The third one’s the charm
Summer 2001. The Tampa Bay rock alternative stations were playing singles from the new Jimmy Eat World album Bleed American. I was attracted to the catchy chorus of “The Middle”. The lyrics cheered me up on bad days when I needed a pep talk. The music video was playing constantly on MTV and it was a fun one to watch. I liked the band well enough so I borrowed the CD from a friend. It was really good. I played it on repeat for a couple weeks before giving it back.
“You like?” my friend asked me. “Yeah, but I got to admit, I’m getting tired of hearing their songs on the radio over and over again. Things lose their appeal to me sometimes with overplay.” “I hear you,” my friend said. “You should check out their other albums sometime. They’re good too.” “Wait, what?! I thought this band was brand new and that’s why they’re blowing up so much!” My friend shook their head slowly and smiled.
I found myself at Target shortly after this conversation and there was a CD called Clarity waiting for me. I took a peek at the tracks on the back of it and bought it. “Clarity…” I thought. “I could definitely use some of that.”
I popped the disc into my car’s player and “Table for Glasses” filled my car. I was enchanted immediately. It was slow, and I couldn’t explain it, but it felt different than Bleed American and Jim Adkins hadn’t even started singing yet. Once he did I knew I was in for an emotional ride.
It’s not that I couldn’t hear the passion in Adkins’ voice before I listened to Clarity, but this cemented the sound of it into my skull. By the time I reached the end of track 5, “A Sunday”, I’m wiping tears from my eyes and I’m still sitting in the Target parking lot with my car running. “Dude feels things very deeply,” I said out loud while backing out of my space and heading home.
I couldn’t stop listening to the album over and over again. The final track, “Goodbye Sky Harbor”, lingers on for sixteen minutes and it’s worth every one. This album hit me lyrically, melodically, and sound-wise I was even daring to call it “emo”. (This take isn’t disputed.) I fell in love with a boy while “For Me This is Heaven” played once, and I also stated that “Blister” felt like a prophecy to me. (I did move to the west coast many years later and didn’t like it at all so maybe I was right?)
I got the opportunity to see Jimmy Eat World live at a music festival and somehow managed to push my way to the front for their set. How I stayed in that spot where I could touch the stage is beyond me, but I did it. Every time a song from Clarity played I lost my voice singing along. This is the album that made me a Jimmy Eat World fan, and it was their third one.
It’s been 25 years since Clarity was gifted to the world on February 23, 1999, and it holds up in my heart and in the hearts of many “elder emos”. I find myself in the mood to play it on summer nights when I’m remembering hanging out on beaches in Florida and waiting for the stars to come out with my friends. I still love Jimmy Eat World. Bleed American is iconic to me and the band’s debut album Static Prevails is also amazing. All ten of their studio albums are special to me in their own ways, but Clarity will forever reign as the best one in my humble opinion.
“Here you can be anything
Anything that scares you
I think that scares you
Here, I've been here before
But only by myself”
These lyrics from “Just Watch the Fireworks” along with the “butterflies” referenced in “For Me This is Heaven” that I still feel when I hear this album are just a couple of reasons why I feel it’s so precious. Happy 25 years to one of the greatest albums of all time.
Jimmy Eat World is currently on the road with Fall Out Boy for the “So Much for (2our) Dust” and The Jam Files will be attending the show at the Grand Rapids Van Andel Arena on March 26th. You can purchase “Clarity” Anniversary merch HERE.
Jennifer Patino lives in Traverse City and loves music. Check out her blog at thistlethoughts.com