The Wonder Years Band • Page 54

You weren't kidding about having tough first round matchups in this one

 

My Life As A Pigeon
Summers in PA
I Won't Say The Lords Prayer
Woke Up Older
Don't Let Me Cave In
And Now I'm Nothing
Came Out Swinging
Local Man Ruins Everything

 

Yeah, that's wasn't too hard. Next round could be brutal though. I'm dreading the eventual Came Out Swinging Vs. Local Man Ruins Everything round. My two favourite songs by them...

 

I've given you all
Summers in pa
Lord's Prayer
Woke up older
Don't let me cave in
And now I'm nothing
Came out swinging
Local man

 

"My Life As A Pigeon"
"My Life As Rob Gordon"
"You Made Me Want To Be A Saint"
"Woke Up Older"
"Me Vs. The Highway"
"And Now I'm Nothing"
"Came Out Swinging"
"Local Man Ruins Everything"

 

My Life as a Pigeon - this was a weird choice because I didn't feel strongly either way but the triple guitar riff in this song cinched a win.

My Life as Rob Gordon - the b-sides for this record are phenomenal and this is one of his best breakup songs. It's like an Easter Egg hunt to catch all of the references

I Won't Say the Lord's Prayer - this song helped me leave Christianity behind

Woke Up Older - difficult, but the bridge in Woke Up Older where Kennedy destroys the drum kit will always get to me

Me vs. the Highway - no contest, this is my favourite song of all time

Coffee Eyes - fuck you for making me make this decision. Coffee Eyes is such a great track with some incredible instrumentation and vocals, and my favourite TWY song to drum along to. But the last song on the record is just monumental, I honestly am pulled equally in both directions. I know And Now I'm Nothing will win so my vote goes to Coffee Eyes just to show it some love.

Came Out Swinging - much love to Living Room Song, which still makes me laugh, but Came Out Swinging is the clear winner here. It's their iconic song.

Local Man Ruins Everything - the little interlude tracks on this record are really awesome and I appreciate them but this was the beginning of this era, it ties back to The Upsides so nicely, and is just such a banger live.

 

Going to write a couple sentences about my picks because why not. This was the hardest round yet.

"I've Given You All" vs "My Life As A Pigeon"
Suburbia and I've Given You All are great songs, and even better when put together as one song paired with And Now I'm Nothing. Separately they are all strong songs but those two don't hit as hard without the context of the other two.

"Summers in PA" vs "My Life As Rob Gordon"
The line "It takes a fucked up head to think about dying alone when you're alone in your twenties / I'm glad it's not just me" hits me every time.

"I Won't Say The Lord's Prayer" vs "You Made Me Want To Be A Saint"
Might be my favorite song. Opened my eyes up about facing religion and the fact that I don't exactly have any belief in it. Grew up in a Christian family who was never super religious but I did get confirmed and was always confused as to why, but could never open up about it to my parents who wanted me to do it. This song helped me open up to myself more about not believing in religion.

"Hoodie Weather" vs "Woke Up Older"
"Growing up means watching my heroes turn human in front of me" reminds me of my grandfather who passed away going on ten years ago. When I heard that line, I was immediately brought back to when he was in the hospital; my hero. He was who I looked up to my entire life more than anybody, and seeing him battle cancer and decay for 4 years will always haunt me. It's crazy watching someone you look up to not be able to save themselves.

"Me Vs. The Highway" vs "Don't Let Me Cave In"
Truly a classic.

"And Now I'm Nothing" vs "Coffee Eyes"
The Wonder Years have the best endings. I personally think this is their best one out of context of the album. Funeral is their best ending overall, but you need the rest of the album to really get what that ending means. And Now I'm Nothing is a perfect song with or without context from the rest of the album.

"Came Out Swinging" vs "Living Room Song"
So I guess this was one of the tough decisions you were talking about... Came Out Swinging and Cigarettes & Saints are the best from their respective albums. Came Out Swinging will always mean so much to me. It beats out Living Room Song by a lot, but that song is still incredible.

"Local Man Ruins Everything" vs "Suburbia"
LOCAL MAN.
RUINS.
EVERYTHING.

 

I've Given You All
Summers
I Won't Say the Lord's Prayer
Hoodie Weather
Don't Let Me Cave In
Coffee Eyes
Came Out Swinging
Local Man

 

Does anyone know if this lyric in My Life As Rob Gordon is referencing something (song/movie) or is Stevie a friend/family of the band? My mind would go to Stevie Wonder or Stevie Nicks but I can't think of a song with similar lyrics.

"Stevie said that if I woke up feeling helpless
That I should think about it different
That I had it all wrong
It's not the end if you call it a new beginning"

 

My Life As A Pigeon
My Life As Rob Gordon
You Made Me Want To Be A Saint
Hoodie Weather
Me Vs. The Highway
And Now I'm Nothing
Came Out Swinging
Local Man Ruins Everything

 

"My Life As A Pigeon"

"Summers in PA"

"You Made Me Want To Be A Saint"

"Hoodie Weather"

"Me Vs. The Highway"

"And Now I'm Nothing"

"Came Out Swinging"

"Local Man Ruins Everything"

 

My Life As a Pigeon
Summers in PA
You Made Me Want to Be a Saint
Hoodie Weather
Don't Let Me Cave In
And Now I'm Nothing
Came Out Swinging
Local Man Ruins Everything

 

Gonna be so mad if Me Vs. The Highway gets taken out first round. Don't let me cave in is good and all, but...

 

Pigeon
Rob Gordon
Lord's Prayer
Hoodie
Me vs The Highway
Coffee Eyes
Came out swinging
Local man

If Hoodie Weather and Me Vs The Highway get tossed in the first round I'm gonna throw down

 

My Life As A Pigeon
My Life As Rob Gordon
I Won't Say The Lord's Prayer
Hoodie Weather
Don't Let Me Cave In
Coffee Eyes
Came Out Swinging
Local Man Ruins Everything

 

I've Given You All
My Life As Rob Gordon
You Made Me Want To Be A Saint
Woke Up Older
Don't Let Me Cave In (tough choice)
And Now I'm Nothing
Came Out Swinging
Local Man Ruins Everything

 

I've Given You All - This and Summers In PA are chosen simply cause I like them a little more than the others, but still not loads

Summers in PA - This and I've Given you All are chosen simply cause I like them a little more than the others, but still not loads

I Won't Say The Lord's Prayer - I've always had a massive soft spot for this song, living near a church

Woke Up Older - Used to see a girl named Jess and I loved this song at the time.

Don't Let Me Cave In - For a long time, my favourite on the album

And Now I'm Nothing - Easily one of my favourite TWY songs.

Came Out Swinging - Their best song. Don't @ me.

Local Man Ruins Everything - first song I heard from them.

 

Oh man that Hoodie Weather vs Woke Up Older matchup is so rough. Definitely gotta have to take some extra time to figure it out.

 

My Life As A Pigeon
Summers in PA
I Won't Say The Lord's Prayer
Hoodie Weather
Don't Let Me Cave In
And Now I'm Nothing
Came Out Swinging
Local Man Ruins Everything

Eliminating Woke Up Older and Coffee Eyes in the first round feels almost criminal but it had to be done. I'm looking forward to the Came Out Swinging v Local Man matchup next round.

 

"My Life As A Pigeon"

"Summers in PA"

"You Made Me Want To Be A Saint"

"Hoodie Weather"

"Me Vs. The Highway"

"Coffee Eyes"

"Came Out Swinging"

"Local Man Ruins Everything"

 

My Life As A Pigeon - just a straight jam

Summers in PA - i still put this on summer playlists

I Won't Say The Lord's Prayer - a top 3 wonder years song for me

Woke Up Older - this one was tough, essentially coin flip

Don't Let Me Cave In - mentions Chicago, therefore it's awesome

And Now I'm Nothing - this song felt like a new level for them back in 2011

Came Out Swinging - a few years back a good friend of mine and I listened to this about 20x on a road trip so I have really great memories attached

Local Man Ruins Everything - I have the chorus tattooed on my arm so yeah

 

My Life As A Pigeon

My Life As Rob Gordon

I Won't Say The Lord's Prayer

Hoodie Weather

Don't Let Me Cave In

And Now I'm Nothing

Came Out Swinging

Local Man Ruins Everything

Dont vs Highway was brutal since thats my top 2 :( gdi

 

If y'all let Highway lose I'm quitting

 

I've Given You All

Summers in PA

You Made Me Want To Be A Saint

Hoodie Weather (very close)

Don't Let Me Cave In

And Now I'm Nothing

Came Out Swinging

Local Man Ruins Everything

 

My Life As A Pigeon
Summers in PA
I Won't Say The Lord's Prayer
Hoodie Weather (I always forgot how much I fuckin' love this song)
Don't Let Me Cave In
Coffee Eyes
Came Out Swinging
Local Man Ruins Everything (tbh this could win just for the way Dan says LOCAL MAN. RUINS EVERYTHING. live)

This was harder than Upisdes and NCTH combined.