Song: “Pardon Me”

I’m supposed to be finishing my manuscript rewrites, so instead I’m burning a mix CD.

Last month Chris was complaining about the state of music, and I vowed to restore his faith in albums you could buy in the past year. I found myself saying over and over, “But Spoon? You don’t like Spoon?”

Then I forced him to listen to this Weezer album while we played Celebrity. I don’t think he got the full impact of how good it is. (Rick Rubin, you are amazing at what you do.)

I’m a die-hard Pinkerton lover, clearly. Always have been, from the day the album came out. Make Believe is the first Weezer album with songs that come close to capturing the feeling of cranking the music up, putting the car in drive, and singing at the top of my lungs as my heart pangs. With its songs about fighting, pain, love and yearning, combined with the silliness of odes to Beverly Hills (there’s always that one Weezer song that becomes the single, that’s the fluffiest track on the album, and everybody thinks that’s what they’re all about, all math-rock and dorky) and druggies, Make Believe found me right when I needed it, just like Pinkerton did, so long ago.

I’m currently making a mix CD not just to prove to him that music can still not suck, but because Chris wants songs to drum along to. A drum practice CD.

“I don’t know enough about music,” I told him. “How do I know if it’s a good song for drum practice?”

“Let me put it this way. If it makes you groove, put it on the CD.”

“What if it makes me rock forward and back, my hands to my chest?”

“…”

“Just me?”

“Yeah.”

“It means I really like the song.”

“I guess then… put it on there? Is that dancing, or… what …”

“It’s my Clutching My Diary To My Heart dance.”

“Wow.”

So this song, it’s on there.