| Happiness... Is Not a Fish that You Can Catch |
| Happiness... Happiness... is a hot cup of coffee on a cold day. Happiness... is petting your cat until she falls asleep. Happiness... is searching through old family photo albums. Happiness... is the third album from Our Lady Peace. The first time I heard this album, I fell in love. I listened to it constantly for an entire week while on vacation. I listened to it on long drives in the car, when I really, really appreciated it. Somehow it relieved my homesickness. It was the first album by Our Lady Peace that I had ever owned, and I know that if I�d bought the other CD that I had considered buying, my life would be completely different right now. I guess you could say �it was the album that changed my life.� I know that this gives absolutely no information about why I love the album so much, so here are the reasons. |
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| Happiness... features an impressive range of sounds, from the intense reverberation of the guitar in songs like �Is Anybody Home.� and �Lying Awake� to the rueful melancholy of �Thief� and �Stealing Babies.� It is too difficult to decide which song I love the most off this album, but I will say that I turn my stereo up when it comes to �Is Anybody Home!!� It�s just so high energy and raw--it makes my skin crawl! I believe that the basic theme of this album is �human obsession with our own mortality, as well as surrendering to the bitter reality that is death.� This theme shows through on more than song on the album--in fact they say �die� in four songs, and make connotations to it in three others. Of course, this album is about more than just death. It has elements of hope folded in with the main thread of sadness. In fact, the album�s title is perfect representation of this. Happiness is not something you eventually just �catch� like a fish; it�s more elusive than that. As Raine put it: "If you don't get depressed sometimes, there's no way you're going to be able to realize when you�re happy and things are great." The song, �Thief� was inspired by Raine�s personal experience with a young girl, Mina Kim who died of cancer, and what was done to encourage and support her. Who could mistake the meaning of the lyrics �I can�t see that thief that lives inside of your head, but I can be some courage at the side of your bed...� To me, this suggests that even though in the end, efforts to improve her physical condition are in vain, making the dying child happy is the best thing anyone can do. Interestingly, Raine and (recent wife) Chantal Kreviazuk were both involved with this tragedy, and both wrote songs about the brave young Mina. (The title of Chantal�s �Colour Moving and Still� album was in fact, dedicated in memory of Mina.) Admittedly, the band has voiced some disappointment with the final product, saying that there was �too much information� and that the vocals were �drowned out� by the guitar and bass lines. However, they confessed that they worked for too long, and that in the end, the album suffered as a whole. But I still really love this album, no matter what anybody says. It changed my life. |