THIS Is the Story of Mixed-Up Teen

Ablum: The dB's, The Sound of Music, 1987

Acquired: I got this from the big, stand-alone music store at Ward's Corner. That building has housed a Peaches, a Tracks, a Sound Warehouse, and, most recently, a discount DVD outlet called something like "Discount DVD Outlet."

Best Tracks: "Molly Says" and "Never Before and Never Again"

Lasting Memories: You know how every now and then you hear a song and you need to hear it again immediately? I had experiences like that with "Molly Says" and "Never Before and Never Again" for about 10 years. I would play the songs, rewind The Sound of Music, and play the songs again. CDs made indulging such obsessions easier, and mp3 players may make such indulgences even that much easier, but give me that whirr-chunk-"damn, too far" sound every time.

Over the decades, I have also had the lyrics to "Molly Says" run through my head more than any other set of lyrics besides John Wesley Harding's "Nothing I'd Rather Do." In the latter case, the lines "Nothing I'd rather do/ No place I'd rather be" slot in ironically when I'm doing anything other than what I'd rather be doing and/or in a place any other than one I'd rather be.

With "Molly Says," I just like the whole of the life situation and emotions being expressed:

I was up pacin' the floor
When the call from the station came
She was on her way out of town
And she wanted to know if I'd gone insane
Well, I might
But I doubt if that changes things
She said yeah, you're right
So I hung up the phone
'Cause I don't wanna hear what
Molly says
Molly says

She could stand at the top of the world
And still complain that she could not see
She could stand in a deep dark hole
And still look down on me
She could stand a man who was lost
But it's just not me
'Cause I just get cross when
Molly says
Molly says
Molly says

Molly says in a number of ways
I reminder of her old man
He was good, he was kind
But the family would mind
And I don't think you understand
I didn't like her old man that much to begin with

She could stand at the top of the world
And still complain that she could not see
She could stand in a deep dark hole
And still look down on me
When Molly says
Molly says
Molly says
Molly

I just love everything about the conversations recalled and the scenes described. Same goes for "Never Before and Never Again" (with vocals split between Peter Holsapple and indie pop weirdo and The Adventures of Pete & Pete recurring guest star Syd Straw):

This is the story of a mixed-up teen
What a dilemma, what a crazy dream
They had it out for the very last time
Never again, they made up their minds

She grew her hair and it changed her style
She wanted to stay that way for a while
She took a step and she didn't fall down
And that was just fine as long as he's not around

She got really small, hardly there at all
It took some days before she'd answer his call
And when she did, it just wouldn't sink in
Never before and never again

Never again and never before
Could two in love try to even the score
Never be lovers before you are friends
Never before and never again

He got a job, became immersed in books
His hair grew too, and that improved his looks
He stayed out nights, sometimes parties till four
Until he'd had enough, never again he swore

He took himself very seriously
He lost some friends and made some enemies
Still there were nights when he'd call out her name
Before he realized it was never again

Never again, she cried never again
We're too far apart and the days will not end
We're too far apart and I've taken the step
I've got a home now, not a place I've just slept

Never again and never before
Can two in love try to even the score
Never be lovers before you are friends
Never before and never again
Never again
Never again

The whole of The Sound of Music is evocative for me. "Bonneville," about always wanting to visit the famed stretch of desert where "it's very hot and very flat and that is that," has always made me want to visit Bonneville. I, of course, have not done so any of the times I've been to Utah.

"Working for Somebody Else," about how much it sucks to be "working on somebody else's time" and "working for somebody else's dime," did much to inspire me to go freelance.

"Today Could Be the Day," with its observation that "some days the phone rings off the wall" but "some days its not so bad" and "some days it does not ring at all," has served as a perhaps too-obvious and too-unnecessary but always welcome reminder that it's worth getting out bed because even when things are crazy, the bad stuff always is interesting and will eventually pass.

Unfortunately, I can't link you to any songs off The Sound of Music. The album can't even be purchased from The dB's site. The true collectors among you should ,then, click here while you can.

Up Next: The Dead Milkmen, Beelzebubba, 1988

ERATA: I wrote yesterday that Holsapple had married Susan Cowsill. That is technically true, but the couple is no longer together and Cowsill has remarried. Also, I inadventently omitted a link to a download for "Spitting in the Wind." I've fixed that.