via//chicago

np: "The Ego's Last Stand" - The Flaming Lips

I've known for a couple weeks now that Embryonic is a pretty great record. What I discovered last night, however, is that it is also a great record for walking around in the crisp October air contemplating the curveballs that life throws us. See, yesterday I found out that I was going to become yet another statistic in this stagnant American economy. I was laid off from my job yesterday afternoon with very little notice and tossed into the uncertain freefall that is unemployment. After a few hours of letting things sink in and talking things over with my wife and family, I decided I needed to get a little air and went for a walk. I instinctively reached for my iPod and threw it into my pocket on the way out the door. After tying my shoes, I popped the earbuds in and started scrolling through the 'Artists' tags... and... well, shit. Now what. What do I want to listen to? An old favorite? Something uplifting? Something soothing? Distracting? Eventually I settled mainly on the last option and figured this would do the trick. Did it ever. It was almost (I say almost, because I don't know that I could EVER pick the perfect song for the perfect moment even if I had years to plan it) the perfect thing to listen to as I walked around the neighborhood. And not just because Wayne was singing "see the leaves / they're dying again" as I kicked my way through piles of them. The whole air of uncertainty and confusion resonated very deeply within me, particularly these lyrics to the third track, "Evil":

I wish I could go back / go back in time
But no one ever really can go back in time / go back in time
Oh I would have shown you / those people are evil
And they'll hurt you if they can
I never understand

Not so much the "people are evil" part (although, yes, there was a little of this too), but more the "I never understand" lament. I didn't understand, hell I still don't. It was one of those moments during which music helped me to gain a deeper insight into what I was feeling, even if I hadn't had time to explore those feelings fully myself. I won't say The Flaming Lips made me feel better about my situation, of course they didn't. But they didn't really make me feel any worse either. They just made me feel, and that felt pretty important in the moment. And really, how much more can we expect from music?