empire! empire! – (i was a lonely estate) What It Takes to Move Forward

empire! empire! - (i was a lonely estate) What It Takes to Move Forward

I blame the new century masturbation scene squarely on Sunny Day Real Estate. Fucking Diary. That record meant so goddamn much to me it’s a wonder I ever got laid. “48”. That was a gift straight from Jeremy Enigk to me and my lonely, relevant evenings. Jesus. I think I put that song on every mix tape I made from ’94 until I realized girls didn’t really like guys who cried when they came.

Far longer time than I’d care to suggest.

Shit, is this record still playing? What the hell song am I listening to?

“Everything Is Connected and Everything Matter (a Temporary Solution to a Permanent Problem”.

Are you fucking kidding me?

All right, see…I’d like to tell a little something about this record. I’d like to delve into meaningful quatrains about unrequited sunshine but I’m having a hard enough time telling when one track ends and the next begins. I keep pausing and thinking “Man, this song sounds JUST like the last one” only to realize that I’m only midway through an eight minute meditation on being a lost little boy in a sea of misunderstanding, rejection and whatever the fuck else gives rise to a song called “What Safe Means”.

Did he just sing “THE SOUND OF AN EARTHQUAKE!”? He did. “Like the sound of an earthquake tearing out terra firma’s mouth.”

Man, I haven’t been that brash in ages. Perhaps if I were depressed. If I were heartbroken. If I was feverish and there was a cat scratching my ankles until I bled the blood from my body’s veins.

Thankfully, I’m not.