My Top 1000 Songs #589: My Gap Feels Weird

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Superchunk's long indie rock career is littered with great songs (several of which I've previously hailed), and I'm guessing this one is more a left-field pick. But it's a personal favorite, a relentless blast of cathartic sunshine for me. 

2010's Majesty Shredding represented the band's dynamite return after a nearly decade-long sabbatical, and it was packed with goodies ("Crossed Wires" and "Digging For Something" could've been contenders for this space as well). But it's "My Gap Feels Weird" that always pulls me back to the record. There's a jagged, herky-jerky syncopation to the music that keeps you a little on edge. There's the endlessly provocative title. (Apparently it was something frontman Mac McCaughan's daughter said when she lost a tooth, but has a colorful, open-ended strangeness that invites more profound metaphors.) And the lyrics are a jubilant, anthemic salute to young outcasts, something inviting even for those of us who grew up on "Slack Motherfucker" and were feeling kinda old by the time this came out.

"Mister, keep your memories. We've all got forever skinned knees. You may be down here for something that you need, but I know she sings this sadness just for me. And it makes me free." 

Turn it up.

Live 2011: