One of my favorite songs and bands of all time. Third Eye Blind. The guitar, the singing, the constant building – all perfect. And the lyrics in this song kill me I swear. Here’s a taste…
Careening through the universe
Your axis on a tilt , you’re guiltless and free
I hope you take a piece of me with you…
…And there’s this burning
Like there’s always been
I’ve never been so alone
And I’ve never been so alive
And there’s this burning
There is this burning
Where’s the soul I want to know…
When he screams “I’ve never been so alone, alone, and I… I’ve never been so alive!” at the end – I feel like I’m going to explode in a crescendo of guitar and emotion. If you don’t understand that, we can’t be friends. While I listen to this song, I guess I’ll tell you about a related dream I used to have a few times a year. It was so intense, but it will be hard to convey. I’ll try….
So you have to picture it. I wake up (not really, in the dream) on a dark wasteland. Maybe a beach, maybe a desert, but always dark and endless with nothing in any direction. Just emptiness. This was part of the inspiration for Sunlight Parted. The horizon is invisible, in every direction is just darkness. I’m walking around on a grayish dark plain wondering where I am. That’s when a voice tells me that I am stuck here until I figure it out. I ask where I am and what I’m doing here, and what I have to figure out, but I get no answers. I guess I’ve died and I’m in some sort of in-between place. So I ask how long I’ll be there and I’m told I’m there until I figure it out, whatever I need to figure out. I’m told it could be a day or a thousand years. I freak out about being stranded here with nothing to do for a thousand years. Anyway, the point is that I asked how I’m supposed to pass the time, and the voice says I can have one album play on repeat forever, so I would have to choose wisely. Immediately, with no hesitation I say “Third Eye Blind’s first album!” and it starts playing all around me. The earth now had grooves like I was walking on a record. I was basically living inside the album. For a thousand years maybe.
I’ve had that dream like 10 times, and each time I always choose that album. It’s my favorite single album of all time. Barely edging out Pink Floyd – Division Bell, Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon, and Eagles – Greatest Hits Vol 1 & 2. I love some other stuff, like Breaking Benjamin’s first 2 albums, Linking Park’s first two, Matchbox Twenty – Yourself or Someone Like You, Led Zeppelin’s entire collection. Yet they weren’t the chosen album. I think I’ll give the whole thing a go now…..
