Not You Again

I started listening to this song back in 1994, two years after "Whaterver's Cool With Me" came out, and my pick for it is more or less the same than it was then. The urgency of the melody and the tiredness of Mascis' vocals convey a sense of sad reckoning of something gone awry odd; I think of a relationship. So many songs have been written about broken relationships that it sounds like a dead subject, but in this song the character tells what is it that went wrong: he was extremely invasive. That's why, in my humble opinion, he compares himself with "the Blob" (the movie, I think), because he wanted to be in every corner of her girl's life, soffocating her in the end. They two have been in a series of coming and goings, none of which really worked. He really misses her, but has realized that he's not good for her and wishes not to start things over, hence the verse "No, not you again". It's like the classic elegy of the guy admiting a low self esteem and the errors within a love story but, in this case, he's putting the responsibility of cutting the wires on her: "If I say a word just stop me 'cause I really should shut up".

Anyway, these lyrics leave enough blank space to fill in with a lot of common situations and feelings related to breaking up and cauterizing the wounds.

Brilliant Dinosaur Jr.

Legit song about not knowing where you're going in a relationship. Like keeping on trying to date that girlfriend and not knowing if she's into you or just... Then I don't see the Blob like an illustration of J being to invasive in the relationship but as the impression that this shy J has of himself, thinking that he might not but a worthy person. Kind of the same deal than Get me, not able to stall that girl. That lack of confidence leads you to not concluding these dates he brought up, and all those words about him being a piece of shit sounds more like a Help! request to me.

Shy words and brilliant and expressive riffs makes me believe that every flawed regular dude might have that crying soul craving for It.

"I got no advice about anything just fuck it up yourself" is my personal favorite quote