“The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World, Sunday February 5, 2023
While Jimmy Eat World purists cite Clarity as their favorite and their true break-through album, most of us humble music listeners would have never heard of one of the defining bands in the pop-punk/ emo scene if it wasn’t for their 2001 record Bleed American. It was specifically their second single from the record, “The Middle” that is the band’s most well-known hit. When you’re talking about hits from your child-hood and bands you like, many people won’t recognize the name of the band but they know the song. Jimmy Eat World had released two albums on Capitol Records when the first wave of emo sparked by bands like Sunny Day Real Estate became popular. Jimmy Eat World, though, underperformed and were dropped by Capitol. The band then recorded Bleed American independently but signed to DreamWorks before releasing the record.
DON’T WRITE YOURSELF OFF YET. First Jimmy Eat World released the title track “Bleed American” to rock radio before releasing “The Middle.” The second single reached #5 on Billboard’s Hot 100, an unheard of success for the emo genre at the time. Steering away from controversy Jimmy Eat World changed the title of their fourth record Bleed American to Jimmy Eat World following the September 11 attacks, but changed it back in 2008. The band never duplicated their success, though continued to gain rock radio airplay. The band continues to play, but seems to be more of a “band’s band”—more of an influence on the scene than one that is listened to regularly. Still, the Jim Adkins-fronted band will forever be remembered in fall of 2001 for their radio single, which was certainly boosted by the song’s popularity. The video shows the band performing at a house party where all of the attendees are in their underwear except for one guy. Toward the end of the video, the young man is about to give in to the peer pressure and strip down to his boxers, but he sees a girl who is also uncomfortable with the peer pressure.
IT JUST TAKES SOME TIME. I remember an interview with MTV or another music channel that Jimmy Eat World said that they actually played for house parties like the video early in their career. The video has sometimes been called “The Underwear Song” or “The Underwear Band” because of the video. Another cool effect that viewers liked was that during the guitar solo, an actor jumps into the pool and the solo sounds blocked like hearing it from under water. Besides the popularity of the video, the song resonated with teenagers and those going through a transition in life. Being “in the middle of the ride” can be a frustrating time. We feel that angst especially during and after puberty, but there are definitely periods in our lives where we also feel trapped on the ride. We tell ourselves just a little further; we can endure anything as long as it’s temporary. However, I’ve started to worry about the end of the ride. Someday, the ride will be over, but doesn’t that mean death? I think it’s time to start enjoying the middle. Heck, let’s enjoy it all because once it’s over it’s done. And someday, we’ll be too old to be going to underwear parties!
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