Third Eye Blind Countdown: #1

Before I actually get the final song on the countdown, a funny story and a correction from earlier. Despite my statement in a post this afternoon (and many posts in the past week), today was not actually the release date for "Ursa Major".

So, after driving more than 20 minutes to the nearest "FYE" store - blasting a collection of 3EB's greatest songs the whole way there - imagine my embarrassment to discover that the album will actually be released tomorrow. I returned home thoroughly humbled (although I did briefly consider camping out in the parking lot until tomorrow morning), and now I will have to repeat the 45-minute round trip tomorrow. I suppose that after six years of waiting, I'll survive one more day.

On the plus-side, I'll always remember that CD's are released on Tuesdays from now on.

So now to get on with the last installment of the Third Eye Blind Top 10 lyric countdown. Let's briefly review the lyrics that came in second through tenth.

#10 - Palm Reader: "...Frued said that love was a good psychosis, but I don't know I've had too many doses..."

#9 - My Hit and Run: "...Always think we'll get more time, 'til you're flying through the air with someone on your mind..."

#8 - Deep Inside of You: "...I would change myself if I could, I would walk with my people if I could find them..."

#7 - Narcolepsy: "...I read dead Russian authors volumes at a time, I write everything down except what's on my mind..."

#6 - Can't Get Away: "...And there's postcards written I know I'll never send, the moment is gone and won't come again..."

#5 - I Want You: "...An open invitation to the dance, happenstance set the vibe that we're in..."

#4 - Crystal Baller: "...I wonder why the wind keeps blowing you through my mind..."

#3 - Semi-Charmed Life: "...I believe in the sand beneath my toes, the beach gives a feeling, an earthy feeling, I believe in the faith that grows..."

#2 - Motorcycle Drive-by: "...careening through the universe, your axis on a tilt, you're guiltless and free, I hope you take a piece of me with you..."

And now, after a week-long survey (based wholly on my own personal opinion) of the best lyrics that Third Eye Blind has ever produced, it is time to reveal which song is number one. To be honest, the choice came down to Motorcycle Drive-By and the eventual winner, because in both cases I felt like I could have listed the entire song as my favorite part of the song. In other words, they are both lyrical beauties from beginning to end.

Ultimately, I put this song first because I think the writting is a little bit better. It represents everything that Stephen Jenkins does well as a song-writer and singer: there are referrences to mythology (a common 3EB device), the emotions of love and loss, a quick pace and words that seem to fly at you at 100 MPH, and an interesting story woven through it all. There is also my all-time favorite lyrical awkward moment, and the way it comes across (almost like a stream of consciousness style) is done perfectly.

The winner is.....

#1 - Blinded:

"I never believe that things they happen for a reason, yeah,
they never go as planned.
I wanted to thank you for a vision that was lost that you returned,
but you're past where you'd understand.
Now her appetite is blown,
little else is known,
'cept she's a little angry,
grabs a towel, looks away,
the heat fades with the day,
and I fall down on what to say.
Oh something clean, let me be clever, hey, oh well, whatever,
but that's not what I mean!
Where we've been has left us burnt,
still I won't turn now from a fight you know I'll never win.

So when I see you,
you know all the things I've done,
and I'm blinded,
like I'm staring down the sun,
when I see you, when I see you, when I see you,
it's like I'm staring down the sun.

Time it passes and it tells us what we're left with,
we become the things we do.
Me, I'm a fool spent from defiance,
yeah you got me, but I didn't give up on you.

Icharus is not a t-shirt or a swan song, no,
he is born again.
And it's not easy being me,
but I can't promise I will mend,
or bend when you believe that we are fixed now from our births,
and I've just fallen back to Earth,
still you know I'll try again.
'Cause I believe that we are lucky,
we are golden,
we have stolen manners in the days when we were one.

So when I see you,
in spite of all that we've become,
I'm still blinded,
I'm still staring down the sun."