I've been listening to a lot of Yellowcard lately. While "Ocean Avenue" is a classic album, ubiquitous across a time and place, the later releases are equally well-executed, bright and full of feeling.
Few bands capture yearning and nostalgia as well as these guys can - there's a reliance on memory, and a subtle, almost innocent, treatment of desire. When this song came on shuffle the other day, I realized I hadn't made it all the way through "Paper Walls" probably since it's release, and never got to know it closely. What a well-timed, romantic surprise, with twinkling guitar melodies turning into soaring crescendos to match Ryan Key's full-blown theatrics. This song is built around the chorus, and Key masters using octave change in this way, turning a simple pop format into a tension-fueled slow jam with cymbal crashes and slight orchestral touches to spare. I wouldn't call this one of their best or most complicated songs, as it is probably neither, but it is honest, and uncomplicated, and it makes me think of magic in the air...so I might not hesitate to call it among my favorite Yellowcard songs, and perhaps one of the most beautiful.
"It won't be long now
The music's on loud
We'll sing this song out
And then we'll lie down
I'll hold you close then
I'll let you know when
The space and time bend
And then we'll fall in...
Go put on your best tonight
It's you and me and one spotlight
One more show, one last time
We are ready
Say you will be all around me
When your body sets your heart free
Say you will be all around me.
I'll look for your eyes
To keep me inside
When everything dies
But one last sunrise
And when we stand there, together not scared
I'll dry your last tear
And then we'll just have...
Go put on your best tonight
It's you and me and not much time
So watch the world burning bright, we are ready...
Say you will be all around me
When your body sets your heart free
Say you will be all around me
Say you'll get me through the ending
Take my body set my heart free
Say you'll get me through the ending
It's you and me and one spotlight
One more show, one last time
It won't be long now...
Say you will be all around me
When your body sets your heart free
Say you will be all around me
Say you'll get me through the ending
Take my body, set my heart free
Say you'll get me through the ending
Say you will be, you won't be long
All around me, you won't be long now."
~You and Me and One Spotlight
Yellowcard, Paper Walls
