Modern Rock #1 Hits of 1995

Before there's any serious discussion of this, I'd like to draw everyone's attention to lyrics that made me actively angry in '95 (it's miraculous that later singles were able to pull me back to the shores of "eh..."):

There must be something we can eat
Maybe find another lover
Should I fly to Los Angeles
Find my asshole brother
Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
Dave's on sale again
We kissy kiss in the rear view
We're so bored
You're to blame

Try to see it once my way
Everything zen
Everything zen
I don't think so

Raindogs howl for the century
A million dollars a stake
As you search for your demi-god
And you fake with a saint
There's no sex in your violence
There's no sex in your violence

Try to see it once my way
Everything zen
Everything zen
I don't think so

I don't believe that Elvis is dead
I don't believe that Elvis is dead
I don't believe that Elvis is, Elvis is

There's no sex in your violence

holy fucking shit, are those the real words

i mean, a lot of songs back then had horrific lyrics, and sometimes i have to actively try to forget what the real words to "Cherub Rock" are in order to continue enjoying it, but with a band as shitty as Bush it's just fun to see how bad the lyrics really were

TS: "There must be something that we can eat" vs "Sitting around the HOUSE" for slacker poetry scene-setting.

Like, I'm sure Gavin was going for something more tormented given their whole vibe but it just sounds like he's rifling through the fridge, rejecting the Chinese leftovers and discovering that the yogurt is unexpectedly past its date.

i always thought Bush was too brooding to evoke the Pixies as much as Rossdale wanted to, but apparently it was just his delivery that was brooding and the lyrics were suitably wacky nonsense

I remember "Everything Zen" coming on the radio and my mom being like "ugh, is that that 'find my idiot brother' song?" and wondering if she was censoring herself or had somehow gotten the words wrong or...what, I don't know.

There must be something we can eat
Maybe find another lover
Should I go to Redbox
Rent Our Idiot Brother

http://www.emilykayelazzaro.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/our-idiot-brother-bd.jpg

hahahahaha

Now that has the feel of a genuine slacker anthem.

Bush in general seemed to really ride the long loud grunge thing hard on their singles - - wonder if they'd be more fondly remembered if they'd been a little more punchy in their delivery.

This was extrapolated in their live performances too. The version of Everything Zen they played at HFStival had to have been over ten minutes long.

The lyrics to Silverchair's 'Tomorrow' are just as terrible, but at least Daniel Johns had the excuse of being 15 or something when he wrote them.

very hard to drink

YOU GONNA WAIT 'TIL, FAT BOY, FAT BOY, WAIT 'TIL TOMORROW!

morrisseyesque

thing is, very hard to drink is very fun to sing

VERY HAHD TO DRAAYYYAAANKKKK
Fat BOOH-OOOHY! Fat BOYEEEE! WAIT TEW TOMARROOOOOOOOOOH

I'll always remember when the video to 'Tomorrow' appeared on Beavis & Butthead; when the drums kick in after the opening guitar arpeggios, and Beavis goes "MORE THAN A FEEE-LIIIING!".

I think "Everything Zen," "Comedown" and perhaps even "Glycerine" had radio edits that made them much more concise.

Ogling Billie Joe Armstrong was all the pleasure this era could offer.

"What I Got" deserves the firing squad.

I saw the #1 and was like...

http://media.giphy.com/media/l4FGnnlIQslHkOPaU/giphy.gif

But then I saw the rest of the list and I was like...

http://media2.giphy.com/media/xUySTD7evBn33BMq3K/giphy.gif

Lump gets stuck in my head the most these days out of this crew.

Most of these songs are catchy like herpes.

This is making me realize just how short-lived was my intense affair with the Alternative Nation. Lots of strained smiles and forced conversation by the time '95 rolled around.