Spring Break 1996

When Bush’s acoustic version of Glycerin popped up on my iPod in the wee hours of my morning commute I was suddenly flooded with the memory of Gavin Rossdale alone on stage in the pouring rain at MTV’s Spring Break 1996. Not that I attended that particular concert, mind you. I was, at the ripe age of twelve, sneaking glimpses of the show on a television set much older than me. Once my parents were out the door to take our even older yellow lab on a walk, I would turn the dial (no remote) and well up at the sight of Gavin Rossdale, risking electrocution as he sung his drenched heart out to all of the wild and crazy kids vacationing in Panama City, Florida that year. “Gavin is too good for the sunshine,” I thought. Well, that and, “this is what college must really be like. I can hardly wait.”

Even though my college experience was a bit more My So Called Life: The College Years than Panama City circa 1996, my junior high interpretation of the lyrics to Glycerin apparently remained the same well over a decade later. I’m assuming that most of you are familiar with Glycerin and the musical stylings of Bush. If not, you can view the actual clip of Mr. Rossdale that I am referring to here. Let us all pause and behold the beauties of the Internet, where it is possible to locate a clip of an outdated, mid-nineties, pre-Google band performing at a seasonal, pre-web streaming ensemble concert for a major cable network within seconds while using one of the slower network connections on the planet.

Okay, moving on. Halfway through the song, Gavin sings:

Could of been easier on you, I couldn’t change though I wanted to.

Should of been easier by three, our old friend Phil and you and me

At least, that’s what I thought he sang until this morning. I’m not sure why my twelve year old mind put things together in such a way. Perhaps it was his sultry accent? His leopard-print guitar strap? His passion for Hard Candy nail varnish? I remember being confused at the time, but I still let Phil’s presence in the complicated love triangle that is Glycerin slip by me. When returning to the song over the years, I didn’t really give it a second thought, only stopping to imagine some sort of poly-amorous affair involving an old boyfriend or roommate. Who was I to say that Phil’s role in the song was odd? After all, who names their kid Glycerin?

Well, just as glycerin can be used in both candies and explosives, my epiphany on the 560 bus this morning was bittersweet. As I’m sure most of you have been aware of for years, Phil has nothing to do with the relationship Gavin Rossdale is singing of. Indeed, the correct lyrics are as follows:

Could of been easier on you, I couldn’t change though I wanted to.

Should of been easier by three, our old friend fear and you and me

As is true of the majority of my romantic defeats over the past twelve years, a man got mixed up somewhere between me and reality. Here’s to a future of clearer thinking and simpler relationships. Let’s hope that Phil doesn’t enter into a single one.