We will have no more of your sorcery, Train: A review of Train's album California 37
We will have no more of your sorcery, Train.
I’m not sure that Pat Monahan is quite all there anymore. And by “not sure,” I mean he’s completely lost it. And by “anymore,” I mean have you heard the song "Meet Virginia?" (“Smokes a pack a day, but wait, that’s me, but anyways”...what exactly are you smoking a pack of, Pat?) He’s never been completely “with it,” as much as his rapping self would like you to believe. Droppin’ some beats and having a slightly societally acceptable voice does not mean that you are a songster, sir. Lyrics are a big part of the package, and lyrics that make sense usually increase your fan base. BUT WAIT. WHAT’S THAT, INTERNET!? TRAIN IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR BANDS OF OUR DAY?! AND THEY HAVE 3 GRAMMYS!?
WTF guys. We did this. We have no right to complain about musicians and kids these days when we made Pattycakes rich. We have been swayed by the upbeat pop melodies and use of the ever popular ukelele, but no more I say. Have you ever actually sat down and listened to a Train song? And actually thought about the lyrics? Well, probably not because you have midterms and friendships and sleep. But I am not human and so I did it for you. This is my review of the newest Train album, California 37, which should actually be called Pulling Random Words Out of a Bag to Make Sentences Now Here Comes the Ukelele!
WARNING: These are actual Train lyrics. I shit you not, friends. Do not be alarmed.
This’ll Be My Year This is the new “We Didn’t Start the Fire!” JK! But don’t tell Pat that! He pretty much lists all of the 10 famous historical events that he remembers from school, oh did I say historical because he mentions Nintendo along with 9/11. Then he acts depressed. Don’t know how he could be, as he lives in a money house.
-“I stopped believin’, although Journey told me ‘don’t” Never disrespect Journey like that again. Sit down like a good boy and do as Journey says!
Drive By This one starts out promising. Got a good beat, seems like it will be a sweet song about a boy meets girl. And it is...sort of. Then we get to the chorus...
-“This is not a drive by, Just a shy guy looking for a two ply hefty bag to hold my love” Will single ply just not suffice to hold your metaphysical representation of love?
-“There’s nothing up my sleeve but love for you” Whoa, whoa, so the two ply STILL isn’t enough to hold all of your love? Shit, dude, you got an extreme case of the LUV.
Feels Good at First This is where Pat tells us about his anterograde amnesia. Drew Barrymore is all like, “yeah I feel you, maybe move to Hawaii so you don’t feel so bad YOLO!”
-“Every fire gets too close” Not how that works. YOU get to close to the fire. Not the other way around.
-“Every autumn colors come, that you’ve forgotten” Red, yellow, orange, brown. Did I get them all? And it’s not even fall! Amazing that I could remember them.
50 Ways to Say Goodbye This is the best song in the entire world. If the entire world consisted of Rebecca Black songs. I have been listening to it on repeat for a good 10 minutes trying to figure out what it is about (a true artist commits to her work), and from what I can tell it’s a wet dream of Pat’s where he imagines different ways in which his ex can suffer horrible deaths. But it’s not his fault! He’s just no good at goodbyes.
-“She went down in an airplane, fried getting suntanned, fell in a cement mixer full of quick sand...she was caught in a mudslide, eaten by a lion (etc etc)” These thoughts should be restricted to your therapist’s office and not played on the radio, for the love of humanity.
-“How could you leave on Yom Kippur?” Extensive research of Pat Monahan provides no evidence that he is actually, in fact, Jewish. But damn her just the same! He loved her as much as a garbage bag would hold!
-“Got run over by a crappy purple Scion” Don’t drag Scion into your heinousness, man. They don’t need this kind of publicity.
Did I mention that on Pat Monahan’s solo record he has a song called "Two Ways to Say Goodbye?" Guess he’s done more thinking since then.
You Can Finally Meet My Mom This sounds sweet, right? Taking a girl home to meet his mother? Wrong. It’s about death. And all of the dead people he knows. And how he will be too busy to hang out with them in heaven because he will be hanging out with you. And his mom. Menage a what?
-“Don’t cry when I die, when it’s my time I probably won’t die” Who wants to explain this one to him?
-“Life is good, but love it’s better, even Bieber ain’t forever” Well let’s fucking hope not. But we were wrong about Train, so...
Now it’s time to list all the dead people I know! Better pick the most important ones! OMG here we go, Pat, make it count!
-“Jimi Hendrix, Jesus, Chris Farley, Mr. Rodgers, Gilda Radner, Buddha, the dude who had pop rocks and soda at the same time, oh and I almost forgot my mom” I think he nailed it.
Mermaid Every man’s dream. Pat seems to think it actually happened. WHERE ARE HIS CALM DOWN PI PHI PILLS!?
-“Can’t swim so I took a boat, to an island so remote, only Johnny Depp has ever been to it before” Subtext: I’m as rich as fucking Johnny Depp
-“Shocks, scream with envy, they wonder what you see in me” $$$$$$$$$$$$
-“Beauty in the water, angel on the beach, ocean’s daughter” Ariel! It’s you! Unless he is fucking a fish. Which may not be too unlikely as this dude is cracked out as hell right now.
California 37 Rapping. He is rapping. He says bitch. He is Kanye Jr. He is wonderful. I love to hate it.
-“Knock knock, who’s there? 2012 is a brand new year” Awwww shit, Train is back yall. Did anyone miss them? No?
-“Ding dong, the witch ain’t dead. She’s still tryin’ to take my bread Four more years ‘til my girls are grown, then the bitch gonna have to leave me alone” Clever! His ex-wife will never know this is about the alimony and child support he owes her!
The rest of the songs are too depressing to even poke fun at. You shouldn’t poke a sleeping bear, but you also shouldn’t poke a dying bear. Also, I’m realizing now that this article would probably cause a lot of people to google these ridiculous songs, so thanks for supporting me! Luh my fans like a baby loves a ball of yarn! - Pat Monahan
