Two Weeks From Twenty

27 May 2006

So far as the album Lights and Sounds goes, this song is pretty different.

Jimmy wasn’t really popular
He had a couple of friends back home
And sooner or later they’re all getting out so he had to join up alone
He was dreaming of the Ivy League since he was only three feet tall
And get the hell out of jersey and then he would never look back at all

And then your heroes say
That miles away
We lost another one that we sent with a gun
They’re gonna miss him he was two weeks from twenty and there’s still no shame
From the man to blame

Jimmy never had a reason to stay
Cos all the factories shut down
All he had was a line for his name
So he could sign away his right to be proud
He tried to kiss her on the way out the door,
She just put her little hand on his face
I don’t understand why you’re leaving, she said
But I hope your gonna ask me to wait

And then your heroes say
That miles away
We lost another one that we sent with a gun
His lady missed him, he was two weeks from twenty and there’s still no shame
From the man to blame

Jimmy’s mother went to Capitol Hill
So she could fill her heart up with joy
Maybe shake a few hands while she’s there and tell them thank you sir for taking my boy.

And then your heroes say
That miles away
We lost another one that we sent with a gun
His momma missed him he was two weeks from twenty and there’s still no shame
From the man to blame
No there’s still no shame
And we’re all to blame
We’re all to blame
We’re all to blame
We’re all to blame
We’re all to blame

Maybe the lyrics of every track are this politicized, and it’s just that the elocution in this track makes the message more accessible, but I’d hazard not. I don’t normally listen to song lyrics, mostly because music is rarely an object-of-attention for me (that is, anything more than appealing noise in the background to aid other tasks), but for some reason this stood out.

I’ve heard Yellowcard dismissed as emo crap… is there such thing as political emo crap? I suppose that’d aptly characterise the apparent inclination of most politically active (i.e. not apathetic/indifferent) uni students: perpetually frustrated and looking to hurt someone (quoth the banner, “The next cut: Howard’s neck”). Well, that seems to be the case at Sydney, anyway. ;-)

Anyway… enough of that. I liked the song even if it’s a bit US-parochial (i.e. one guy two weeks from twenty is more valuable than [blank] foreigners) … and yeah, I know this artistic sentiment isn’t isolated to recent conflict or even just the US, and yeah, I know it’s a valid objection. If you haven’t heard it yet it’s worth listening to at some point.