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Post by roboshindo on Mar 10, 2010 23:04:34 GMT -5
I was talking to my friend lately, and whereas he's a huge THS fan he still disagrees with me. I think that when i get older and look back on my defining moments of my youth, the soundtrack to those flashbacks (in other words the defining band of my youth) i believe is going to be the hold steady. It's not only that they're my favourite band (by a long way, it seems), but also that they seem to relate to me so well (punk music is generally my gospel, im an ex-catholic, still confused over my own views, and im somewhat more experimental in drugs and partying that perhaps is healhty) that i just cant help but think of them as almost being aimed directly at me. Because of this reason i think that when i grow older (through my 30s and 40s, not to suggest you are old, all THS fans are young at heart, clearly) i believe that THS is the band i will look back on as defining my youth, and i was just wondering how many of you shared this belief.
I hope it means something to the band too, that there songs are they soundtrack to some of our youths'.
(Sorry if that is a little muddled, im pretty pissed)
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Sunny D
Midnight Hauler
"We've gotta try a little harder..."
Posts: 1,900
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Post by Sunny D on Mar 11, 2010 2:40:50 GMT -5
I sometimes feel REALLY out of place because I don’t share this at all. The Hold Steady is my favorite band but I don’t do drugs or party in that sense. But I do feel like I can really relate to the emotion of the music. No matter what the theme is people can apply their personal experiences to it to relate.
Sometimes I actually feel like a poser, especially with Lifter Puller.
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Post by motörben on Mar 11, 2010 7:32:05 GMT -5
I'll take THS with me through the rest of my life for sure. I don't think I could call them the defining band of my youth though, I was 20 when I first saw them and had already made some solid progress in defining my youth without them.
Separation Sunday came out about a week before my 21st birthday and I ordered it immediately. It definitely helped to define the following (not very constructive) summer which is one of the best of my life so far. I must have listened to it almost every day, some days three or four times. My life had a large cast of characters in it around then and there was so many drinks and drugs and sleepless nights and hangovers and bad decisions and Valuable Life Lessons. I'd be hard pushed to think of a more appropriate soundtrack. THS played a massive and very tangible part in my life from early 2007 to mid 2008 too so there's no doubt they're a band I'll always be extremely fond of.
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Post by hoodrat on Mar 11, 2010 8:04:00 GMT -5
Sometimes I actually feel like a poser, especially with Lifter Puller. don't buddy. you've never lied about who you are. (except, i guess that "sunny d" thing  ) a band that moves you doesn't have to mean the lyrics are about you personally. it can be about pure blistering rock and roll, or about triumph of joy, or about hanging on to joy with your last shreds of hope, or even about empathy for characters like holly, or any of a hundred other points of contact. |
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stringer
Has Status
Seein' my duty clear.
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Post by stringer on Mar 11, 2010 8:31:33 GMT -5
I'm in agreement with SunnyD - I don't 'do drugs', but still find a meaning in the words in the way of just bein' a bored kid trying to find my way. I mean, originally, when I heard them for the first time I didn't really listen to the words, it was on a computer game and I just thought "this fuckin' rocks, way harder than anything I'm listening to."
Then I got hold of Separation Sunday, and at first was like.. 'this dude just repeats himself."
Then it clicked.
And I've been pretty much obsessed ever since! I bought every album on my 20th birthday, and paid way too much to go to the last day of the o2 wireless festival in london just to see them play cause the other uk dates were sold out.
The more I listen to them, the more I find meaning and hope in the words.
"Constructive Summer" has a lot of meaning for me. Others too, but that one stands out. Reminds me of a perfect time in my life.
I spend a lot of my time trying to share THS with people I know, all the while not really anyone 'getting' it. But secretly, I didn't mind because they were my band.
I came to this board looking for, believe it or not, a typeface.
And I found friends; people I genuinely care about. (Oh yeah and the typeface.)
It's funny how the feelings and attitudes and people on here have ended up making more of an impact on me than the music.
These guys have been there for me through a lot of shit times. And I'd like to be there for them, too.
So yeah, I'm nearly 22, and The Hold Steady has been the rock I was looking for; in both senses of the word.
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bigrob
Midnight Hauler
i guess i knew it was coming
Posts: 1,352
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Post by bigrob on Mar 11, 2010 9:32:37 GMT -5
I can't say that I'll see THS as THE anthem of my youth 20 years from now, because I just don't know. I do know that they will be important as hell. I can't say one band or genre could define my life, because I jump around so much, but I can say that the "Stay Positive" mentality has done a hell of a lot for me, even if it's just me trying to convince myself that I'm staying positive. I'm not much of a frequent drug user (besides pot and alcohol, but those don't even count), but I have hung with some pretty druggy crowds in the past, and have known a few people that went the way of Corey Haim (a good reason that I tried to get and stay away from those people and that lifestyle).
Like hoodrat said, it doesn't have to be your literal connection to the stories, the drugs, the religion. One of the biggest things that first drew me to THS was Separation Sunday's story, even though it wasn't really anything like mine.I've never really been part of any religion, but I had a large understanding of Catholicism and the stories in the Bible. I didn't have relate to SS though, the emotion and the music meant so much to me without being a part of it. I will say that the Teenage Liberation "23 was a shot at straight frustration" verse has at many times felt like it was written about me, minus the age.
Since summer of 2006 THS has been my favorite band; before that my "favorite band" changed just about every month. I've spent the last twelve years searching for new, different, and better music. I might as well have stopped looking in 2006, because it doesn't get any better than The Hold Steady. They must be doing something right. Chances are, yes, THS will be the biggest individual musical influence on me, but they are just one of so many bands that have.
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Post by mikeflynn on Mar 11, 2010 11:19:04 GMT -5
No matter what the theme is people can apply their personal experiences to it to relate. I don't do drugs either, but the message still rings true. It's all about that one sweet, fleeting feeling. |
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Post by mike on Mar 11, 2010 11:20:11 GMT -5
hold steady songs are kind of like my life but with the really dramatic bits edited out.
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Post by cubbies4e on Mar 11, 2010 13:48:35 GMT -5
I'm 22 and The Hold Steady will be the band i look at 20 years later. they are my favorite band that has come out since the hey days of the Replacements/ Pixies. I've never done drugs, and while i haved drunk my share of booze, i'm by no means a partyer. But I have such an amazing connection with craig and tad and bobby and galen and franz, that i don't even care why. I just love them so.
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Post by massiveknight on Mar 11, 2010 14:21:20 GMT -5
Fuck you kids today are weaksauce.
You need to spend your teen and early 20 years fucking, smoking and snorting your way through the animal mineral and vegetable kingdoms. When you're 40 you'll look back on it with fondness and no regrets. There is a time and place for shenanigans
/oldster
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mcstevepants
Hoodrat
Shaky but still tryin' to shake it.
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Post by mcstevepants on Mar 11, 2010 14:54:42 GMT -5
I don't think there is one single band that will I define my youth with, but THS will certainly be a part of it. I might not be a total scumbag like some of the characters but sometimes I'm halfway there, and have witnessed stuff like that, enough for it to be relatable.
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Post by ekennedy on Mar 11, 2010 18:18:59 GMT -5
You need to spend your teen and early 20 years fucking, smoking and snorting your way through the animal mineral and vegetable kingdoms. When you're 40 you'll look back on it with fondness and no regrets. There is a time and place for shenanigans /oldster this helps me justify the last 8 years of my existence (though i'm already pretty fond of it so i can only imagine what i'll think when i'm 40....assuming i'll remember today when i'm 40) thanks |
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Post by delboydrums on Mar 11, 2010 18:25:31 GMT -5
Massiveknight - thank you v much!
You just said what I was thinking - spent the last 5 minutes laughing.
(Just turned 39)
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Post by motörben on Mar 11, 2010 18:33:56 GMT -5
I really don't see why whether or not we've used drugs or banged some questionable people is pertinent to the topic. I get Sunny D's point (dude, I wouldn't worry) but I think this thread's veered off into irrelevance. I've never sold crack, that has no bearing on my appreciation of Raekwon's last album, get me?
Oh and Massiveknight, if you ever want to have some kind of rage-off, count me in. Stakes is high.
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Post by delboydrums on Mar 11, 2010 18:40:39 GMT -5
Lighten up - it was funny!
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Post by motörben on Mar 11, 2010 18:45:35 GMT -5
Funny's in the eye of the beholder but I was talking about all the posts that refer to whether or not the poster uses or has used drugs. It seems to have eclipsed the initial question which I reckon is dead interesting.
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Post by delboydrums on Mar 11, 2010 18:57:21 GMT -5
Yes, it is.
Ok then...
Not sure if I qualify to state an opinion as 21 was a long time ago for me....
For me many THS songs are like a soundtrack looking backwards (First Night / Massive Nights etc).
I'm too old and busy to get into any of that stuff now, but there was a time where those sorts of songs would've been very relevant.
Now the feel of messages like "Stay Positive" / "we are our only saviours" etc are more meaningful and relevant to how I feel about life right now and for time ahead.
So - living the present, embracing the future and wallowing in nostalgia all in one band!
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Post by semihollow on Mar 11, 2010 18:59:37 GMT -5
I LOVE THS, like alot, it just clicks with me and i cant say how ill feel in 20 years, but certain songs,  get scratched into our souls... |
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Post by rye on Mar 11, 2010 19:52:06 GMT -5
massiveknight, your post made me lol
semihollow, not to be a prick but we get it you got a tattoo why don't you post a pic of it... again. Hopefully you enjoy it as much in twenty years as you do now and keep getting it touched up - or not - to keep that scratchy effect
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Post by hoodrat on Mar 11, 2010 20:42:19 GMT -5
massiveknight, your post made me lol semihollow, not to be a prick but we get it you got a tattoo why don't you post a pic of it... again. Hopefully you enjoy it as much in twenty years as you do now and keep getting it touched up - or not - to keep that scratchy effect Not to be a prick but starting a sentence with "not to be a prick but" is a guranteed way to ensure that we know you intended to sound like a prick, but. |
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Mahoney
True Scene Leader
"you don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows"
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Post by Mahoney on Mar 11, 2010 21:00:00 GMT -5
massiveknight, your post made me lol semihollow, not to be a prick but we get it you got a tattoo why don't you post a pic of it... again. Hopefully you enjoy it as much in twenty years as you do now and keep getting it touched up - or not - to keep that scratchy effect Not to be a prick but starting a sentence with "not to be a prick but" is a guranteed way to ensure that we know you intended to sound like a prick, but. Thumbs up/Like. For those of you around my (facebook) generation. |
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Post by rye on Mar 11, 2010 21:15:33 GMT -5
massiveknight, your post made me lol semihollow, not to be a prick but we get it you got a tattoo why don't you post a pic of it... again. Hopefully you enjoy it as much in twenty years as you do now and keep getting it touched up - or not - to keep that scratchy effect Not to be a prick but starting a sentence with "not to be a prick but" is a guranteed way to ensure that we know you intended to sound like a prick, but. yeah I should've left that off 'cause I know we all know. Prickette or something similar may be substituted where applicable like in your case |
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lee
Hoodrat
unified scene #503. that's portland, everyone.
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Post by lee on Mar 11, 2010 22:18:33 GMT -5
Fuck you kids today are weaksauce. You need to spend your teen and early 20 years fucking, smoking and snorting your way through the animal mineral and vegetable kingdoms. When you're 40 you'll look back on it with fondness and no regrets. There is a time and place for shenanigans /oldster boring. there is more than one way to enjoy yr youth. |
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Post by ontheradio on Mar 11, 2010 23:18:40 GMT -5
What is only slightly embarrassing is that the soundtrack to my teenage crazies will PROBABLY be Taking Back Sunday's Tell All Your Friends. This is probably because I was an emo, extraordinarily angst ridden teen in the early to mid-2000's. But whatever, that album helped 14 and 15 year old me out a lot and I will defend it to my grave.
On the subject of drug, booze, and hanging close with questionable folks, sure, I've done my fair share of it. BUT, I got into THS after my heavy drinking days, before my drug experimentation, and before I spent time with questionable people. kinda.
As of now, I am still young. I'm 22. I rarely drink. I smoke weed, but eh, that doesn't count. and for the most part, that's all. In reality I'm in my mid-60's, and a good night for me is pajamas and jeopardy. Boring!
But I still love THS! A lot!
I'm pretty sure we've been through this before....drugs and THS/LP don't necessarily have to be meshed together. Does anyone actually think CF did everything he talks about? Nah.
/mytwocents.
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Post by doctoracula on Mar 12, 2010 0:23:30 GMT -5
i got into THS around 24, i'm 28 now. the band, and separation sunday in particular, definitely sorta define a certain part of my life. it was also around the time i met my wife, and when i was having a sort of spiritual rebirth in my brain. times were weird. but good weird. and i'm always going to remember THS as the soundtrack to that.
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) a band that moves you doesn't have to mean the lyrics are about you personally. it can be about pure blistering rock and roll, or about triumph of joy, or about hanging on to joy with your last shreds of hope, or even about empathy for characters like holly, or any of a hundred other points of contact. 
