Who's still here? Who's still lonely?
invisib...@gmail.com
OK, this thread is almost two years old, but as time has slowed down
here, I thought it permissible to reply.
I never posted much, but I did read this NG, the AOL board, and the
mailing list for years. I traded tapes with people and felt something
when I read some of the posts. Most of it was trivial, but every once
and awhile there'd be a post so vulnerable and heartfelt that when you
read it you felt like you weren't alone because someone was showing
you a part of their soul. I remember a short story someone once posted
that started out with a description of the hands on Michelangelo's
David. I remember that teen bipolar girl in California from AOL. I
remember one guy writing about how he went to a concert alone and on
the bus ride home, the girl next to him fell asleep with her head on
his shoulder. I remember one person trying to end a squabble by
reminding us that what drives us to these groups is often loneliness
just as much as a love of the music. Nothing fancy in these posts I
suppose, but meaningful to them. And to me.
I, like most of us, am no longer an emotional college kid suffering
from post-adolescent angst anymore. Except that I am. I'm now 31 and I
still feel as confused, isolated, and powerless as I did when I first
heard Counting Crows. So here I am, now an emotional graduate student
suffering from post-adolescent angst.
You know how you don't listen to Counting Crows as much anymore
because you've heard the old songs so many times that they sound like
patterns and the new ones seem like they came from a cold, distant
(rock) star instead of a part of yourself? Well I do. But today I
listened to AAEA (the song) again and I felt a prickly pressure behind
my eyes and nose that almost forced out tears. Almost.
Is anyone else in the same boat? Is there anybody?
Colin
Across A Wire disk 2 on my mp3 player. I was right back there to when I
first discovered this great band.
Colin
<invisib...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1194024783....@i13g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
chris
bring myself to leave because every now and then there will be a post
like yours and i feel that connection again.
i always used to think that the mailing list was like going to a
friend's house whereas the ng was like going to the pub. it's still a
bit like that - going to an old haunt in the hope that you'll see
someone you know.... and you do.....and it's just as magical as it ever
was.
chris
(now an ancient 54 year old suffering from post-adolescent angst!)
Chris Jothi
Bought the re-released AAEA a few weeks ago.
Look forward to the next Crows' show in London.
Life moves on though lads.
I feel we experienced a lot together and without meeting up (although
some of you did) got to know each other pretty darn well.
So I hope that those passing through will return here to talk about
the new album (when it finally is released) and reignite the old flame
we used to light on this very special ng.
Chris Jothi
invisib...@gmail.com
see people's posts. I'd decided on a whim to shout out into the wind
and see if anyone heard. I guess I was heard, and better yet, I got to
hear others too.
So now I'd like to pose another question- Where are you now now?
Think back to your most Crows-obsessed time. What kind of person were
you, what kind of person did you think you'd turn out to be in 2007,
and have you become that person? Did Kathy Jo Kramer ever get off the
bus? Why did the girl who ran the Annabegins site stop doing it? Why
did you stop/continue/restart listening/posting/reading? What's your
story?
Chris Jothi
I am now a 23 year old Bournemouth TV grad student working for RSA
(Ridley Scott Associates) still trying to realise my dream of becoming
a music video director (RSA also owns Black Dog Films, who make great
videos).
This has nothing to do with the Crows' incredibly poor track record
with pop promos!
I now love Springsteen more than the Crows, still get crazy about
football aka soccer, have sold nearly ALL my CDs and am trying hard to
buy a house with my girlfriend (which is no small feat when living in
South East England!!!).
Oh yeah, my dislike for the CC official messageboard remains and Adam
annoys me with his rambling posts. So much that I barely bother to
read a thing he writes these days.
That's me in a nutshell (a very small nutshell)
Colin
I think as you get older you become more chilled out and aware that you have
limited time on this amazing Planet and you have to enjoy and make the most
of each day. Enjoy your friends, family, sunrises, sunsets. See the
beautiful places on this Earth if you can. A couple of years ago my wife had
a big health scare and it is at times like that you realise you have to
appreciate every day and make the most of every day. Thankfully she is
currently fine. I still enjoy the Crows music and quite enjoy reading Adams
rambling posts. The official site does annoy though. Having to pay for
access to anything.
Colin
"Chris Jothi" <bootle...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1194807560.4...@o38g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
RMZ
This is going to be a bit long and random I apologize in the beginning
for that, but you post made me want to chime in.
Since we're sharing stories... So back in- what was it, 91; AAEA hit
and it was just this amazing album. I still remember the first time I
heard Mr. Jones on the radio and then from there buying the album and
finding that radio single actually paled in comparison to the rest of
the album. Here was this amazing songwriter doing what, for me at
least, no one else had done, here was the voice of "Generation X".
Children of the 60's had Bob Dylan and you can take your pick from the
70's and 80's, but the 90's was the point when I feel in love for the
first time, got my hart broken for the first time and began this
journey of discovering myself and being in a position to change
myself.
We had Nirvana, we had Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and all the other grunge
bands (still one of my other favorite bands), but the Counting Crows
stood alone and that first album was beautiful. It was just so quiet
and beautiful, it starts with Round Here hopelessness and takes you on
a very emotional ride and brings a ray of light at the end with A
Murder of One, that song, the album take of it- still gives me chills.
The lines "change.... change... change...." going from a scream to a
whisper. This is what great songwriting is, beyond that this is what
great art is all about It brings you into the soul of the artist for
just a moment and makes you feel through association of your own
experiences.
I know so many people who don't like Counting Crows because they claim
"oh he wines too much" or what have you, but the truth is (and it's an
ugly, condescending truth, but it is TRUE) a lot of people don't like
to go that deep with music. So I've taken the long way around, but
what I'm trying to say is. 15 years looking back at it AAEA is beyond
a adolescent anger binge, it is a masterpiece and even now with a real
respect for art that I have there is no other single piece of recorded
art (outside of religious compositions) that have moved me like that
album.
Very few songwriters accomplish what Adam and the band did AAEA in a
lifetime.
The thing is all artist change. Adam changes all the time, he changed
very quickly and ran from what they had on that disc. Each incarnation
of the band since has been hit and miss. The bands original drummer
remains the best they've had and I say that objectively as a musician.
Matt leaving IMO is another major problem and David Bryson remains the
most under rated member of the band (Immergluck and Vickey get all a
lot of credit as lead players, but Bryson is the one who studied
guitar with Joe Satriani... Bryson is the one who really understands
the whole "less is more" concept and knows how to compose amazing
pieces of music IMO.
There is a lyrical genius in Adam, but I think as with many artist
he's a perfectionist and of course always changing and he listens to
his peers a lot (Ryan Adams) who have for better (and more often
worse) changed his craft. I think the truth Adam would never live up
to is that he is incapable of creating another AAEA at this point. Not
because the creative spirit isn't there, but because those human
experiences that led to those great songs have already come out. I
think if you want to hear what happens when he tries to go back there
you get a song like Colorblind or Hard Candy, good songs, no- great
songs, but in reflection they don't come across quite as strong. Old
blues players use to say "you have live the blues to play the blues".
I think Counting Crows have been in need of finding a modern context
for a long time and they have been hit and miss at it.
U2 are probably the greatest band on the planet and they know this.
For example, although I love AAEA more than any single U2 album, U2
collectively are on the money with each release, they stay relevant,
Bono's life is colorful and since he still lives a colorful life there
is content to write about. Probably none of us know Adam personally,
but from his material I don't think he's living as much, or maybe he's
just not giving enough. That's not really fair to say I know, but it's
not a judge of character, I'm just saying the more an artist really
lives the better and more current their work seems to be.
So I don't think I changed as much as the band has and every time I
listen to AAEA or every time I pull up their upcoming song Cowboys on
MySpace I get confirmation of this.