Panic Switch

When you see yourself in a crowded room
Do your fingers itch, are you pistol-whipped
Will you step in line or release the glitch
Can you fall asleep with a panic switch

Silversun Pickups

When the drum kicks in at 8 seconds, that’s when I start bobbing my head and losing myself in the beat.  Guitar meets keyboard, meets drum, meets bass and it meshes together perfectly.  By the 16 second mark, I’m one with the beat and my head is moving at will.  At 37 seconds they turn it up a notch and by the time the dude with the femmie voice starts singing, you might as well just come back in a few minutes, because I’m busy.

Does that sound a little over-dramatic?  I think it does and I apologize.  Silversun Pickups has assumed a larger role in my iTunes rotation, due in large part to this number.  I’m not quite sure what it is, but there’s something about the bass line that trips my head out.  Now that I think about it, it’s kind of hypnotic.  [Note to self.  Don’t crank this song up really loud while driving.]

I have no medical or scientific explanation for what I’m about to say.  I only know that it applies to me in my currently messed up neurological state.  For some reason, I have been a huge ball of stress lately.  It tends to happen every late November, which coincidentally coincides with my birthday. 

Generally, the game plan is to spend anywhere from a couple of weeks to possibly all the way through the New Year breaking down all the bad choices I’ve made in my life.  It typically ends with me listing all the things I haven’t accomplished based on the potential I apparently have.  Once I get that out of my system, I’m usually good to go in a day or two.  Oh yeah.  The word, “Potential” can feel free to suck it’s own cock.  Sorry for the detour.  Back to my tale.

Anyway, lately my brain has been forgetting things and I’ve been very jittery.  Add to that the rock in my ear that needs to be removed and the fact that I’m now about 10 days into my yearly period and you can see why my body and brain are wound up tight.  I have a hard tine focusing on more than one thing at a time, but for some reason, this song takes that focus and does something very cool with it.

When I hear this, if I can close my eyes and begin to relax, my brain somehow takes over and does the rest.  Not only can I hear (and feel) each instrument separately, I also hear the whole sound.  It’s actually kinda freaky in a Rain Man kind of way.  It’s also kind of like legal crack for my brain.  It doesn’t last a long time, but considering I paid $1.29 and I can listen to it as often as my brain craves, it’s a bargain.

Pink slip
Inviting me inside
Wanna burn skin
And brand what once was mine

To answer the obvious question…Yes.  I live in California.  And no.  I am not smoking medical marijuana as I write this.  Also, I haven’t been drinking.  I did drink a little the other night as I listened to this song repeatedly.  With every new Jack and Coke came the false knowledge that I was on the verge of figuring out what the lyrics meant.  I still have no clue.  If you figure them out, please let me know.

Let me close this with a humiliating revelation.  As I watch the video again and really look at it, I realize something about myself.  When this song plays, I pretty much make the same faces and do the same head shake thing as the keyboard player.  I was even wearing the hat.  Seriously.  Let the mocking commence.