"The Sound" by Further Seems Forever, Saturday, April 24, 2021

I've talked about Labeled podcast quite a bit. Their tagline: "The stories, rumors, and legends of Tooth & Nail Records," certainly applied to their pilot episode: "Further Seems Forever: A Tale of Three Singers." Further Seems Forever is a band that is seen as a landmark band in '00s emo and Christian Rock, paving the way for the bands that have stuck around, such as Anberlin, Emery, and The Classic Crime, to name a few. However, FSF's turbulent relationships with lead singers kept the band a bit of a legend for hipster music fans and a bit of a bands' band, rather than a prolific force. The musicians of a Christian hardcore band, Strongarm, formed with emotional singer-songwriter Chris Carrabba, who left after the release of the band's first release to release music under the moniker of Dashboard Confessional. The band found singer Jason Gleason to replace Carrabba, but Gleason left the band by the recording of the band's third album.

 
IF I HAD AN OCEAN TO COMPLIMENT THE SKY. My grandfather sent my family a gift back in '98 or '99--a lifetime subscription to the Sky Angel satellite service, a network of religious programming channels. Most of the programming was as awful as you'd imagine. Church 24/7, but in 2001, a new music programming station appeared which played Christian Rock, Hip-Hop, Metal, and Alternative music. TVU and their sister radio station RadioU was the music I was raised on in my high school years. TVU was a place where old low budget Tooth & Nail videos could be mixed with Jennifer Knapp and P.O.D. and scary metal videos. In 2001, Further Seems Forever released the video for "Snowbirds and Townies." I found the singing a bit annoying, the "girlfriend" pretty average looking, the lead singer's hairstyle annoying. But then "The Sound" was released.

THIS IS A BURNING OF A DREAM. There are some songs that get deeper the more you study the lyrics, and then there are songs that sound like they were written by a 19 year old, trying to be deep. I haven't been able to find great lyrical depth in Further Seems Forever. Their lyrics play on the impressions they leave, but ultimately there are so many images, the listener may wonder what the song is all about. My first impressions of the song are from the video. I loved it. The scenes of an empty city and mostly lead singer Jason Gleason singing on an empty bus and the other band members shown alone in a parking garage or a building late at night with the lights on showed a kind o f loneliness. This was contrasted to the band playing an energetic performance in a big room. Jason seemed so cool, yet emotional and deep. And he wore really tight pants and had a good body. I wouldn't admit it at the time, but I had developed a crush on the guy.

https://genius.com/Further-seems-forever-the-sound-lyrics



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