Even I’m surprised that I’m continuing this endeavor. I mean, I should at least get a few posts in before abandoning all together… right? No, in all seriousness, I will finish this one up. If you’ve been following along on Facebook, I’m 8 albums in. 2 left – perhaps I’ll get a few posts in here before unveiling the last 2.
Under The Table and Dreaming is probably an obvious choice for those who know me well. Many of you might even be surprised that these aren’t all Dave Matthews Band albums. Here’s some truth for you, I don’t ONLY listen to DMB.
Okay, pick your jaws up off the ground. It wasn’t that unbelievable.
Okay, okay – I mostly listen to DMB.
But I digress. This album was introduced to me at a birthday party in 1995. I can’t remember whose party it was but I remember the room we were in and the guy who brought the CD with him to play. I was mostly listening to classic rock at the time, so the station I would play the most never played any of the early singles from this album so that birthday party was the very first time I laid ears on them (is laying ears a thing? If not, I just made it one).
From the very first few drum beats to kick off the album, I was hooked. I can vividly replay it in slo-mo in my head. I’m pretty sure I turned quite dramatically towards the friend who brought the CD and mouthed “WHAT IS THIS?” and the rest is history. I began to collect friends who shared a love for the band, stood in line for tickets at Blockbuster (show of hands, who remembers getting Ticketmaster tickets that way), carpooled to Dallas for shows, cried at the shows when our favorites were played, day dreamed together that we’d all meet the band and become fast friends, spent all of my money on the merch… is that a downhill spiral towards addiction?
Probably.
Every song on this album is gold to me but “#34” is my favorite. And by favorite I mean that I can’t listen to it without tears forming in my eyes. It was that way when I was 15 and it’s still that way now that I’m 37. It’s beautiful, calming, and means way more to me than I care to divulge here. At least not yet anyways. Maybe in time.
And, because what’s a blog post without a bit of way too personal information, I lost my virginity while this album was playing… IN… A… CAR! Cliché? Yes. Do I care? No. Oh, but I didn’t lose it to “#34”.
So, let that marinate a bit and, enjoy a live version of my favorite from the album (and perhaps my favorite song of all time).
IdyllHands 