Essential Jimmy Eat World Songs
Jimmy Eat World is another hard act to compile an "essential" list of songs. I have too many favorites, with many not making the cut like "My Best Theory" and a silly song like "Higher Devotion" which were hard decisions. I've seen them twice in concert over the past two years and cannot wait to see them again.
Last year Jimmy Eat World embarked on a tour where they would perform their album Futures in its entirety for it's 10th Anniversary. I was excited to see and hear them perform that album and bought tickets as soon as they went on sale, but my excitement level went above and beyond once I realized they would be performing all of their B-Sides from that era as well. In fact, I went more for those songs including "Closer" than the actual album itself. I really love the percussion in this song and the entire solo section when the band cranks it into overdrive.
9. "The Middle" (Bleed American)
Ugh. I was NOT a fan of this song when I first heard it back in 2001 during my high school years. I still didn't like it ten years later when I would begin calling myself a fan of Jimmy Eat World. It wasn't until I saw them in the summer of 2013 at the Vic in Chicago that my perception of this song changed. Hearing a thousand people singing this song in unison was a powerful thing, and I realized that's the whole purpose of live music, which is sharing an experience amongst fellow fans. That's a greater feeling than any drug or alcohol could create.
8. "Cut" (Invented)
This is a track found on the band's 2010 album Invented. This might not be their strongest album in the eyes of many fans but it's the album that brought me back into the fold and turned me into a bonefide fan. I had a conversation with a friend about their music several years ago and he brought up a theory that this song is coming from a female's perspective at the end of a relationship as a counter to a male's perspective in an earlier song called "Disintegration." These songs also hit me at a time where I was just beginning to get over a relationship, and I took it personal that the female in the song was actually saying these words to me. In the lyrics to "Cut" is the line, "there's always some baggage you've got to check"...which was a pretty tough reality check.
I first heard of Jimmy Eat World in 2001 along with most of the world and bought their self-titled album. I was still a young music listener so I wasn't too hip to know when bands were touring, releasing new music, etc. I actually forgot about them until I just happened to be watching an MTV rock video channel years later and caught the video for "Work." Their lyrics seem to sum up teen angst so perfectly and this was another shining example.
I had actually forgotten about Jimmy Eat World for several years until I began talking to an online friend in 2011. We exchanged our musical tastes and I feel like I got the better end of it since Jimmy Eat World became one of my favorites; I'm not sure if Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree had much of an impact on him. I was given a two disc 'mixtape' of album cuts, b-sides, live versions, and even cover songs. I had always believed Jimmy Eat World to be a poppier, upbeat band, with their songs like "The Middle" and "A Praise Chorus." This song, "Gotta Be Somebody's Blues", stood out right away amongst the many on that mixtape because it was so different than what I previously knew of the band. It remains a favorite years later.
5. "Damage" (Damage)
When the band was gearing up for their 2013 release, Damage, interviews stated they were older now and the writing for this batch of songs would be an adult perspective on relationships. Those earlier songs seemed to hit me at just the right time in my life when I was getting over a relationship, and in an odd twist of fate, this song hit me when I was trying (unsuccessfully) to form new relationships. The song starts off with the line, "I want someone who lives up to this grandeur in my head, and you don’t do much to sell me I’d be best with you instead." Truer words were never put into song. Everybody has some type of standard for a mate, and now because we're a selfish generation of people, our standards are even higher. This song makes me think of a meme I've seen floating around Facebook that says, "I'm AWESOME and I'm single. You'll have to be really great to change that." It's arrogant. We have constant access to cellphones and social media, and communcation is done more through a screen than face to face, so if we don't want to talk to someone from the opposite sex anymore, its just easier to ignore them and move on to the next. But by doing that, as the song says, we're just damaging our chances at creating lasting friendships.
This is another song from that 2011 mixtape, and it's actually one that was left off the Chase This Light album. I liked this for it's upbeat "beat", but in actuality, the lyrics are anything but; I like that juxtaposition.
3. "Bleed American" (Bleed American)
This song was my introduction to Jimmy Eat World back from the summer between my junior and senior years in high school. I recall working at a swimming pool and we had this Lifeguard Competition and part of it was to create a team banner. For a few nights in a row, I was sprawled out on the floor of the garage painting a big bed sheet while the radio was cranked up, and this was one of the songs I will always look back on fondly.
2. "Disintegration" (Stay On My Side Tonight EP)
"Disintegration" was also on that fateful mixtape and I was ecstatic to hear it played live on their 10th anniversary of Futures tour. Even better than hearing this song live was that I was able to tell the drummer after the show that I really enjoy this song; I love the percussion.
1. "Kill" (Futures)
This song was not on that mixtape, and when I told my friend that he left off their best song, his response was it was done on purpose so that I would actually find it on my own. It was like he left a digital trail of bread crumbs. This was another like "Cut" that hit me during a rough time in my life as I was getting over someone. I was hoping I would be able to get another chance with that person, and these lines felt directed at me, "Oh God, please don't tell me this has been in vai., I need answers for what all the waiting I've done means." Even more than meeting the drummer and telling him I love his work on "Disintegration", it was even more meaningful to shake the hand of the singer Jim and tell him his lyrics have meant a lot to me and helped me through a break-up. I didn't mention any specific songs but I wish I had. It also seems that the best Jimmy Eat World songs are "one-word titles." I've had many in this top ten, but others not listed that were contenders would be "Pain", "Evidence", and "Sweetness."
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