"The Lights and Buzz" by Jack's Mannequin, Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Beginning with a youthful momentum, transitioning from the piano-based pop-punk band Something Corporate to the alternative sounds of Jack's Mannequin, Andrew McMahon had a very busy 2005. Jack's Mannequin released their debut record Everything in Transit in August and the band was set to debut strong. Several of the songs from the album were featured in the WB hit show One Tree Hill, ensuring a built in fanbase.
IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE. But Andrew McMahon started feeling extremely tired at the time of launching Jack's Mannequin, more so than he had been as a touring musician with his previous ban. And it turned out that his wan complexion wasn't from exhaustion. McMahon was forced to cancel Jack Mannequin's fall tour dates following their August release of Everything in Transit because McMahon had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. But thanks to the singer's sister Kate, Andrew was able to receive stem cell treatment and was cured of his cancer. After receiving treatment, Andrew penned and recorded "The Lights and Buzz," a song about the hardest year of his life--a year that he started a band, recorded a great record, and survived cancer. The song was released through iTunes and on the Japanese release of Everything in Transit and was included in the 2015 re-mastered edition.
IT'S CHRISTMAS IN CALIFORNIA. In some ways, "The Lights and Buzz" is a Christmas song, but I think it fits better as a "Thank God the Year Is Finally Over" kind of song. Like the haunting piano of Chad Howat in the Paper Route rarity, "The Lights and Buzz" invokes a kind of mystical Christmas/end of the year sound. It's a song from a place of exhaustion and it can relate to anyone who is exhausted from a year of toil. Maybe it's the head butting against the wall that won't break and the headache an Anacin can't beat. But it won't go on like this forever. The year ends and a new one begins with new challenges and opportunities. I think about the incredible feeling of being among the jet-setting elite who get to travel halfway around the world. In less than a month I'll be home, and I've made plans not to make plans. It's coming to the end of the hardest years in our lives, a time when what we relied upon as a society--international travel to anywhere in the world--just disappeared. I really hope that we've come to the end of these "unprecedented times." I really hope that we all can find rest in the end of the holiday season. I hope that we can set Atomic Habits that we can all accomplish in the New Year. But for a few more days, let's continue to enjoy the lights on the tree.
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