They May Say Those Were The Days

I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing, as the Pet Shop Boys once said. Jane's Addiction weren't really my cup of tea, certainly not when Ritual De Lo Habitual came out in 1990, and look at the way they dressed. You wouldn't do that in the north of England in 1990, even if you secretly wanted to. I do remember seeing the video for Been Caught Stealing and thinking it sounded good. I didn't get the album until many years later and was surprised that there was quite a lot I liked. Been Caught Stealing for one, the ten minute sex and drugs epic Three Days for another, and this song Classic Girl. If Jane's Addiction are as wikipedia says an alternative rock band, then this song emphasises the alternative rather than the rock, no squeeling guitar solos or Led Zep drum and bass breakdowns here, just really cool phased guitar and a yearning quality, for a classic girl. The lyric which made my ears prick up was the verse that goes-

'They may say 'Those were the days'
But in a way, you know for us
These are the days
Yes, for us these are the days'

Which sounded like a pretty good rejection of nostalgia (presumably the 60s or 70s) and embracing our times. Of course now those lines are twenty years old and I regularly feature songs from those days which maybe is partly me saying 'those were the days' but I hope this isn't entirely a place for nostalgia, if at all. Are these the days? For us, and the kids listening to their music, I suppose these are still the days.

09 Classic Girl.wma