AUDIO: Motorcycle Drive By

Yes, psyched.

I could go on and on about the emotional applications of certain songs by Nine Days on the heels of a tumultuous junior year, or compose an essay redeeming the existence of Vertical Horizon based on the outstanding live album that is Live Stages, but I won't humiliate myself any further than I need to. I'll just explain how I fell under the spell of one of modern rock radio's most overplayed songs and least intellectually compelling bands.

In 2000, 3EB (as the kids called them) were touring in support of their mediocre (at best) sophomore effort, Blue. "Never Let You Go", that record's ubiquitous single, was just plain soulless and crappy. I was not there that summer day for songs from Blue. I was there hoping to finally hear the highly underrated "Motorcycle Drive By" live, and to sing along with "Graduate" as I loped into my senior year and "Jumper" as I remembered traumas come and gone. And, yes, I was there to hear a song I'd heard a thousand and twelve times before.

The very reasons why "Semi-Charmed Life" was on the radio were at once obvious and unclear. While still fairly "with it", 2000 was no 2004 -- wardrobe malfunctions and FCC-enforced indecency fines were not yet part of everyday life. Yet here's a song that casually references blow jobs and drug use being played on Top 40 radio every 25 minutes. See, it had a spell -- no, this isn't an excuse, it's fact. From the minute those "doo-doo-doos" start parading around inside your ears, the rhythm of your head bobbing carefully deflects active consumption of any lascivious references. So you really have no idea what you're listening to, but you know you can't stop. "What? This song is about drug addiction? No way!" Not with a chorus like "I want something else / To get me through this / semi-charmed kind of life." How universal! How me! How you, indeed. How everyone. As an aside: I think one of the most interesting things about "Semi-Charmed Life", for me, was wondering which version would come on the radio. Would this be the edit where they distorted the words "crystal meth" or the one where they let it slip through? Would this be the long version with the extended bridge, or would it be the shoddily edited one? Come to think of it, I think there must have been at least a half dozen various radio edits for that song. There must have been a semi-charmed dart board somewhere that let program directors decide which version to play.

It's for similar reasons that songs like "Jumper", "How's It Going To Be" and "Graduate" were such massive hits. Not only are they catchy as hell, but they touch on themes that most everyone can relate to. "Oh, look, here's my suicidal friend who just had a big breakup and, hey, it's graduation time." Ding ding ding! It all ties together very neatly. These universal themes, combined with the aural heroin embedded in the songs' riffs and choruses, made for songs that I found irresistible in spite of myself. And it wasn't just me, as I'm sure you know; if you were anywhere between 14 and 22, you were pretty much easy pickings for Stephan Jenkins and company.

(Ah, Stephan Jenkins, the avowed arch-nemesis of Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas, whose Elmer Fudd-like vocal stylings somehow managed to captivate an entire generation of short-shorts-wearing women. I think one of the great unanswered questions of the 1990s is, if Stephan Jenkins and Rob Thomas got into a fight, whose tight-fitting black t-shirt would rip first? That's a toughie. Anyway...)

Believe it or not, 3EB's debut held back a few cuts from radio. It's pretty apparent why -- the rest of the album is good, but more uneven. From the puzzling sexual references in "Burning Man" -- which, with lines like "The rise and fall of my sloppy love / The smatterings and splatterings," could only be referring to some flavor of VD, right? -- to the blaring and repetitive "London", the non-single tracks probably showcase 3EB's true nature: they're a middling rock band of marginal talent that got about a half dozen wishes from the Single Genie. Those wishes manifested in your boombox speakers and Walkman headphones from 1997 straight through 1998 and beyond. The rest is filler -- decent filler, but filler all the same, especially when compared to the quality of the singles.

That brings us back to "Motorcycle Drive By", the aforementioned "highly underrated" 3EB composition. So, what is it about this reflective rocker? Is it Jenkins's foray into a quieter, less Fudd-like vocal range? Is it the gentle, plaintive plucking that accompanies his hushed tones? Is it the oomph of a powerful and defiant chorus like "And there's this burning / Like there's always been / I've never been so alone / And I've never been so alive" (or is that just the VD talking again)? Could it be that of the album's 14 tracks, this one resonates with the most authenticity and energy? It's probably all of the above -- even in spite of its Dawson's Creek-like final lines, which evoke pensive paddling. "Motorcycle Drive By" is probably 3EB's only defense against the "middling rock band that got lucky" argument, and it's a powerful one. But maybe I'm just a sucker for a catchy, uplifting rock song.

And that was Third Eye Blind's currency. For a few glorious years, the San Francisco foursome basked in Top 40 glory because they had just enough talent in them to churn out a handful of hits. And like it or not, those hits are enduring. Songs like "Semi-Charmed Life" don't come along every day, even if they get played a dozen times over the course of that day. There's no great mental exercise needed to understand why this album was so successful or why people like me find it so appealing. There's just a burning. Like there's always been.

-- Georgiana Cohen