Best Songs of 2013 – #17
I doubt Toad the Wet Sprocket’s lead singer Glen Phillips’ name ever comes up in discussions of great pop vocalists. The band is too much a relic of the 90s to command that much respect.
But I’d rank him right up there. His soothing but edgy tone perfectly serves the band’s rocking material and especially its ballads.
‘Golden Age’ is a fine example of the latter. The moodiest track from the band’s first new album in decades, this is a song that feels familiar in the most comfortable way.
How’d we ever come to this
Took all we had to just survive
No time left for asking why
Saint Virginia saved your life
An angel and a kitchen knife
When the devil tests your will
You kill who you have to kill
God loves a madman
But I wore his patience through
It’s too much to ask of anyone
I could never be as strong as you
I could never be as strong as you
All we are is vanity
Comics playing tragedy
I traded in my sanity
For a dream that soon abandoned me
God loves a madman
But I wore his patience through
It’s too much to ask of anyone
I could never be as strong as you
Walls and barricades surround our golden age
We will return again
Some day
Meet Me In Montauk 
“,..this is a song that feels familiar in the most comfortable way.” Completely agree. Good stuff.
Familiar, perhaps, but it is also quite provocative. The lyrics are challenging and unexpected. I like it, but I’m a bit disturbed by it at the same time. 🙂
To me this is evocative and lovely in every way.