So a friend of mine is in this
really awesome band with a terrible name. She recently asked me if I would write the liner notes for their upcoming 7”. Now, I don’t think she knew it, but writing liner notes has been one of my secret dreams forever. It’s one of the reasons I always wanted to date rock musicians. So of course I bit at the opportunity, in my cool, detached, “whatever” way.
And here they are:
‘Til We’re Blue or Destroy This Train
Do you remember the best night of your life? Try not to think of it in clichéd terms- first kisses, days your kids were born, things like that. No, think about it more in the abstract; could you even decide on a single night? Did you even realize it was happening? Or is it like so many other great moments whose brilliance is only discrernable at a distance, when you can pick it out of a field of stars in the murky dusk?
It was probably not so different from any other night back during those salad days. You had probably worked earlier in the day, and the promise of the night ahead made it just that much sweeter, like balsamic vinegar poured over a strawberry (try it if you don’t believe me). You likely drove into town to meet some friends you’d already seen a few times this week. You went to the same bar, you drank, you listened to whatever the jukebox had decided to play.
All in all, pretty unremarkable.
But there was something about this night that made it perfect. Something about the conversations, or how everyone was getting along for once. Maybe it was just the way the christmas lights in the courtyard reflected on your glass when you lit your second to last cigarette. You can’t put your finger on it, but years later that anonymous night will be the archetype for the golden age in your little story. When you think back on it, years later, you’ll never believe how good you once had it.
And this? This was the band that was playing on the stereo in your shitty car as you pulled out of the parking lot at work, windows down. This was the soundtrack.
- R. McManus, somewhere over East Texas, 2008