Toad The Wet Sprocket - Their 13 Best B-Sides

9. "Brother"

This song is the answer to the unasked question, "Where's your brother?": "I find my brother in there/deep in my heart." In other words, you can't see him, but he's there. I don't think Glen Phillips also lost his brother like I did, but it sure sounds like it. Commenting on his own newfound mini-celebrity (at the time, anyway), he sings, "I often feel like the prodigal son/Take all I need/Giving back none." For me, I'm able to relate to this line because of the guilt I felt for being the one to survive and live my life, almost like I took his, which is obviously ridiculous, but feelings don't always make sense. Later he sings, "We have a bond/that nothing can change." True, not even death.

10. "Fly From Heaven"

This song is really about Jesus, but to me, it's sort of an unofficial prequel to "Brother," as Glen describes the shady circumstances surrounding his disappearance: "They took my brother/They ripped him from me/to twist his words as they did his body." It certainly seemed that way to me when my brother was hospitalized with a bunch of nurses and doctors who misdiagnosed him. And the chorus is pure wishful thinking: "But if he's all you say/would he fly from heaven to this world again?" It's difficult for me to get through this song without tearing up a little.

11. "Woodburning"

The chorus to this song pretty much sums up all of high school for me: "Take the longest day/throw it all away/I can't stand it, but I can't do anything/Every day's the same/Nothing ever change/I can't stand it, but I can't do anything."

12. "Stories I Tell"

The first time I heard this haunting tune, I was struck with its simple message of writing to live and living to write, something I was, and to a certain extent still am, able to relate to a little too easily, since I've been writing since I was first taught my ABCs. Toad makes their case as master storytellers, as writing prose is their version of "hiding our heads in some shadow of home." Also, "I wasn't looking for heaven or hell/Just someone to listen to stories I tell." There was a time when musicians weren't in it for fame or fortune, just an outlet to express their craft.

13. "Nightingale Song"

Glen once told a reporter (I'm paraphrasing from memory here): "We made music for a very specific group of people. If you got us, you loved us; if you didn't, you didn't." This is a Toad fan's anthem: "We sing the 'Nightingale Song' alive/We might be different, but our hearts won't lie." Glen even used to invite a member of the audience to join them on stage and bang a tambourine for this song, leading many to plead: "Guess what? I've got a fever! And the only prescription...is more tambourine!" (I kid.) This song is probably the best representation of the band's philosophy. Even though Toad's popularity peaked during the early to mid-'90s, they weren't part of the grunge movement, but they were honest and true to themselves.