I have long been a big music fan. When my friends were all hunkering down over game boards/consoles, or going outside to play sports, I was going to record stores digging around for random obscure European releases or small local bands/labels. So when bad things happen, I tend to retreat into music - I am fully capable of expressing my feelings like a grown-up person, but sometimes, music does the job much more economically than words.
Today is such a day. We’ve expended eleventy billion words recently on such topics as “what’s gone wrong”, “how do we fix it”, and “where does Arsenal go from here”. And while a loss like yesterday hurts, a lot, there’s also not a lot of new ground to cover on the aftermath front that we haven’t talked about ad nauseam, so we’re taking a different tack today.
Today’s roundtable:
WHAT SONG CAPTURES HOW YOU’RE FEELING ABOUT ARSENAL TODAY?
Aidan:
Apple Cider, I Don't Mind - Modern Baseball
Modern Baseball are an excellent band for Feelings, and it's become more and more apparent that a lot of their songs match The End of Big Weng, who is, let us not forget, a lovely man who has given his all to this club for 20 years. For many of us, he is more than a manager; he is the one consistent aspect of the club, the only manager for anyone in their early twenties. I've chosen two songs that work here; Apple Cider I Don't Mind, and then The Thrash Particle, which works with Cesc Fabregas wanting to come back to Arsenal, but ending up at Chelsea.
It's not like me to forgive and move on always/Looking back on my mistakes and others/Too distant to see where I went wrong pic.twitter.com/AOf1RqrCGh
— Maitland-Niles Fan (@BeltransMole23) February 16, 2017
The Thrash Particle - Modern Baseball
later you took my hand/you led us to the doorway/but you let go of me once you saw all your friends pic.twitter.com/DnlnEtVVG9
— Maitland-Niles Fan (@BeltransMole23) February 15, 2017
Travis:
Help Me! - Jose Suicidio
Ted:
Skull - Sebadoh
TheNotoriousWig:
“I became an Arsenal fan because of Wenger. He is practically inseparable from the club for me. Supported him longer than a lot of fans I imagine. And I'm terrified about what Arsenal will be like without him.”
I Know It’s Over - The Smiths
pdb:
There’s two songs that kinda capture both the defeatism about the current state of the club and the defiance of “no one person is bigger than the club” that I’m feeling right now.
Defeatism: We Tried - Fastbacks (“was it fun, America? We tried”)
Defiance: Rise Above - Black Flag (“we are born with a chance/I am gonna have my chance”)
So there you have it. TSF’s feelings, expressed in song. Here it is in Spotify form, for those of you so inclined:
Do you have a song you like to wallow in in times like these?