18. The Plan

Song:  "The Plan"
Artist:  Built to Spill
Album:  Keep it Like a Secret
Year:  1999
Length: 3:29
Label:  Warner Brothers
Rating:  9.3/10 (on Pitchfork)

• Download Built to Spill - "The Plan".mp3

Seriously, Keep It Like a Secret has already been spun at Club Jason five times within the past 24 hours.  That's not a frequent occurrence-- not unless it really, and truly is, love.  Doug Martsch just knows how to tickle me in all of the happy places, and he accomplishes that on the merits of the opening number alone.  "The Plan" is a brisk, weaving anthem complete with a solo that would make Thurston Moore green with envy.

I have to agree with Jason Josephs assessment on Pitchfork, as "The Plan" was my first real exposure to Built to Spill (despite its presence on their fourth full-length) and was one of the first songs of my exposure to "indie rock" as a genre back at the beginning of this decade.  Yeah, it sounded a little like Sonic Youth.  And a little like Pavement.  But in its own brilliant anthemic ways, "The Plan" was a rollicking thing of beauty that foretold all the great music I have enjoyed since then.  And it remains one of my favorite 20 songs of all-time.  The first minute and a half of this song is unmatched in the annals of rock history.  Hell yeah, I said it.  Just have a listen and dispute.

The plan keeps coming up again
And the plan means nothing stays the same
But the plan won't accomplish anything
If it's not implemented

Like it's always been
And it makes me think of everyone
And the cause of this is evident
But the remedy cannot be found
Cause it's so well hidden

This history lesson doesn't make any sense
In any less than ten thousand year increments
Of common sense, common sense, common sense, common sense, common sense...

The sound doesn't match the video on this unfortunately, but it was the "best" video for this song I could find on YouTube.

Comments

[Elmer Straw]

Let's Go Seahawks!!!!!