Song #37: The Starting Line - 21 (off Direction - 2007)
I’m celebrating the last day my twenty-first year by listening to an album about how complicated it is to be 21 years old. I had a pop-punk phase (who didn’t?) and one of the few bands that I still adore is now-defunct Philly quartet The Starting Line. I tweeted recently about missing them, and I received only negative comments in reply.
Apparently they “don’t put on a very good live show” or somesuch. This is crap - the oft-mentioned Natalia and I saw them at arguably the worst venue in my city and STILL I was in awe. Kenny Vasoli has been my emo crush since I was fourteen, and I always felt like I’ve been evolving at a steady two years behind each album.
When I turned 21 (exactly 364 days ago), I listened to Direction twenty one times. I wanted to know exactly what to expect. I expected the worst and best. In retrospect, Kenny et al. perfectly summarized my life this year in this album. I was told by a TA once that the use of the word “relatable” should be a crime punishable by death, but DAMN what else is there to use in this case? It’s like an effing concept album ABOUT ME, written two/three years prior.
The album deals with my biggest obstacle - one that I’ve had to fight since high school: my own directionlessness. The title of the album is ironic, because this is an album about being lost in every possible way. Directionless in love (unhappiness, abandoning real life, unfaithfulness), directionless alone in a crowd, directionless in the way we pass the time, thinking about our legacy… my personal anthem, unfortunately, is a song about creative directionlessness.
Twenty-one, as an age, wasn’t great. I lost love, I lost sleep and I lost myself for a while. I let other people call the shots in my life. There are songs on this album for everything I mourn. I won’t miss this age at all. I can only learn from my mistakes and try to find a new Direction; hopefully 22 won’t be as hazy.
