It Just Takes Some Time

Have you ever seen Goodfellas? Picture the scene where Henry hears about the Lufthansa heist and shouts “Jimmy!” That’s how we feel every time we hear a Jimmy Eat World song. We want to shout “Jimmy!” at the top of our lungs so that everyone around us knows we’re listening to Jimmy Eat World and immediately want to listen to them as well. Unfortunately, societal norms prevent this.

Bleed American was released in July 2001 but we didn’t actually hear any songs from it until the following January when we saw them live at The Astoria in London (on a side note we will never forgive Crossrail for taking that venue away from us). They burst on stage with the title track from the album and that was it. Actually, it wasn’t but we did get to meet the band briefly at the end and for years we had a drum skin from that concert.

No, we fell in love with Bleed American in late 2003 when we were by ourselves in the middle of Freshers’ Week at university. We can’t tell you if we were listening to the album or if it was just a random playlist but we can tell you that when “The Middle” came on we started to think that everything would be ok. We can also tell you that the album was played in full afterwards.

The album bursts into life with “Bleed American”, a timeless song about the struggle to conform whilst feeling like you’re missing out on something. It’s fast, it’s got an edge, and we’ll be damned if you don’t want to sing along with the chorus. “A Praise Chorus” continues the thought but inverts it. Do you really care if things don’t work out the way you, or anyone else, planned? Are you going to wait for an opportunity or just take it?

The final piece of this opening trinity is the aforementioned “The Middle”. It’s a similar message to “A Praise Chorus” except now we’re being reassured that things will work out. Is there a more positive message in rock music than being told, “Yeah, just be yourself, it doesn’t matter if it’s good enough for someone else”?

Where the opening tracks are for the listeners, “Your House” is a personal plea to an ex-lover. The stripped back nature allows the lyrics to really stand out. It’s followed up by “Sweetness”, which ramps things back up to the speed of “Bleed American”. It’s a breathless song played at a breakneck speed and it’s impossible to not want to jump right into the pit when it comes on.

It’s hard to explain how hard “Hear You Me” hits without it sounding negative. It’s an abrupt shift but that’s the point. It’s a beautifully sad, beautifully poignant tribute and it more than earns its place at the heart of the album. “If You Don’t, Don’t” picks things back up and sets up “Get It Faster”, which is pure Jimmy Eat World. Fast, heavy, and slightly ambiguous lyrics that force you to think.

In “Cautioners” we hear one side of a breakup, the side that’s been left behind but is holding out hope that the other might come back. It brings to mind “Every Breath You Take” but for the emo generation. Well, it does to us anyway. “The Authority Song” is fun, you can imagine yourself kicking the jukebox in a dive bar to get it to play. And then the mournful “My Sundown” plays us out.

It should be clear by now that we love this album. We love it now as much as we did twenty-two years ago. It’s the best kind of emotional roller coaster, highs and lows in equal measure and not a cliché in sight. This is an album that’s never too far from one of our playlists.

It is without doubt Taped

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