a big deal over. Then one day, while waiting for your meal at a restaurant, your server brings over a basket of assorted breads. You pick one up, thinking that it can't be better or worse than the other breads in the basket, butter it up and take a bite. This is the most magnificent bite of bread you had ever taken in your life, and all of a sudden you have a new appreciation for bread and its role in your life. Sometimes you even like the object in question quite a bit. Then the switch happens and you find you love it more than you ever thought possible. This one is the most interesting to me. Why? Because the best example I can give for this is the one of the two friends who find one day that they had fallen for each other and decide to take the leap.
They say, especially for women, that we are able to decide whether or not a person would be a suitable partner for us in the very first few moments of knowing that person, with decent accuracy. In other words, love at first sight, in a sense, does exist. This makes me wonder about the couple from our example. Why is it they realize now that they have romantic feelings towards each other? Either they were wrong before that they only had platonic interests for each other, or they had grown to feel love for each other over time. My not so humble opinion is in line with the former. I think that couples who have been through this would probably disagree with me. They would tell me that they definitely had nothing but friendly feelings for each other in the beginning which grew into these fantastic feelings of love. I, of course, would argue with them. While it seems more sensible to say that the intimacy of friendship over time could have helped spark a feeling of romance rather than say that the two involved were just flat out wrong about their feelings in the first place, I would argue the opposite. To me it seems much more logical that the two had these feelings from the start. The thing is whatever it was about the two that sparked the romantic feelings of the two was most likely the exact same whatever that drew the two to supposedly become friends. It is not impossible to be wrong about your emotions. They are tricky like that. I say our couple was wrong just like I was wrong about not liking The Weight Is A Gift. They always had more than friends type feelings for each other, because everything that made them feel this way was always there. Everything that makes Nada Surf's album a great album was always there.
posted by Angelo at 6/01/2006 01:44:00 AM
4 Comments:
Isn't the friend thing just the When Harry Met Sally Syndrome?
And i'd have to go with either Always Love or What Is Your Secret over Do It Again.
My parents were friends for 2 years, then decided to date... a month later they were engaged. 8 months later they were married. 28 years later... not saying that years means happiness, but they do still like each other!
If you didn't have a good friendship, wouldn't the passion have no foundation?
I am in no way saying that friendship plays no role in a good relationship. It is essential. My point is that the feelings that turned the "just friends" into more than friends were probably always there. The people involved just didn't realize it or were in denial. We see this all the time. Think about how many times you've said, or heard someone say regarding a couple, "I knew they liked each other even before they knew." I'd be willing to bet if you asked enough people who were close to your parents 30 years ago at least one person will say that he/she knew that they wanted each other. The two toasts given at one of my best friend's wedding even had the "we knew all along" theme.
where did the narcissist go?
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