Meet Someone Great and Then Call It Off…

I might as well stay in the mini-theme I’ve seemed to create over the past few days. I started off with the initial burst of meeting someone and falling in love. Now, I’ll move on to the end of the bliss. I find it quite fitting to choose these songs to discuss breaking up… or going on break… or any of the random arguments that end up leading to awkward temporary distance or permanent disconnection.

The first song is a remix of Peter, Bjorn, and John’s “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off.” I had it queued up in the background as I was getting ready last week and found myself doing a little dance to it while getting dressed. Bongos, house-y backbeats, a Caribbean flavor in the melodies, and laid back vocals slowly intermingle over the course of the song. The the final line in the verse came across and I realized I was happily bobbing along to a break-up song. It shouldn’t feel this good, but it does. However, it makes a lot more sense to me now that I’m older and have gone through the motions more than a few times. I think at a certain age… or rather after enough times… your patience starts to wear thin. You’re less likely to try to hold on, because you know that, although it’s going to suck for a while, there are other people out there. Quite honestly if it’s not fun… why bother just for a sense of false security?

The second song just kind of forced it’s way into this post. I am currently listening to the new LCD Soundsystem album Sound of Silver for the first time. It’s not due to release until 2007. The mood of “Someone Great” hit me first. Somber, slow, and electro influenced… the song could be a lost cut from any of the brat pack movies of the 1980’s. The song follows much of the same the theme as the first track, but it’s more sober. I identify with this song more than any breakup song i’ve ever heard. The over-dramatic romantics are gone… it’s just real.

“I wake up and the phone is ringing / Surprised as it’s early / And that should be a perfect warning that somethings a problem / To tell the truth I saw it coming / The way you were breathing / But nothing can prepare you for it / The voice on the other end.” Once the shock of the moment is over, well at least in my case, I start to look for the silver lining. I quickly re-focus and throw myself back into work that I’ve let slip. Before long I’m accomplishing four times as much as I was while I was with the other person.

However, the hammer drops on this song as the beginning of the final line repeats over and over “When someone great is gone…” and then drives the song home by reassuring the listener “… you’re safe for the moment.”

Holy fucking shit. You know what is the worst thing in the world for me? It’s finally finding someone that I think is truly great… because while I’m with them there’s always a nagging thought of how it’s going to feel to lose them. However, once it’s over I feel safer than ever. It seems that James Murphy and I see eye to eye.

Peter, Bjorn, and John – Let’s Call It Off (JD Twitch’s Optimo Remix)
LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great
Removed at the request of DFA Records…

Bookmark to: