I absolutely cannot listen to Weakerthans without crying. I realized this [for the millionth time] after throwing on 'Fallow' at work today. Any song, any time, any place. The most spectacular thing is it's not associated with anyone or anything except them. Pure JKS-inspired emotion.
I awoke singing 'Sounds Familiar'. Belted it out in the shower: 'we emerge from youth all wide-eyed like the rest...' Choking down the emotion they instill in me. Recall listening to them in my old room, the tears spilling rivers down my cheeks. Not, however, because they sadden me, but for their emotion-quotient [ie: full]. Too much heart to listen to without crying. Explain away that. Didn't think [until now] of that time you smashed their music to the ground in front of me, accidentally. If that wasn't an omen of what was to come, I don't know what was... I don't care if it's emo or punk or sap, it's divinely, perfectly, beautiful.
I remember a moment at a Weakerthans show long ago that pushed me over the edge. It was the end of the first encore and they hadn't played 'Fallow' yet. There was a girl there that kept begging for it [politely], but JPS did not want to play it because his bass was near-breaking. Temper-tantrum-refusal-like. Finally, in the final encore, they played it in place of 'Slips & Tangles'. She sat on the edge of the stage [next to JPS, no less] and the tears twinkled in her eyes with the very first note. A stream followed and quickly flowed into a river. That song was never the same again for me. I never knew the girl, never saw her again [or, if i did, i probably did not recognize her]. The place was crowded and I didn't know if anyone else noticed her. She thanked them all profusely afterwards for playing it. I wanted so desperately to ask her why, but now I understand. There is no why when it comes to them. Just seeing their name on paper puts a huge lump in my throat. Some people just move you too much, if that's plausible?
BUT -- 'Confessions of a Futon-Revolutionist' countrified is still much, much better than the punk version, no matter what you say...
I resent the fact that I can't just call you or write you or message you when I'm thinking about you. Or need to know you care. Or just need to know you're THERE. It sucks supremely.
'At first you hope for rescue...' - The Weakerthans
