21: grounded-- pavement

as a sophomore in high school, i had heard a few pavement songs-- summer babe, cut your hair, maybe a couple others. i decided at that time they were good enough to be examined further, so one day at hastings i discovered wowee zowee (the only pavement album they had). even though it had none of the songs i was familiar with, i bought it anyway, hoping for the best. later that day i listened to that blue cd on the way back to alexandria on the train in my portable cd player. 'grounded', the fifth track, stood out for me from the start. it had this offkilter beauty about it that sounded very new to me. it was both shaky and gorgeously fluid. the lyrics were smart and puzzling. and it worked very well while looking out the window of a moving train.

in this song, like in many other pavement songs, the guitar tones were what really got to me. there was something different about the way this band could make them sound. they seemed to chime and then change direction and sound like a jagged knife in the heart. the dynamics were very intriguing. i decided i had to hear it all. i had to make pavement a part of my life.

great songs, songs that change your life, can take you back to what you were thinking/feeling when it first came into your life. and this song does that for me whenever i play it. but at the same time, i feel like the song has grown with me. it's not just a time capsule, but something i can turn on right now and hear something (feel something) new. this song should definitely receive credit for taking my understanding of pavement from "that band that did 'summer babe'" to recognizing them for being arguably (even though there's no argument) the finest band in the land in the 1990s. this song started my obsession with the band and with thoughtprovoking, unintentionallybeautiful indie rock that continues to this day.

a solid live performance of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryh-bYA0_yY