5. "Don't Go Away"
Everyone has heard countless breakup songs before, but to me, this is the ultimate one. It's the breakup song to end all breakup songs ("Don't go away/I can't be the same without you"). When I first heard it, I had just gone through a breakup myself, and the line, "But I told you things that I wouldn't dream of telling anyone," absolutely slays me. I find it so true that when you're in the thick of a relationship, you reveal certain sides of yourself you would never dare reveal to the rest of the world. Those secrets are part of what makes your relationship special in the first place. But then, much like the doomed love story he's narrating, the song itself breaks down in the end, with the guitars wailing painfully while Glen literally pleads with his lover over and over: "Don't go away! Don't go away!" Pathetic? Perhaps, but I've never heard a truer song about lost love. 6. "Something to Say"
This song probably explains my temperament more than any other: "He's got a thing about losing control/Carries it a mile just to see how far he'll go/He brushes up his chops as he tries to fake a smile/A friend indeed, but what I need/is someone to stay awhile." Also, the way Toad describes the lead character's anger issues is a mirror match for my own: "He's got a way with his anger/a way he lets it show/like a smoldering smoke/when the fire's left the coals." In other words, if I'm angry at you, I'm not going to scream and shout, but you'll still know I'm upset. 7. "Inside"
To me, this is a continuation of the themes of "Something to Say," especially the chorus: "For all my life/It lay inside/for all my life." Probably the most interesting thoughts I have are the ones I don'tor can'tsay; they're simply ineffable. 8. "Windmills"
This song breaks my heart, not least of which because it's a heavy indictment of my fantasy life: "I spend too much time/raiding windmills." The imagery is obviously borrowed from "Man of La Mancha." (The album this song is from, which is incidentally my favorite Toad album, is even titled "Dulcinea," the female lead from that musical.) It makes me question my reasons for constantly daydreaming, for writing stories that no one will ever read, or for even continually writing for WhatCulture. Is anyone reading this?
Michael Perone
Michael Perone has written for The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, The Island Ear (now titled Long Island Press), and The Long Island Voice, a short-lived spinoff of The Village Voice. He currently works as an Editor in Manhattan. And he still thinks Michael Keaton was the best Batman.
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