"Dizzy" by Jimmy Eat World, Thursday, July 14, 2022 (partial repost)

 If you namedrop Jimmy Eat World in a casual conversation, people might look at you funny. The name sounds like its origins: two little kids teasing each other. Though fronted by Jim Atkins, he is not the "Jimmy" who "eat[s the] world," but rather it was an insulting picture guitarist Tom Linton's little brother, Ed, who drew a picture of his slightly older brother  Jimmy looking so fat that he was "eat[ing]the world." Jimmy Eat World is a band's band. They are responsible for influencing everyone in punk, pop punk and even hardcore punk in the last 20 years. Best known for their song "The Middle," a top 40 pop hit, the band spun several singles throughout the years, even today. Their most commercially successful albums have been Bleed American (2001), Futures (2004), and Chase This Light (2007).

ARE YOU DIZZY YET?  I've talked about the burnout I've experienced as a teacher. Burnout is very common with teachers, and I'm sure that most of us are experiencing it in a time with so much uncertainty. But there's a dizzy feeling that comes at the end of the school week, especially at the end of the semester. It's the papers piled on my desk. It's the documents I forgot to print before class. It's fifty questions before the lesson starts. It's the chaos the students can spin the class into as the technology doesn't work. It's the "teacher, can I go get my phone to do the Google Classroom assignment," five minutes before the end of class. It's the schedule changes because the special programs that just came up. It's the repeated cancelation, which trains the students "this class doesn't really matter." It's the clicking and grading of classes that all look the same. It's the Monday to Friday boxed into the routine that if you break it, you fall behind. It's the deciding if it's cutting my cleaning time, my study time, my exercise time, or my blog time so that I can get to sleep on time to manage the next day. It's the feeling that I used to have everything so together, but now I feel like it's unravelling. It's dizzying.

JESUS, IS THERE SOMEONE YET WHO GOT THEIR WISH?  "Dizzy" ends the standard edition of Chase This Light. It's a ballad about a break up that comes from the exhaustion of a dizzying relationship. The lyrics portray disconnect by calling on a payphone and the listener not answering the phone. On a surface listen, this is the classic break up because of the physical distance between tow lovers because one guy is in a band and constantly on tour, not home with the girl. Adkins, in exasperation asks, "Jesus, is there someone who got their wish" meaning that everyone has to deal with the conflicting  wishes, i.e. love and money. For me, though, this song has a more symbolic meaning.  To me the song is about giving up on a dream. Sometimes it's important to power through and make it work, but other times it's important to acknowledge that your dreams may be at odds with each other and it's time to let one of them go. I don't know what that means for me as I reevaluate my life and my goals this time of year. 

Read the lyrics on Genius.