19881. When I Grow Up
2. Hello Hopeville
3. Memories Of East Texas
4. (Making The Run To) Gladewater
5. Graffiti Limbo
6. If Love Was A Train
7. Anchorage
8. The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore
9. V.F.D.
10. Black Widow
11. Fogtown
2. Hello Hopeville
3. Memories Of East Texas
4. (Making The Run To) Gladewater
5. Graffiti Limbo
6. If Love Was A Train
7. Anchorage
8. The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore
9. V.F.D.
10. Black Widow
11. Fogtown
For those who didn't know me growing up, it might come as a surprise to hear I was really into soccer. And I was really good at it. I played soccer until I was 14, quitting just before I entered high school so I could "focus on studies" (like all good nerds). However, when my friend Will (the same one from Colour By Numbers -- when I make friends, I keep them) asked if I wanted to join him as manager of the high school soccer team, I jumped at the chance.
I really wanted to be involved, but I'll be the first to admit I didn't quite fit in with all the cool soccer guys. For the first couple of months, I was nervous and it was painfully awkward (at least in my mind). But one fall night, the soccer team was traveling to an out-of-town game. We stopped for supper at the food court of a mall & we all went down to the record store after the meal. I bought Short Sharp Shocked by Michelle Shocked. I don't even remember now where I heard about her or why I wanted the tape, but that's what I bought.
As we were heading back home late that night, the guy in the seat behind me tapped my shoulder and asked if he could listen through my headphones for a minute or two to check out what I had bought. I played him my two favorite songs on the album -- Anchorage and When I Grow Up. It was totally not his kind of music or anyone else's for that matter, but he really got a kick out of the fact that I was just sitting there quietly listening to this weird music no one else had even heard of. Of course he insisted we pass the headset around to everyone so they could hear. As everyone on the bus listened to Short Sharp Shocked and commented, I felt like a part of the team for the first time.
That boy who tapped me on the shoulder, Matt, would commit suicide later that year. I was standing in his parent's kitchen after the funeral trying unsuccessfully to contain my emotions (I am not really good at that) when his dad came up to me. He said that Matt always spoke highly of me and was really appreciative of everything I did for the soccer team. And as he said that, I knew that was something Matt really had said & not just something his dad was saying to be kind.
So, although the content of Short Sharp Shocked doesn't remotely address issues like this, that's what I think about every time I listen to the album.
I really wanted to be involved, but I'll be the first to admit I didn't quite fit in with all the cool soccer guys. For the first couple of months, I was nervous and it was painfully awkward (at least in my mind). But one fall night, the soccer team was traveling to an out-of-town game. We stopped for supper at the food court of a mall & we all went down to the record store after the meal. I bought Short Sharp Shocked by Michelle Shocked. I don't even remember now where I heard about her or why I wanted the tape, but that's what I bought.
As we were heading back home late that night, the guy in the seat behind me tapped my shoulder and asked if he could listen through my headphones for a minute or two to check out what I had bought. I played him my two favorite songs on the album -- Anchorage and When I Grow Up. It was totally not his kind of music or anyone else's for that matter, but he really got a kick out of the fact that I was just sitting there quietly listening to this weird music no one else had even heard of. Of course he insisted we pass the headset around to everyone so they could hear. As everyone on the bus listened to Short Sharp Shocked and commented, I felt like a part of the team for the first time.
That boy who tapped me on the shoulder, Matt, would commit suicide later that year. I was standing in his parent's kitchen after the funeral trying unsuccessfully to contain my emotions (I am not really good at that) when his dad came up to me. He said that Matt always spoke highly of me and was really appreciative of everything I did for the soccer team. And as he said that, I knew that was something Matt really had said & not just something his dad was saying to be kind.
So, although the content of Short Sharp Shocked doesn't remotely address issues like this, that's what I think about every time I listen to the album.
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