the promise ring’s nothing feels good – revisited

at the time of the release of the promise ring’s nothing feels good i was 23, and it was 1997. it doesnt seem like it would be a therapeutic type of listen, but for 23 year old me, it was a godsend. during the years of 94-97, i was a mess. i was fun – i think, but kind of an asshole. i was filled with pent-up frustrations, mounting disappointments and dealing with a whole bunch of other shit you go through as you’re trying to make you’re way through the world. to make matters worse i was on the back-end, and im not to ashamed to admit, of not getting laid for about 13 months. admittedly, i didnt really try, and just assumed that when i went out at night that the ladies would just line up accordingly. as it turns out, and you could’ve guessed it, that wasnt the case. looking back, it was for the better that i didnt go out actually seeking to get laid, cause that would have only added to my list of shit i wasnt prepared to deal with. still, it would have been nice. so, here you have a 23 year old dealing with some shit who hasnt been laid in over a year, its a recipe for a mini-disaster. disasters were relatively avoided but god damn did i piss some people off during that time. luckily, i had surrounded myself with some decent folk and they were kind enough to deal with such shenanigans or at least accept that i was going to fuck up.

anyway, here comes nothing feels good strolling into my life sometime in the fall of 1997. i was a pretty huge cap n’ jazz fan, so i can only assume thats how i found the promise ring. when i say huge, i mean as huge as one person can be after one mere release. i wish i could remember where i bought it, not that it would add anything to the story. actually, i was living in the gold coast at the time and definitely bought it at the record store that was on division and state – which is gone now it appears, and i cant remember the name. anyone know the place im talking bout? regardless, of where i bought it, i remember getting back to my studio apt @ 1010 n dearborn and throwing it onto my “hi-fi.” “is this thing on” i dont know what its about but i made it my own, and really thats one of the beautiful things about music, but i dont need to get into you with that if you’ve made it this far with me. in fact, every track on nothing feels good was written just for me, which at the time was the most awesomest of feelings. even the minute and some seconds “how nothing feels” hit me, hard with its underlying white noise, sparse piano plucking and faint acoustic strumming it was the perfect interlude to the onslaught of emotions that were rushing over me. the second half of the record, didnt let up and finished with, what i still feel, today, is the greatest closer to a record that i have ever heard, “forget me.” one part of that song that still gets me to this day is the last 30 seconds when everything comes to a head and the lingering organ signals the records end.

listening to it now doesn’t nearly bring out the emotions it once did, but at 35 how could i expect it? still, every time i listen to it, which is often, i get a little reminiscent about those days and records would affect me as this did.

buy it here

why did ever we meet?
forget me

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