I don’t keep pictures. Never have and doubt I ever will. All they can do is help you remember. Remembrance for me is far more bitter than sweet. I could try to be poetic, but it basically comes down to this: When I think of the good old days, I feel like shit.
For no reason at all when I think of old friends, songs that I used to love, or games I used to play, I start to feel down.
Anyway, I’ll try to keep this segment going just to share the things that I used to, and still do love. And the first thing that I would like to share is an album by Taking Back Sunday.
It all started in about 2004. TBS had been around for a few years, but I found them to be whiney, dull, and girly. Their videos would come on Fuse (which I thought was the best music channel ever, but needless to say the feeling is no longer the same.) and BAM, channel changed. That summer was the one that my parents split up. I was down, but the realization of how fucked up things were wouldn’t hit me for a few more years.
The band that I though was the shit happened to be Story of the Year, and they happened to be playing at the warped tour. My dad, in an effort to bond or something took me to Florida to see them, and a bunch of other bands. One of the headlining bands just happened to be Taking Back Sunday. I wanted to ignore them but they were ‘underground heroes’ at the time and everyone, and I mean everyone, was at their stage so I figured why not give them a chance.
They played set phasers to stun, your so last summer, and a few other songs. Kids were moshing, which was not appropriate (believe me) but I found that the songs were catchy. It was something different to me, I mean I was all about what ever was on the radio and they just were not it.
As soon as I could I went out and bought Tell All Your Friends, and fell in love with it. In my opinion there is no comparison to any other album out there. It’s poppy, poetic, intense, and all around great.
That year brought changes like a new school, new friends, a new house, but through it Tell All Your Friends was there. I’m not trying to be melodramatic and make my life look like it was so hard, but I don't know how else to put it.
Not three days after my parents split my mom was dating some guy that I knew I would hate(She had been talking to him for only a few weeks. She met him when she and a few friends went to Florida for a convention or something.) Three months later he was living with us, and I knew that I hated him. Not to go into great detail, he is an ass.
Anyway, TBS made me smile in the fall, and gave me something to sing along to in the winter. I would take long walks and just listen to it over and over again. It changed my outlook on music and led me to better music, and better bands, but it will always be my favorite album.
Nowadays, they are not as… well let’s say good. Now it’s more for the money and airtime on the radio. The lyrics are nonsense, and they have a more generic sound. Maybe you could say it’s because of the ‘emo kids’, possibly you like them more than ever, you may never had heard of them, or you could blame so many bands for copying them, or possibly like one of my friends you blame the ‘Thursday curse.’ (A dumb conspiracy theory that every good band that tours with Thursday will split up, or turn to shit.) Whatever you do, remember them. Hate ‘em or love ‘em, Tell All Your Friends will always be classic.
Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
