2000 Great Songs #1430: On The Roof

This is our third visit to The Good Earth, the Feelies' 1986 masterpiece of pastoral indie jangle which, as I've spouted ad nauseum, is one of my absolute favorite, most frequently-played records in my Absurdly Oversized Music Collection. And while I think other tracks on the album are "better" (though the blend of guitars here and some subtle piano is simply gorgeous), the album-opening "On The Roof" is an example of a song where just hearing the first couple notes unfailingly brings on a massive rush of nostalgic emotional force. For me, it's the sound not just of discovering a record which would immediately become one of the most personally-defining collections of music of my lifetime, but the conjuring of a specific moment in my life. 

The album arrived at the very beginning of my junior year in college. I'm back on campus, living in a dorm suite with 3 close friends, a brand new girlfriend (someone I'd been friends with since the first day of college two years prior; currently about to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary), kicking back on Charlie's battered, bongwater-stained, ridiculous-looking curbside-trash sofa in the dorm as the needle slips into the groove and the muted opening beats are joined by those glorious chords chiming out into the air. Fifteen seconds to sum up my entire being just as the rest of my life began.

Live 1987:

Live 2017:

See the entire Top 2000 to date in a sortable database!