I got Resolve today. It came on a Monday that was a train wreck after a grueling weekend, betwixt a credit card bill and a bank statement (I owe them...). Before I get further into this, I would like to outline my Monday.
Before I outline my Monday, I'm going to highlight my weekend: I took the the "Literature in English" GRE. It was the hardest test I have taken in recent memory. My mother and older sister left for India on Sunday night. Their flight was out of LAX, and was not scheduled to leave until 11:30 p.m. I went to see them off, and I did not get home until around 11:30 p.m. So I did not get to sleep a whole lot. Now, to Monday.
First, I had to drop my brother off at a financial aid meeting at school this morning. I was late getting him there. I did get to work on time, but today I had to take care of several important documents that were due today. One of them required me to copy 500 pages in exhibits. The other involved me meeting with the client today (the day it was due...service is complete once the documents are in the mail, thankfully), and arguing with him over minutia. While I was focusing on finishing preparing these documents, I was dumped with more work that is awaiting my response tomorrow. My boss did not show up for one of his appointments, and when the finally called me, he wanted me to tell the client stuff regarding his case, and somehow that ended up in a half an hour appointment where the client was complaining to me about things that I cannot possibly change nor control. I needed the associate attorney's signature on some other documents that had to go out today, and, because of a late appointment she had that went extra long, I did not get that signature until 6:30. The credit card terminal ran out of journal tape, and it didn't take just normal tape, but "thermal" tape, which I had to get the office manager to get. The office manager returned with her daughter, and that was just a distraction (helping a high school freshman with English homework, and answering personal questions while I'm trying to get things in the mail was distracting). This was all on top of the normal phone calls of people yelling at me, getting the mail, and scheduling appointments. I did not leave the office until after 6:30 p.m. (6:45? 6:50?) It sucked, to put it mildly.
But I got home, and there was the package from Fat Wreck Chords. I opened it up, and there were the usual freebies (a poster for some band called "Consumed", a Strung Out sticker, a Dillinger Four sticker [which rules], a little ad advertising Lagwagon's Resolve (on one side) and Western Addiction's Cognicide (on the other), and a free compilation called Rock Against Floyd), and Resolve. It was not wrapped in plastic. There was no impossible-to-open-sticker sealing the CD in air-tight paradise, completely inaccessible to those of us who have fallen. I opened the case, and found the signatures of the band on the back of the CD booklet. These are not fake signatures. Leon's signature is in silver, Joey's signature is smeared a bit on the J, Dave's signature is kind of faded. I smiled as wide as the girl on the cover of Let's Talk About Feelings (I probably looked that beautiful too). My whole day changed. I thought "even if this album sucks, it rules that I have their signatures on this CD booklet." The album does not suck. I have listened to the album twice so far, and, like I usually do with new CDs, I'm going to post the lyrics from a song on it, but all this needed to be said.
Resolve
Don't leave me in this room
The walls are closing in
This is the space I used to say
The line is drawn for you each day
But every day you show
With sound of caving walls
Some day this song will have no pulse
And I'll cave alone
But there we are
Waiting for your answer
Your arms speeded elation
Beating out your salvation
But when the tape stopped you were gone
A half measure from home
This week I recreate
Edit you back into
The blare that could define you
Coveted by few who knew
The phone rings without pause
This grief wills everyone
All I have is our shitty song
How could it ever be enough?
Here we are in our final accord
A mortician and his tools
Sonically bury you
You could have chose another chord to resolve on
~Lagwagon
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