The Listomania I make the lists, you shoot them down. Quid Pro Quo.

79. Ben Kweller – Falling

In my head, a lot of comparisons make sense. Usually, they don’t actually make any. Like that Pearl Jam are the Who of the new millennium. That connection really doesn’t mean shit, but I like to say it because, hey, the bands remind me of each other and I like to argue. But sometimes, these mental claims become a bit outlandish. Such as when I say to myself that “Falling” is our “Hey Jude.”

Yeah, I just dropped that. Breath it in, San Diego. One of the greatest songs of all time written by one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Compared to the best song on the 2002 debut album of a guy that sings about watching Planet of the Apes on TV. Eat it.

Now THAT is a poor comparison. But here’s where the small dose of verisimilitude in that statement comes from. It’s a strong piano ballad with a croon-y but sharp melody. It opens with keys and voice before rhythm instruments kick in with back up while never covering over the songs yearning, pretty melody. And when the song builds up, the drums and bass quickly drop out to expose the bare ivories, lilting along. There are tempo shifts, as if Kweller’s whim is controlling the flow, not structure or key signatures. And listen, it’s grandiose. Something I would shit on other acts for doing, but I just believe Ben Kweller. Like I assume people believed Paul McCartney in the ‘60s. And there is this killer minor-key shift that comes right before the “Fallin’/And I/Love you/More and more” that pulls at my chest twine every single time. The way he raises up into a falsetto and just bares it. It’s beautiful, and big, and honest, and ok, maybe it’s not our “Hey Jude,” but it recalls a similar feeling and inspires me to believe that our generation can make that kind of statement of love and caring if we really try.