Lord Knows I Try To Be Good

I’ve indulged a blind adoration for Garbage ever since their first album. I’ve seen them live 3 times (granted, the last time was 9 years ago, but still). Shirley Manson is super-hot, not least because of the stylin' Scottish accent. I loves me an accent. I totally had a crush on her way before I figured out that it was actually okay for me to like boys and girls. Even as I’ve grown older & stopped taking the lyrics quite so seriously, my weakness for Garbage persists.

Their second album, Version 2.0, is their best (okay, I haven’t heard Bleed Like Me yet, so I’m taking a bit of a leap here). And I loved every song on it from the moment I bought it. Except one. Always, always, always would I skip Track 11, “Wicked Ways”. Hated it with the fire of a thousand suns. It sounded nothing like the rest of the album. There were no lyrical edges for me to identify with & cling to, like “I was angry when I met you/I think I’m angry still”, or “Somebody get me out of here/I’m tearing at myself/Nobody gives a damn about me/Or anybody else”. She didn’t sound mad, pissed-off, sad, or depressed. For my listening purposes, “Wicked Ways” simply did not exist.

Until one day, several years & much personal growth later, I listened to it again. And suddenly loved it. Now, it’s probably my favorite song on the album. All the things I once hated about it have become the things I like. It doesn’t sound like anything else – it’s light. Buoyant, practically (like a certain comic-strip-based flightless water fowl I can think of). I love that the lyrics & delivery aren’t overly heavy & dark. I love that she sounds all flirty (the way she sings “C’mon sugar, let’s go out tonight” is one of the best moments) & insincerely apologetic (really, Shirley, you can attempt to sell “And I tried, and I tried, and I tried” as many times as you like – I’m not buying.) She may have tried to mend her wicked ways, but she’s totally blaming you for her ultimate inability, no, unwillingness, to do so (“Clutch your pictures of the Pope/Pray to God for love & hope”) before she moves on to the next unwitting man.

The point, & believe it or not there is one, is that it is things such as this which encourage me to pause before passing o’erly hasty judgment. With regard to music, of course, but also with regard to most of the rest of everything else. It’s not that I don’t have opinions, it’s more that it’s important to me to try & recognize the fluidity & mutability of them. To not get stuck in the mud, but go with the flow, more. (Although I did make the point up just to conclude the post, the sentiments expressed are actually pretty true.)

The second point is that Scot-rockers & buoyant water fowl rule!