I consider this the final installment of a sporadic episodic sequence, starting back in December with my thoughts on John Mayer's Home Life and continuing in March with the Robbers On High Street's The Price & Style . I never planned to use these song essays in an autobiographical manner, but essays and songs can be tricky like that. When writing about Home Life , I wrote about how the song spoke to me exactly. The Price & Style found me interpreting non-specific lyrics to fit life experience. This time I want to ponder how a song's lyrics can suddenly become relevant. Take Fountains Of Wayne's Troubled Times , from their second album, Utopia Parkway . It's a lush, harmony-driven ballad that has always stood out on that album as a shoulda-been hit. The song has a story, but unlike FOW's other work, it's not so easy to figure out. It can be impressionistic at times. The narrator regrets that things have gone sour with a certain someone in his life, ...
To be read at maximum volume.