Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LIX--The Long Winters: Stupid

It never ceases to amaze me how fluky it sometimes is when we discover great music.  Channel surfing one night and you come across someone doing a gig on a talk show and she's singing a song that you're still listening to thirty years later (Rickie Lee Jones, "Chuck E.'s in Love").  Standing in line at a fast food restaurant and something comes on overhead and you're rushing home to google a couple of the words so you can find it on Youtube so you can hear it again to see if it really was that good (King Harvest, "Dancing in the Moonlight").  A music review read while you're sitting in the dentist's office (The Darkness, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love") or a free sample CD stuffed in a music magazine (Okkervil River, "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe").

When my daughter was in college, she would on occasion send me mix CDs containing songs that she had been enjoying.  One such song is this week's featured tune, "Stupid" by The Long Winters--and I can guarantee you that had she never sent it, I never would have heard it.

A small miracle?  Perhaps...

The Long Winters are a fine Seattle band (the only constant is one John Roderick) which began in 2001 and have recorded three albums and an EP, though none since 2006.  Since 2008 their website has been promising a new record soon, but it has yet to come to fruition.  There are no Hall of Fame inductions, no Grammy nominations or awards, and no Billboard Hot 100 appearances in their history, though they are generally well reviewed.   Mr. Roderick's other claim to fame is that he ran for the Seattle City Council in 2015 (unsuccessfully, unfortunately).  And what are the odds I ever hear a song from a band such as this if my daughter doesn't send it my way?

And what a shame it would have been to have missed "Stupid."  Released on their When I Pretend to Fall LP, "Stupid" is the tale of a young man chasing his dream girl, despite being told by a friend that his pursuit is stupid, and his telling said acquaintance that no, what would really be stupid is to find out years from now that she'd had a thing for him, too, and that he'd given up before finding out.   Which in the wrong hands could turn into a maudlin piece of garbage, but here turns into a pop music marvel.  Roderick's vocals are filled with the right amount of angst (and not desperation) to make us believe that his feelings for her and his fear of missing his chance at her are genuine.  Even better, at song's end we're left hanging just like him--we don't know if he won her heart or not.  "Stupid" is simply arranged, with some really nice jangly guitar work and a driving drumbeat, and even features a nice short instrumental break.  All in all, it's a wondrous and honest pop music peek into the heart.

Truer words, once again:  "She has no idea/She could make me do anything...."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee