Okay, this post isn’t about Crete, but about one of those songs that is perfect.
Tegan Quinn and Sara Quinn are twin sisters from Calgary who front a band called, of all things, Tegan and Sara. Eleven years ago, when they were 28, they released an album called The Con. One of the songs on it is Nineteen by Tegan Quinn and it may be a perfect pop song. I am a little obsessed with it.
What makes a perfect pop song? Well, a few things. First, it needs to be playable on commercial radio, which means it should be less than four minutes, and maybe even less than three. The early Beatles songs all clock under four minutes. Nineteen in the studio is a mere 2.54, and live, rarely is more than four minutes. Second, it should be about young people and probably about love. Nineteen is that, because it talks about being in a relationship that began when the narrator-singer was that age. It is a song that looks back on the relationship which has now come to an end, but the narrator doesn’t want to let go. She’s full of anguish and is trying to figure how to put it back together.
Here’s the song in its polished studio format: “Nineteen” in the studio.
I felt you in my legs
Before I ever met you
And when I lay beside you
For the first time I told youI feel you in my heart and I don’t even know you
And now we’re saying bye, bye, bye
And now we’re saying bye, bye, bye
I was nineteen, call me.I was nineteen, call me.
I felt you in my life before I ever thought to
I need to lay down beside you and tell you
I feel you in my heart and I don’t even know you
And now we’re saying bye, bye, bye
And now were saying bye, bye, byeI was nineteen, call me.I was nineteen, call me.
Flew home, back to where we metStayed inside I was so upset
Cooked up a planIt was good except I was all aloneYou were all I had
It’s the kind of thing someone might do in a movie, but in real life is going to be disastrous. She thinks it’s a good plan, but we already know that whatever it is it is probably not going to work, and the narrator is frozen in the house.
Love meI was yours right?
Love youYou were all mineLove meI was yours right?
I was yours right?
She sings the words of love in a ballad-like way, suggesting that it was a good plan, except that, barely discernible (but more obvious in live recordings), Sara Quinn is yelling out the words “I was yours right?”, undercutting the good intentions of the preceding lyrics.
An then it all falls apart. At the end of the first line of the chorus the guitar produces some feedback and the drums come crashing down, creating a discordant sense of dysfunctional desperation. The singer/narrator is doomed in this relationship, at the moment doesn’t see why, and can only focus on their own emotions and needs.
I was nineteen
Call me
I was nineteen
Call me
So why do I like this song so much? Probably because I’ve been there. I’ve been that nineteen year-old who is so unreflective that they don’t start with what led up to the breakup, but instead tries to devise a plan to get together. I’ve been that person who is more focused on the idea of being in love than with what love really demands. The object of the song is a cipher – we don’t know anything about who the other person is – but we probably know enough about the narrator that we should walk away very quickly, at least until she grows up a bit. I’ve been there, and done that. I don’t ever want to be that person again, but the song reminds me of the pleasure and pain of such narcissistic love.
Anyway, here’s the song live at Coachella: “Nineteen” live.
And here’s an acoustic version: Acoustic “Nineteen”.
And, finally, here’s the song in its more recent live version, where it’s more keyboard oriented and feels a bit slower (but really isn’t): Piano Version
The Island Parson 