Random Weekends continue with a track from Ben Jelen’s 2004 debut album, Give it All Away. This is one of those records that you can find, without fail, in the $1.99 cutout bin of any shopping mall record store. No doubt that’s how it wound up in my shelf.
I don’t think I’ve ever listened to Give it All Away all the way through, or if I have it made too little an impression to stick with me even as a vague memory. Opening track ‘Come On’ was a minor hit but even that song doesn’t feel very familiar.
‘Rocks’ is the album’s second track, a piano-based ballad that’s produced to within an inch of its life. A review of Give it All Away on AllMusic.com criticizes the album for going too big too soon, suggesting that Jelen would have been better served by a more modest debut.
I see that point. This song is reaching for the rafters, aiming for a Coldplay vibe that feels too big for the moment. Sometimes it’s hard to like somebody who is trying so hard to be liked.
But I do detect some talent in the Scotland-born, U.S.-raised Jelen, who pretty much disappeared after this album made its brief splash. I’m glad he turned up in the cutout bin of my Random Weekends.
I watch you bring your canvas into light.
Oh I know that’s how you see the world,
I know that you see anything you like.
But now I’m doubting me,
I know I shouldn’t be but
I’ve been down, I’ve been down
Cause it was love wasn’t it?
Well it’s killing me not having it.
It’s hard to not remember,
Forget it’s not the same,
When still you come and tell me
‘Sorry I came without an invitation
Just wanted to be loved.’
The last perfect thing,
You know that you bring me back to life.
On and on and on and on,
I think about you all day long,
I need you to be stronger.
Cause now I’m doubting me –
I know I shouldn’t be but
I’ve been down, I’ve been down
Cause it was love…
Yeah, I hear the sound,
And I know that you’ll be
Coming round – you know I’ll wait for you.
Oh love, it’s killing me not having it.
I need you to
Be stronger, don’t wanna hear the sound,
’cause rocks upon my window mean that you’re coming round.
And how could I resist when I think you’re still in love.
How can I move on when I wanna be in love with you.
Meet Me In Montauk 
I seem to recall Jelen being compared to Billy Joel. I listened to the album with some interest because of that, but found, like you, that it was mostly lacking.
This song is wholly generic and uninteresting. The single “Come On” is better.
I have never heard of this person before, though Dana suggests that we (he?) owned the CD at one point. I don’t believe it. And I also can’t recall ever having seen this album in a cut out bin in a record store. I can honestly say that, until today, I have never heard of this human being.