...still feel the butterflies

I don't know if it's the infamous "writer's block" I'm dealing with from time to time, if it's the fact that I also have to do some writing in my studies and in my job for well over a year now or if I'm just doing "it" -intensively listening to and writing about music- for too long now, but... at times it's hard to find the right words. Honestly, I'm not able anymore to come up with meaningful words about each and every record that comes my way, even if I like it...

...it's probably something different with "Clarity" from JIMMY EAT WORLD, a record that turns 25 years old today. Yes, I don't feel the desire to write something about it. But in this certain kind of case it's clearly different. I already praised it on the first version of borderline fuckup in at least one way and I also cherished it on this blog like two or three years ago. I namedropped it on various forums and groups over the years when the topic was on "best records of all time" or "best Emo records of all time" or "best records of the 90s" or "personal favorite records". Yes, "Clarity" is that good in my ears. It's certainly among the first 5 records I'd think about when it comes to "best" record of all time. What gives it this extraordinary status is the fact that for once it means a lot to me personally and secondly that I objectively think it's a perfectly crafted record with nothing to criticize. I have some personal favorite records, where I'm probably kinda "out there" with my opinion, but "Clarity" is a perfect record, and you can't argue about that one.

Another reason for my low desire to write about certain kind of records is, that I just come up with the same old superlatives and phrases each and every time and that bores the fuck out of myself. I probably did it in the paragraph above, so fuck it. I don't think that I have to come up with something new about "Clarity", and I don't think that I'd be able to do so. Sitting here, on my sofa, alone at 10 p.m., vaping, drinking water, being in some physical pain because of my sciatic nerve, makes me realize how many things have changed in my life, in the last few weeks alone. And most certainly those small changes won't stop happening anytime soon. Yet, a thing won't change: This record staying with me. Writing this, I begin to realize that "Clarity" was there when I was dealing with my first heartache and it was there nearly 20 years later when I was going through my divorce. That certainly made me grin in a cynical way.

Spending way too many words now on a post I wanted to keep as short as possible, is prove that some things indeed will never change. Happy Birthday to this beautiful record! And if you need something more to read, while vibing to "Goodbye Sky Harbor", check out what Daniel (Time as a Color Records) and the guys from ATLANTA ARRIVAL wrote about "Clarity" in their parts of "mEMOries".