2000 Great Songs #1239: Fitting In With The Misfits

Before Mark Oliver Everett began the long-running Eels (with a revolving cast of band members), he recorded a couple albums as simply "E." 1992's A Man Called (E) is a surprisingly solid debut, introducing the blend of power-pop-adjacent alt.rock and introspective lyrics that would continue to perk up even his more somber Eels work. There are a few tracks I love pretty much equally, but I'm going with "Fitting In With The Misfits," a wonderfully poignant anthem for those of us who felt a little out-of-place in our youth. There are some absolutely gorgeous harmonic breaks, and the sort of catchy, designed-for-a-sing-along chorus that makes it kinda shocking this song (and album) got so little attention at the time.

Cover by Lenny Supera (for some reason presented as a scratchy old acetate recording):