My Top 1000 Songs #817: When It Began

[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.]

The Replacements' final album, 1990's All Shook Down, gets a bit of a bad rap. And, sure, it's more the beginning of Paul Westerberg's solo career than a proper band album, lacking the spark of prior triumphs, and the "break up album" vibe gives it an underlying sadness. Still, I find it underrated, featuring some of Paul's finest songwriting to date. I'm partial to "Nobody," a lyrical tour de force about the ex-boyfriend dropping by the wedding. But "When It Began" has long been a sentimental favorite. 

When I got married, a year or so after the album's release, I needed a few tracks as backing music for the wedding video slide show of our childhood photos. I opted for R.E.M.'s "Catapult," an obvious choice; as well as this one. And, yes, close observation of the lyrics may not make it the world's most appropriate choice, but Westerberg's wistful tone and a few key lyrics--perhaps capturing the end of the band?--made it feel particularly emotional. Still a great song even without context, some gentle, melodic jangle that may not carry the catharsis of, say, Tim or Let It Be, but retains the old magic.

Live 1991 (at 39:05):