“We could start a company and make misery”
I couldn’t tell you how many times that line and so many other lines in Soul Asylum‘s “Misery” have gotten stuck in my head.
“We will always be busy making misery.”
There’s something so wonderfully ironic about a song about being miserable and spreading that misery also being so powerfully anthemic. It’s so perfectly 90’s in its sound, but ahead of it’s time in its self-awareness.
“We’ll create the cure. We made the disease.”
It’s a rally cry for dispirited youth who aren’t above laughing at the state they’re in. As it builds to its epic ending, it doesn’t matter how you’re currently feeling as the song almost physically forces you to jump off the ground and shout “Put me out of my misery!” And the video is…exactly as you would imagine the video for this song being. Long hair, blurry shots, grunge-style clothing, cheering fans, and a not-so-thinly veiled jab at the music industry (“Frustrated incorporated!”)
While “Runaway Train” was the Minnesota band’s runaway hit, “Misery” has always been Soul Asylum‘s super-catchy secret smash, grabbing placement in indie films and starting bar singalongs. The band is still out there fighting the good fight too, with a new album on the way as they tour with fellow upstart 90’s act Local H (playing The Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on March 11th – tickets available here).
So if you’re in a 90’s mood this week, flashback to this awesome track below, grab tickets to the group’s show, and check out their latest rocker, “Got it Pretty Good”.
The Indy Review 