Good Songs People Forget About: Third Eye Blind, "Never Let You Go"

That girl IS like a sunburn...

I've always addressed Third Eye Blind in a similar fashion to the way I react to Matchbox Twenty, or Smash Mouth. They seem like nice-enough guys who amicably trotted out a few huuuge rock songs in the mid- to late- nineties, and these songs were either overstated in their happiness or pensive in their emotion. Okay, come to think of it, Smash Mouth were just always on the bright fucking side, but as for 3IB and Matchbox Twenty, you could either smile or cry. Matchbox had "The Real World" to brighten yer day, and "3 A.M." and "Push" to shove you to the ground. Third Eye Blind was even more black-and-white to me: on their first album (the one everybody bought), "Semi-Charmed Life" redefined happy-go-lucky, while "How's It Going To Be" and "Jumper" were Mope City. On their second album (the one nobody bought), "Never Let You Go" brightened the mood, and "Deep Inside Of You" killed it. I think you get my point. These bands operated in one vein or the other, and this worked because, after luring in the masses with their inoffensive ditty, they got them to "relate" with their pseudo-ballads. I could also talk about the Goo Goo Dolls, but who the hell ever wants to talk about the Goo Goo Dolls?

Like I previously mentioned, Third Eye Blind's second album, "Blue", didn't sell very well, and this is not due to the quality of the songs, but because "Never Let You Go" never connected with a wide-enough audience, so "Deep Inside Of You" went unnoticed. Oh, they got some radio play, sure, but nothing even close to "Semi-Charmed Life" and "Jumper" levels. This time around, Third Eye Blind's bait didn't work, so they didn't have anything to reel in. It's a damn shame, for two simple reasons: "Deep Inside Of You", if not as hooky as "Jumper", is still a better-written song, and "Never Let You Go" is the best song Third Eye Blind will ever create, and one of the best pop songs I've ever heard. Take another listen. It's perfect.

It's physically difficult for me to talk about just how right Third Eye Blind got it with this one, because all of the elements of this song are indescribably flawless. In order to understand how catchy, fun, dumb, honest, relatable, and positive this song is, you just have to listen to it. But I'll try my best to replicate the feeling into words, I really will.

The whole effect of the song can be summed up within the first eight seconds: a guitar strums a few simple chords, then an electric guitar barrels onto it before the drums kick in. Singer Stephen Jenkins can be heard letting out a "WHOO!" as the cymbals crash down, as if the celebratory exclamation was the only way he could formally react to the small musical climax. God, there's already so much joy in this song before one lyric is uttered.

The verses? The verses are irrelevant, my friend. Yeah I know, that's silly, but it's true for this song. Each one is composed of four lines, and the lines are usually no more than six syllables. Witness verse two: "You say that I've changed/ And maybe I did/ But even if I changed/ What's wrong with it?" Hack writing, you're thinking. And that's understandable, but you're missing the point: if Third Eye Blind could have just made this song three and a half minutes of the chorus, they would have. The verses are placefillers with gee-golly lyrics, just so there's SOME gap between the blissful chorus. Personally, I think the simplicity of the verses adds to the divine sing-along effect of the song, since nearly everyone can figure out the lyrics after a listen or two. Less big words, less chance to screw up!

Oh then there's the chorus, which is soaked in Stephen Jenkins' glorious, glorious falsetto. He starts by simply outlining that he will, in fact, never let you go, and repeats this three times just so you're not confused. Jenkins sings these lines with such boyish charm that you can't help but think, hey, he WON'T ever let me go, what a great/devoted guy! Then he ALMOST says it a fourth time, but transitions into, "I never let you turn around your back on each other/ That's a good idea, break a promise to your mother/ Turn around your back on each other". More rocking-out falsetto, and it's perfectly delivered, with the words "turn" and "good" stretched out for added effect. The chorus is repeated many, many times, and instead of getting sick of it, you grow to love it a little more each time.

It helps that the song's structure is more complex than the verse-chorus set-up. After the second chorus, there's some fist-pumping guitar work, and Jenkins comes in with the bridge, "And all our friends are gone and gone/And all the time moves on and on/And all I know is it's wrong it's wrong/ And all I know is it's wrong..." The last part is echoed, and cuts straight to the third verse, which is only guitar and vocals. This is obviously the "sensitive" part of the song, and Jenkins' words of hope ring out with severe vulnerability. The sunny chorus then bowls it over, reassuring you, the listener, that everything will indeed be okay.

After about nine more choruses, you get to the end of the song, which is still shocking to me to this day. The guitar riff plays out one more time, and then... Stephen Jenkins starts sort-of rapping!! But it's not whiteboy Bubba Sparxxx rapping, no, not at all. Jenkins playfully fucks with the theme of the song and talk-sings about... well, everything. The stupid things! The mood rings! The bracelets, and the beads! If I meet somebody and they don't know every single word to this breakdown, it's difficult for me to befriend them. It's my favorite part of the song, it's your favorite part of the song, it's the best thing Third Eye Blind ever recorded, it's the best part of ANY song...? No, probably not, but I cherish it as a piece of pop heaven.

So why wasn't this as revered as "Semi-Charmed Life"? Because it doesn't have that intangible element that makes it instantly identifiable to a large number of people the way "Semi-Charmed Life" had that "do, do, DO! do, do, DO, DO!" part. Listening to "Never Let You Go" now, though, I just find it depressing that there are no more songs like this on FM radio. If you want rock, you have to be insufferably ironic (Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy to a lesser extent) or middle-of-the-road tough and awful (Nickelback, Hinder) to make the pop station. I know these things work in cycles, so I'm guessing we're about 2 years away from the next onslaught of boy bands and the newest incarnation of Britney Spears, and hopefully they will also bring the happy-go-lucky modern rock bands back to the charts. I know you hated Smash Mouth, but c'mon, is HINDER better?

Third Eye Blind is playing in Philly in less than two weeks. Trading in my indie cred for one night to see them wouldn't be that bad... right?