funeral (nostalgia)

I spy on my friends, sometimes. They say things they don’t necessarily want me to hear—usually, they think I’m not listening, even though the room we’re in is so dark, anybody could be there, really. Mind you, it’s important to keep in mind that these aren’t secrets I’m overhearing, just tidbits they don’t know I know about. So when Tiffany expresses extreme enthusiasm at going to see Silversun Pickups, I notice, even though she has no idea I was even there when she was talking about it. Then, when Tara, or Monique, or someone, mentions that they heard this really awesome song by Silver-something, I remember Tiffany, and the name of the band. I say “Silversun Pickups?” and Tara/Monique says “Maybe” and that’s pretty much the end of it.

So I just watched the “lazy eye” video—by Silversun Pickups—and feel vague indigestion, and very mild anger. Not disappointment, of course—it takes so much to get me disappointed these days—but certainly unimpressed. The minor thing was that I couldn’t figure out whether the main character is male or female, which is always disconcerting if not a deal-breaker.

The major thing was that there was no real delivery—the song was good, sure, but it doesn’t go anywhere, it doesn’t do anything. A truly fantastic song both goes and does. It does not sit on the couch, night after night. It does not refuse to make eye contact. It doesn’t have to skydive, of course, or climb mountains, or run marathons, but it must have a proper climax, replete with sweat and if not at least one audible yelp of pleasure, tears. ‘Lazy eye’ does an almost-climax, but it is a tease that leaves you hungry.

When I hear of a new “indie rock” band from North America, something like hope always sparks in me. I’m looking for the Next Best Thing which is, of course, the next Arcade Fire. But even the Arcade Fire has ceased to be the Arcade Fire. ‘Neon Bible’ is a wonderful and oft-times beautiful album with very good lyrics and a couple of moments of poignancy. It is arguably the best album to be released this year thus far. That being said, ‘Neon Bible’ ain’t no ‘Funeral.’ ‘Funeral’ was the musical equivalent to my first love. I’d thought I’d been there many times—first when I was five, then once in junior high, several times in high school, a couple of times in university, but one night two years after I graduated from degree #1 I met this guy who blew my mind, and oh, that’s what everyone’s talking about.

That guy was Funeral. And there has been no second Funeral, no one even close.I do not say this pretentiously, or facetiously. It is a truth ununiversally acknowledged (but a truth nonetheless) that Funeral was the penultimate accomplishment in modern music. And when I hear Tiffany, in that dark room, talk about a man I’ve never met before, my ears perk up though I know not to get my hopes up. I know not to expect delivery on unspoken promises, but still I listen. Even if it’s just out of habit, so be it. I say there’ll never be another first love, another funeral. But what I want most is to be proven wrong.