In the period of Matchbox Twenty’s heyday, the ’90s alternative/indie culture, including among critics, had set in to conspire against many bands that were suspiciously commercially successful. Many geeks and snobs tend to intellectualize how something feels, forgoing our (or others’) visceral gut reactions to music in favor of analysis that redefines how “meta” and pretentious music writing can be. Masur’s article about this book here on PopMatters ), and some of his most insightful commentary centers on how music critics and people with similar tastes are often detached from how the majority of people listen to music: for dancing and for pleasure. Musician and historian Elijah Wald published an excellent book, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music (see Louis P. Simply put, pop music matters in this time of worldwide crisis in a way that it may never have before. In my article about this song and mental illness, I wrote “Something about a lack of ubiquity makes music more appealing to snobs as we mature into … lesser snobs.” These times of coronavirus are times for forgoing our snobbery about music that is and isn’t overplayed in mainstream venues like commercial radio. In music and culture, this period feels like a time to rethink snobbery of all kinds. The times of coronavirus are times for reflection-and for forgoing outdated modes of thinking, acting, and doing things the way we are used to. Photo: Randall Slavin / Courtesy of Atlantic Records More than any other time in my generation’s lifetime, we really don’t know if there will be a future for us. Whether those insecurities are economic, personal, or both, Thomas singing, “I should get some sleep because tomorrow might be good for somethin'” reveals an ambivalent hopefulness, or a hopeful ambivalence, that many are feeling right now. But for general audiences in the time of coronavirus, as well as music geeks who looked down on this band, listening to this song can provide an outlet for wider insecurities about the future. It sounds more like Chicago than some of their own hit songs.I published an article on The Good Men Project about how this song has helped me come to terms with my struggles with mental illness, specifically Bipolar Disorder. This was the Chicago hit ballad that wasn’t. It’s almost ironic that Chicago’s horns are conspicuously absent on their three biggest hits (“If You Leave Me Now,” “Hard to Say I’m Sorry,” and “Look Away”), yet one of Matchbox 20′s biggest hits has a horn chart that would not have sounded out of place on a Chicago album. The Chicago horns have indicated that, had they been approached, they would gladly have performed on this track.Įither way, the horn chart is trademark Chicago: This is what a Chicago ballad should sound like.
Chicago could have performed and been in the music video for If You're Gone! Damn it!ĥ: MATCHBOX 20, “IF YOU’RE GONE”(MAD SEASON, 2000): There’s a story that Rob Thomas wanted Chicago to do the horns for this song but didn’t approach them to do so because he’d been misinformed that they didn’t do sessions for other bands. I'd like to know who the idiot was that told Rob Thomas and Matchbox 20 that Chicago doesn't do session work for other bands.
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