Song of the Day - If You Can't Eat 'Em

Today's song of the day comes from American alternative rock band Jimmy Eat World. Despite the funky sounding name, Jimmy Eat World play punk-ish rock, akin to the likes of Green Day and Blink-182. I know those bands aren't everyone's cup of tea, but they had a lot of success with that style of music. Today's song, The Middle, reached number one in the charts, and those of you who played Guitar Hero may be quite familiar with it.

So What's So Good?

Is this a great song? Probably not, no. Do I care? Not one bit.

The Middle is a fun song. Between the name of the band and that fun riff, the song starts on a (figurative) high note. There's nothing special about Jimmy Eat World; this song in particular is just punk-pop by numbers, but if a formula works, then why change it?

Behind the fun pop rhythms and guitar, there's lyrical cliche's all over the place. It's clear that the lyrics are aimed at people who are down. It's a feelgood song about being yourself and all those cliche's that plague movies, but somehow, it's still great. It's still great to listen to. There's a sense of nostalgia to this song, even if it's the first time you've heard it and you were born in 2003 (this may or may not be true).

The vocals are surprisingly softly spoken, but I suppose that's to give the feeling of advice. It's like what a motivational relative would sing to you if you were a bit down and they were a bit tipsy. But somehow it works.

I'm not sure why I love this song, but it's cool. Listen to it. Maybe it'll change your life. Who knows?