Spotify offered itself to new users for $.99/month for three months. I never subscribed to the service and have mostly been content to get my music via YouTube or random black dudes on street corners with buckets for drums. However, a couple of 10 road trips inspired me to take advantage and so I did and I’m glad I did and you probably would be too (if it happened to you). Except that I’m being stalked by a song.
Damn near every time I fire it up, The Red by Chevelle is suggested and every single time I skip it. Nothing against the song, mind you. I remember it coming out and liked it well enough but as an adult man? Eh. It just isn’t my cup of tea. Again, not a bad song, and I’m fine hearing it on the radio or played over speakers at the S&M dungeon down the street, but when I’m by myself I’d rather rock out to Blondie or The Dave Clark Five. Still, this damn song would not go away. Like some cheesy horror movie villain, it showed up to stab my ears and rape my musical soul and all I can do is run and run and sweat fear and run and piss terror and run. I can’t run forever. I’m giving in. The Red wins.
I’m not a survivor in any sense of the word; I would get by only after pushing old ladies down so they could slow the demon beasts of the plains. I’m listening to The Red: the first ever song to stalk me to the point where I’ll finally give it an audience. I’m hopeful it means something in a cosmic sense, if I’m being honest. I keep expecting it to play and I’ll turn around and some naked woman will be there with money and a hotdog. Or maybe a bum will jack my shit and stab me and leave me for dead in a pool of piss and the last thing I’ll ever experience before floating off this mortal coil will be:
They say freak,
When you’re singled out,
The red,
Well it filters through.
I want God to speak to me through The Red.
The Red by Chevelle
What does Wikipedia have to tell us all about this groovy tune:
“The Red” is the breakthrough single from the band Chevelle. It is the fifth track and lead single from their major label debut, Wonder What’s Next, released in 2002. Former Major League Baseball player Geoff Blum used “The Red” as his intro song when he came up to bat.[2][3]
The song is about dealing with frustration and anger. Its music video depicts an anger management seminar where vocalist Pete Loeffler ascends a podium and sings the verse lyrics. The video then breaks to Chevelle performing the heavy chorus under red lighting. The agitated seminar participants, which include band members Sam and Joe, begin tossing folding chairs. By the end of the song, it is revealed that the fight happened to be just a dream. Musically, The Red is written in the key of C♯ minor with a 6/8 time signature played at 78 beats per minute.
Don’t think Jesus is gonna be saying much.
