The Wonder Years Band • Page 72

Came Out Swinging

 

Cigarettes & Saints

I love Came Out Swinging and it's also a top ten song for me but it can't compete with this one.

 

Okay so I think I finally have my answer. At first I thought "no way I pick C&S," but here we are.
I think Came Out Swinging is everything I want a pop punk song to me. That song encompasses everything The Wonder Years were and are. Philadelphia themes, lyrics about beating expectations put on you, and so much more. Came Out Swinging is the song I'd show sonone who is just checking out The Wonder Years. It's the song that describes them most.
But then Cigarettes & Saints. The emotion in this song is unlike almost anything I've ever listened to. As much as I think COS is the song that describes The Wonder Years as a band the most, I think C&S is their BEST song. The theme of the song is so heavy. I'm not sure the last minute of a song has ever grabbed my attention and made me start bawling my eyes out so quickly. The emotion in this song is what wins it for me.

It's so close, but my vote is for Cigarettes & Saints.

 

came out swinging, easily.

 

Came Out Swinging

 

Goddamn both of these songs are so special. I have such a strong emotional connection with both tracks, its tough to pick one. Came Out Swinging is perfect pop-punk, a great representation of TWY as a band. Cigarettes & Saints is everything I always hoped TWY would evolve into.

I have to go with TWY at their peak emotional powers....

Cigarettes & Saints

 

Less than 8 hours to go and I still don't know what I'm picking. This is very difficult!

 

Came Out Swinging

 

"Cigarettes and Saints" is the better song by a hilariously wide margin. And that's not even a slight against "Came out Swinging."

 

Came Out Swinging

 

Yeah totally agree. I'm trying to look at it without the nostalgia that COS has for me, and the adoration I have for that album in general as a monumental moment in my musical life. When I look at it objectively, Cigarettes & Saints is the only option, and was probably always the only option for me throughout this entire process. It's one of the few songs I've ever listened to that immediately wrecked me the first time I heard it. I still get a little choked up every time I listen to it. It's an achievement most bands would give anything to create and TWY did it effortlessly.

 

It will probably lose because of nostalgia and because of the album it's on, but I think from a pure songwriting perspective, it's the best thing they've ever done.

 

I think I pretty much have to agree with this, 100%.

 

Cigarettes & Saints

 

Nah, it's not nostalgia. I just like Came Out Swinging better. Just barely better, but still better.

 

Not saying people can't possibly like it more. But I think if nostalgia is going to give one of those songs a leg up, it's the one from Suburbia rather than the one from the album most people didn't like.

 

That's true, but it's still coming close to saying if Came Out Swinging wins it's because of nostalgia.

I don't know if I realized there was that negative of a reaction to NCTH.

 

Current Totals:

Came Out Swinging - 14
Cigarettes & Saints - 13

I counted @Craig Manning as a vote for Cigarettes & Saints.

Please feel free to check my count - I'm pretty careful but mistakes can happen.

 

I can't recall many people saying good things about it, though most people seemed to like that song.

 

NCTH was still my AOTY in 2015 even after so many other people were down on it. I literally couldn't not pick it.

 

From what I remember, people were really down on the production (which I think sounds just fine – not great by any means, but not bad enough to detract from the songs) and also that the band didn't change their sound enough. I think some people were expecting them to be done with pop punk and have a totally new sound rather than an incremental (but quite solid, IMO) progression from TGG.

 

Oh yea I do remember the complaints about the production I guess. I felt that way for like the first listen then I didn't ever notice again.

 

swinging

the reactions to NCTH were very negative when it came out at least along the people i knew were long time fans and i've only recently seen things change. i for one didn't like it at all

 

I would like to hear what the average TWY fan feels about NCTH at this point. I didn't have the instant connection that I did with the rest of their records, but NCTH is the album I go back and listen to most often now.

I know a lot of people hate doing rankings in the forums, but I would be curious to see how the albums would shake out. It is a great compliment to the band that their entire discography is so great.

 

Even though I love it, I would still probably rank it last. But "least favorite TWY record" for me is still better than most things so I might not be the best example.