Songs

So somebody who I'll be a lady and not name (Jay) found out that we both have a mutual love for the band Our Lady Peace. But when he asked what my favourite song of theirs was, I couldn't give a straight answer. Furthermore, I couldn't even name a favourite album because three of them stand out as being superb in my eyes for totally different reasons. Today I went on a quest to find my favourite song. While I still may not be satisfied with the choice, it will have to do.


Raine's Top Seven Our Lady Peace Songs:

7. "Starseed" from Naveed
This was the first OLP song I ever heard. It is sentimental, it is clean, it is energetic, and it can't be forgotten in my top seven.


6. "4am" from Clumsy
The first time I heard this song I wasn't listening to the words. I was young, I wanted something upbeat, and I changed the track. A few days later, it hit me just how close this song comes to me. Immediately I thought of it as a prediction of what was to come.

I walked around my good intentions
And found that there were none
I blame my father for the wasted years
We hardly talked
I never thought I would forget this hate...


5. "Right Behind You (Mafia)" from Spiritual Machines
For a long time this album was my favourite. I sang this song with all my heart when I was a teenager and all I wanted to do was crawl in a hole and never come out.


4. "Made to Heal" from Spiritual Machines
While this was originally not a song I thought of for the list, it has significance to me personally. It's love and hate. It's.. life.


3. "Potato Girl" from Happiness is Not a Fish that You Can Catch
The buildup, the words, the tune.. it always gets me.

I'm just so tired of waking up on the ground

Oh yes. That just hits me. And so does the rest of the song. Just listen to the lyrics. Listen to his voice.


2. "Is Anybody Home?" from Happiness is Not a Fish that You Can Catch
Not only does it convey the contempt for society that I have, but the song is very well paced. I enjoy when a song that really rocks takes the time to slow down. Those softer words are powerful. They force the listener to pay attention. "Has anybody wasted tears on loneliness that everyone becomes?" Brilliant. Really, how can you not relate?


1. "Annie" from Happiness is Not a Fish that You Can Catch
This song often reminded me of... well, me. Sometimes I wonder if I'd end up like Annie if some little things in my life had been different.

You're a little bit shy, a little too quiet. You're the mixed up girl that everybody leaves behind. A little bit weird, a little to bright. But you just might be that little bomb at their side. They'll pull your hair, they'll leave you wide eyed. But did anybody wonder what Annie might have in mind? Oh no.

This part is very reminiscent of my childhood. While no one pulled my hair (I was very intimidating) they certainly called me names and made me feel like an outcast. I never let it show, but it ate me up inside. I would often imagine the demise of my... enemies.

You're a little bit dry. A little uptight. You're the messed up girl that everyone tries to hide.You've had enough. They're too unkind. But did anyone consider what Annie might have in mind?

I high school I readily identified here. I'd found out that friends of the family had gone years without knowing that I existed, while knowing everything there was to know about my brother. My father didn't find me to be topical because I wasn't accomplishing all the things my brother did. I was also always wearing black, and always looking angry. Because I really /was/ angry.

It wasn't normal teenage angst like my friends. It was anger because I knew my father was cheating on my mother and no one else knew. And what can a kid do about that? I was boiling with rage, and I really would have been considered dangerous had I let anyone know what I was thinking at the time. I often joked that I would be profiled as a school shooter, even though I was a pacifist who made and wore an Anti-War arm band to school from the start of the Iraq war until graduation, and who only skipped school to go to peace rallies in Washington, DC.

Part of me still identifies with Annie. The rest of me knows better.