MILB: "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in my Hand" By Primitive Radio Gods

You know, it's not often that you get a title like that one above.  I'm going to shorten it to "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth" for the rest of the blog post, OK?

In the summer of 1996, I had decided to stay in Washington, DC to be with my girlfriend instead of going back to Florida and working.  I'd just finished the worst semester of my university career, and was working 2 jobs in DC to help pay the rent for a place I lived on 25th Street, NW in Washington with my Fraternity brother Micky.  Then, it went all kinds of weird.

Less than a week after moving into my new place and starting work at the Orioles Baseball Store on Farragut Square and at GW's Police Department, my girlfriend dumped me.  She said, and I quote, "You're not who I thought you were."  Always a head scratcher that one, right?  Who did you think I was exactly?  (Actually, I'm cool with what happened.  I met the woman of my dreams and have two lovely children with her, so no looking back.)

I digress, though.  Over that summer, and the depression that came with it, I listened to music to help me cope.  It's a reoccurring thing in my life: whenever I feel down I turn to music to make me feel better.  Usually listening to music that is sad when I'm sad for some reason cheers me up.  So it was that I listened to a lot of August and Everything After by Counting Crows, and then this song came out.

"Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth" was from an Alt-Rock band called Primitive Radio Gods.  I'd never heard of them before, but I liked the song.  It helped that they sampled BB King, who I do love quite a bit.  The sample, from BB's "How Blue Can You Get" was brilliant, and added a touch of melancholy to the hip-hop beat playing underneath.

 I been downhearted baby/I been downhearted baby/EEVVVER since the day we met/EEVVVER since the day we met.

That's a slice of fried gold right there for someone getting over a breakup.  You might as well called the song, "I been dumped."

Recently I started listening to the song again, and really started to listen to the lyrics.  This song is fantastic lyrically.

We sit outside and argue all night long/ about a god we've never seen/but never fails to side with me. 

Wow, that's powerful, and something that gets you thinking.

A life is time, they teach us growing up/ the seconds ticking killed us all/a million years before the fall/ you ride the waves and don't ask where they go/ you swim like lions through the crest/ and bathe yourself on zebra's flesh.

This is deep stuff, and it's in a song that was featured in the movie "The Cable Guy."  How did that happen?!?  And why isn't this song recognized for how good it is?  I mean, Primitive Radio Gods didn't make a cent off the record, as they probably had to pay for the use of the BB King sample.  Still, something this good should be heard more often than it is now.  I know it was released 17 years ago, but it's still a great song.  It should be brought back out so that lovelorn teenagers everywhere have something good to be moody to, not Justin Bieber singing, "Baby".

Don't lose this song people.  Find it on youtube, or buy it. You'll thank me, and it may take you back to 1996.  What were you doing back then?  Do you remember this song?  What does it mean to you?  If you've never heard it: Find it now.  Go on, you'll thank me later.