Tag Archives: last

#918: Green Day – Nice Guys Finish Last

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Green Day’s Nimrod goes down as the album of the band’s where Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool decided to experiment a little bit. Steering away from the harsh, pessimistic tone of Insomniac a couple years before, the three pursued in writing material that covered different styles of rock music and utilising a wider range of instrumentation. Outside of Dookie and American Idiot, it’s probably the record that’s loved the most amongst Green Day fans. But before all the experimentation starts, it all kicks off with a nice traditional punk-rock track in the form of ‘Nice Guys Finish Last’.

The song isn’t really about anything in particular. A lot of the lyrics are just common sayings and phrases from everyday life – case in point, the title – that Armstrong puts some sarcastic and joking twists on. Not to scoff at anyone who has found some level of meaning or a story in the words, but I truly feel there’s nothing that the listener is supposed to latch onto. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it because you definitely can. What helps the track is the band’s overall performance and the great melodies throughout. What normally gets me pumped throughout is Tré Cool’s drumming. It’s fair to say he’s never been the weak point in Green Day song, but in this particular one it seems like he doesn’t have any moment to breathe. One moment he’s rapidly tapping away on the hi-hat before switching to the ride cymbal and throwing in all those fills in between. There’s a moment where Armstrong does this grunt thing before the last instrumental section of the track that’ll caught me surprise upon first listen, but feels very appropriate within the context the more times you hear it.

On a personal level, it took me a while to warm up to this track. I’d known it since about 2005 when I was really into Green Day. It was probably the second band I properly geeked out on after The Darkness. The music video (as you can see above) was on the band’s website. I thought the track was all right and nothing much, but I was nine/ten at the time and didn’t know much better. Probably because compared to ‘Hitchin’ a Ride’, it sounded too normal. Now I listen to ‘Nice Guys’ more than I do ‘Hitchin”. It just does the job.

#712: Eels – Last Stop: This Town

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Mark Oliver Everett, known as ‘E’ by the majority of people, lost both his mother and sister in tragic circumstances leaving him as the sole living member of his family. Their passing were separated by only a short amount of time, and the sudden drastic change in E’s life became the subject of Eels’ second album Electro-Shock Blues.

‘Last Stop: This Town’ is one of the many songs from the album that are about his sister. In it, Everett makes up the wishful situation where his sister’s spirit appears to him and they fly over the city together for one last time before she leaves him for the final time. I think that’s also what is depicted on the album’s front cover. It’s a saddening matter at hand but still optimistic and beautiful in a way. The track though is up there as one of the record’s most upbeat songs. Co-written by Michael Simpson, known for being one half of the producing Dust Brothers duo, ‘Last Stop’ incorporates harpsichords, keyboarded choir backing vocals, and fat ‘GET DOWN’ DJ scratches that appear during the choruses. It’s definitely designed to be an alternative hit of some kind, with plenty of catchy hooks and great melodies to boot.

Though heartbreaking in its lyrics, the music remains very cheerful in its delivery. I can only suggest its the audio equivalent of making the best out of a bad situation. If that makes any sense.

#711: OutKast ft. Slimm Calhoun, Lil’ Jon & The Eastside Boyz, & Mello – Last Call

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‘Last Call’ is the last proper song on the Speakerboxxx half of OutKast’s double album before being followed by a ‘postlude’ for the track ‘Bowtie’ from earlier. It’s a great posse track, dedicated to going to the club and getting drunk until the lights turn on and it’s time to go home. Slimm Calhoun and Mello are on here, and I have never heard anything by them or about them since. They have some nice verses, nothing to lyrical to get your head around, but perfectly suited for the ‘good times are here’ vibe that the song ultimately goes for. Lil’ Jon is also there being Lil’ Jon.

Recorded at a point where Big Boi and André 3000 were beginning to go in different directions, Speakerboxxx and The Love Below act as near solo albums for the two respective artists. There are only a few points where 3000 appears on Speakerboxxx; he does so on this track though in the role of producer. So I guess it’s him we have to thank for that fantastic synth line that repeats during the choruses, the bouncing rhythm set by the drums and those backing horns that mirror the bassline.

This is another song I didn’t appreciate until way down the line. Nothing to heavy or sentimental about it. Just a good party song. And we all need that sometimes.

My iPod #330: Does It Offend You, Yeah? – Epic Last Song

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I had a friend who like “Does If Offend You, Yeah?”. I don’t think he’d actually heard their songs before, he just liked the band’s name because of how confrontational and threatening it sounded. That phrase was actually chosen when the synth player and lead singer were watching The Office one day, and Ricky Gervais said it when they turned on the TV. Quite funny.

This was in 2007 when the group was considered to be one of the ‘next big things’ to come by NME. I didn’t know what to expect from the group because I had never their songs either. “We Are Rockstars” came out….. thought that was alright but it wasn’t anything amazing. NME made a big deal out of nothing, I feel. Never followed the group so much afterwards.

Still, my sister borrowed the album from a friend of hers just because she liked “We Are Rockstars”. I still haven’t listened to “You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into” to this day. How can I talk about “Epic Last Song” if I didn’t bother to, you may ask. Well, it was released as a single. The video played on MTV2. I liked it. Here I am now.

If you weren’t able to guess, “Epic Last Song” is the final song from “You Have No Idea….” Whether it’s epic or not is for you to decide. It isn’t even the longest song on the album. But it is a very happy song, one about feeling lucky to have been in a relationship for a long time. And being surprised that they’ve stuck with you for that long.

My favourite part is the last minute or so when the singing finishes (not saying it’s bad), leaving the guitar and synthesizer playing in unison with some very heavy drums. Really hits you that it’s all gonna end soon at that point.