Songs of the Decade : South San Gabriel "New Brookland" (2003)


When looking at my overall love for music, there's little question that I'm drawn to albums over single songs. Despite now being fully into the digital era, I like to look at an artist's work as a sequencing of songs and lyrics that tell an overall story, or some shit along those those lines.

All that being said, there are certain songs that absolutely nail me. Songs that I listen to over and over sometimes for months at a time. And these are usually songs that open my mind to possibilities both attainable and reserved for dreams. These are the songs that I can't shake.

For the rest of November, I'll highlight my favorite songs of the past ten years.

The confusing yet beautiful opening 30 seconds of this track are a world somewhere. It may be a carnival, maybe a backyard bbq, maybe a mall somewhere, but whatever it is, it's a blend of children, dogs, change rattling, machinery, perhaps rain and there's the backdrop of a violin. And then this entire mess calms and Will Johnson and his band slowly edge into one of the most beautiful songs of the past ten years. It's past 90 seconds when the vocals finally hit. "Make no mistake, we'll be the ones, to happily set you on fire. You hit the brakes, a little too late, securing your date with the lake." The words may haunt but the instrumentation, clarity of Will's voice and the impeccable pacing make for one of the prettiest compositions I've ever heard.

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