Train's "Drive By"

You readers are probably surprised that I've made any mention of current music. And, I'll admit it, I'm even surprised at myself for doing so. It's not because of the band, because I've loved Train since "Drops of Jupiter" was nominated for a Grammy - and I was pretty young. It's because of the era this song was born into. The Train songs I'm used to are those from the late '90s and early '00s. "Calling All Angels," "Drops of Jupiter," "She's on Fire," "Your Every Color;" since Drops of Jupiter and My Private Nation are the only albums I have from Train on my mp3.

Anyway, when I go to the library I look for CDs by artists I like and have few albums from. Train happened to be one of them. When I saw their latest album - I won't even bother to look up the title, California something, highway number or whatever - I was briefly intrigued, and, seeing some songs I recognized the titles of on the back, checked it out.

Going home I plugged in the CD player and started to give it a listen. A few moments into the first song I was shuddering, and decided to skip to "50 Ways to Say Goodbye," since I had searched it on YouTube once. I was dumbfounded by how unfamiliar it sounded to me and how distant I felt from the music in its new 2012 style. At that point I chose to listen to "Drive By," which I also was disappointed by because of the peppy bass and lack of recognizable instrumental sounds.

Pretty much all I listened to today was My Private Nation, since "Lincoln Avenue" is my current favorite. The title song got me singing the title lines of "Drive By," and frustrated by its prominence in my thoughts, I went to look it up on YouTube.

I am now ready to make a reassessment. Sure, this song is from 2012, and sure, I started to love Train from their original, early 21st century style. However, it has now been proved once again to me the quirky cuteness of the band, how Pat Monahan has a pure and angelic vocal tone that sways anyone to feel what is in his heart. It's now more obvious to me how the lilting words and heartfelt lyrics get you nodding your head in agreement and tapping your feet to the unavoidably peppy beat. I'm not going to hold a grudge against the song because all the people with current music tastes like it. My liking of this song is influenced by the deeper ties I have to Train from ten years ago, when "Drops of Jupiter" first fell from space and reached my ears.