songbook: baba o’riley

In M|H’s weekend feature, songbook, I’ll be looking at some of my favorite songs. Some I haven’t listened to in years, some I keep in regular rotation, but all having in some way informed my life, my taste, and and how I view music.

The Who – Baba O’Riley

(studio version here)

“Baba O’Riley” came on the radio the other day and I was immediately nostalgic for the summer of 2004, aka The Best Summer Ever. In (and for) a short time I became very close with a new group of people, playing in the sun, having arts & crafts and movie nights, and, more often than not, turning every outing into a dance party. Sometimes our friends played host, and sometimes we would end up at semi-random places and literally take over the sound system and the living room. One friend, Jamie, always had a messenger bag and in that messenger bag was a mix CD. I’m fairly certain I’ve danced through that CD a hundred times. The disc was filled with great jams and turned me on to bands like The Rapture, !!!, and Ratatat. There was one song that was different from all the rest, though – The Who’s “Baba O’Riley”.

It stood out because it worked. It wasn’t a dance song but was totally danceable. Somehow everyone knew the words. Classic rock was the new white belt. For most of the song there was lots of lunging and fist shaking and people doing their own thing, but when the breakdown kicked in at 3:35, everyone knew what to do. A circle formed, clapping began, and people started bouncing up and down. At 4:25 the stomping started. Stomping that shook the floor, rattled the pictures on the wall. As the tempo picked up, so did the pounding. From 4:55 on there was jumping and whooping and spinning until a final crash at the end of the song ten seconds later. It went like this without fail every time.

Whenever I hear “Baba O’Riley” at a bar or some other public venue, I always expect to see people gathering in circles, ready to stomp – but it never happens. I’m glad that, for a short while at least, I knew the people who knew what needed to be done. “The happy ones are here / let’s get together / before we get much older.”

songbook: copper and stars

In M|H’s weekend feature, songbook, I’ll be looking at some of my favorite songs. Some I haven’t listened to in years, some I keep in regular rotation, but all having in some way informed my life, my taste, and and how I view music.

Planes Mistaken for Stars – Copper and Stars

I first heard this song on the comp Emo is Awesome/Emo is Evil. It was the first song on the disc and I loved the controlled chaos of the intro. I definitely had one of those “ho. ly. shit.” reactions where your brain can’t quite catch up to what it’s hearing but you know you love it. Around this time I was still heavily into pop-punk and was just dipping my toe into the harder aspects of the genre. While not really a hard song, it was a lot more aggressive than, say, The Get Up Kids.

Listening to this song now it’s still exhilarating and a perfect snapshot of the scene. From the iconography of the band’s name to the trampled-heart lyrics like “wasting wishes on copper and stars”, it just brings back the angst-y goodness of my late teens and early twenties.

As a bonus, you can listen to the comp below. Thank you, internet!

songbook: little secrets

In M|H’s weekend feature, songbook, I’ll be looking at some of my favorite songs. Some I haven’t listened to in years, some I keep in regular rotation, but all having in some way informed my life, my taste, and and how I view music.

Passion Pit – Little Secrets

In late 2009 I lived in San Francisco and interned for 826 Valencia – non-profit writing and tutoring center fronted by the Pirate Supply Store that brought in money for the center. In the bay is Treasure Island, former home to a World’s Fair exhibit and a naval base. Once a year the island plays home to the Treasure Island Music Festival, and while I worked for 826 we set up a booth and hawked our wares (eye patches, pirate flags, what have you). I worked the night shift, so during the day I was free to roam and enjoy the bands. One of those bands was Passion Pit.

The first time I heard Passion Pit had been a few months earlier at a friend’s house, soundtracking his post-breakup beard removal. I loved Manners, and was excited to see Passion Pit play. While I knew they were fun and made generally happy music, I had no idea that they’d be able to move the crowd as much as they did. It was a perfect sunny day on the island, and the crowd was cheerful and engaged. When “Little Secrets” came on, though, the whole festival exploded. Even in the best of circumstances, there’s always that smattering of people in the crowd who are just too cool or too afraid to dance and sing along. However, for a few minutes, I literally could not find a single person who wasn’t smiling, swaying, singing. Hands were in the air, getting higher and higher. I’m sure someone, somewhere was standing arms crossed, but not anywhere near me. It’s incredibly rare to see a thousands of people transform for a common purpose in a matter of seconds. Hearing “Little Secrets” live that day is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced.