Sábado 19 Fev 2011, 2h:34

There will always be songs that reach the state of sacredness in a person's life. Sacred, meaning, worthy of respect or dedication. In fact, some songs' meaning truly intertwine concurrently with the life the person is living. If one were to ask me if such song exists in my world, I'll have to say yes.

The Trashcan Sinatras are a group of Scottish lads that originally did covers of fabulous songs and formed in the mid 80's. "Obscurity Knocks" is the one song that I'm referring to and the one I'm going to dissect today. It comes from their debut album,"Cake" which was released in the early 90's. I acquired the album when I was in high school, which were the early 90's. (Yes, I AM Generation X, and proud of it)

Frank Reader, the lead singer, sings the words to the song with a sense of cluelessness and desperation of what's needed to be done with his life, as the song reveals, happens to every 20something. What makes this song so charming is the fact that perhaps almost every 20something will go through this awkward existential conundrum in his/her 20s.

"Know what it's like
To sigh at the sight of the first quarter of life?
Ever stopped to think and found out nothing was there?"

Perhaps the song and words came in handy during my very own 20something soul-searching escapades. The strength and hopes of being young, suddenly trivialized with the truth of fleeting time, a magnitude of inadequacies and failures.

"Calendars crumble i'm knee deep in numbers
I've turned 21, i've twist, i'm bust and wrong again"

Despite the song's capacity to bring the listener's spirits down, everything is redeemed by its jangly sounds and beautiful guitar works by John Douglas and Paul Livingston.Heck, I might as well throw in Stephen Douglas' spectacular work on the drums. (John and Stephen are brothers!) It's a perfect marriage between the music and lyrics - a feat that I once thought that only Morrissey and Marr of The Smiths could do. Trashcan Sinatras (as they are known now, omitting the "The") were at some point coincidently compared to The Smiths, for obvious reasons.

Like a good vintage wine, the song's value increased exponentially in my list of "growing up" songs; becoming a potent catalyst in my 20something introspection, adhering strictly to the song's meaning, message about truth and self-searching.

"Rubbing shoulders with the sheets till two
Looking at my watch and i'm half-past caring
In the lap of luxury it comes to mind
Is this headboard hard? am i a lap behind?
But to face doom in a sock-stenched room all by myself
Is the kind of fate i never contemplate"

My 20something life has been sung verbatim with this song. In retrospect, I remember those days like this: being locked up in my room, clueless of how life should be, mundane schoolwork, longing for intimacy, feelings of desolation, lackadaisical daydreaming, and the inevitable fear of the unforeseeable future. Even to this day, I get that creepy-feel-good feeling whenever I hear the song. I think that's what makes it so powerful. In fact, it has become my 20something anthem. Thank heaven, that with time and my current acquired 'veteran' wisdom, I feel as though, I'm alright.

And Frank Reader has become my source of youth-angst hope.

*Trashcan Sinatras
trashcansinatras trashcan sinatras obscurity knocks