Monday, October 13, 2008

Three Years Too Late

After my freshman year of high school, I moved from Middletown, CT to Albuquerque, NM. One of my buddies in Connecticut told me that he had been talking to a certain girl we knew and told her that I was a big rock star in New Mexico. In middle school I'd had a big crush on her, and the song "Almost Close" is loosely based on that - the chick had no interest. But my friend told me that now, hearing the fictitious story that I was a well-known musician in the Southwest, she suddenly was interested in re-connecting with me.

I wasn't having this. I thought, "Baby, this is three years too late. You had your chance. L-train has left the station."

This is the third song in the initial four-song cycle from "In the Studio." First we had the blooming romanticism of "A Picture of You," then the unrequited love of "Amiss." This song follows with some good 'ol teenage angst over the superficial motivations which animate and frustrate adolescents to no end. Great menacing bass riffs from Sanjay Chandran and cool jazz-influenced drum grooves by Jon Kouba.

And here it is:
http://amiestreet.com/listen/song/shareListen/1210397/

3 comments:

Lee Istrail said...

My roommate and bandmate during freshman year of college, Joe Edelman, had a hilarious take on this song. When we performed it live, he'd sing a line after each of my lines, making fun of it. E.g. after "I wasn't laughing, you didn't care" he'd sing, "You're no Care Bear; after "I could not stand to see" he'd sing, "I had to sit." It was a great exercise in lightening up and not taking myself too seriously.

Joe Edelman said...

Great to hear the song again, Lee! Brings me back to old times. Certainly you've upgraded your drummer since me!

Lee Istrail said...

The drummer was good, but he could never replace your expert, manic bongo playing. Good memories! Remember when we were playing at the Top of the Hop and some woman started asking me for directions to someplace on campus, while I was singing? When someone's singing with a band, I generally assume they're preoccupied.