Needed You More; Wanted Us Less

While Sean is taking you back to the 90's lighter side with Saved By The Bell, I'm going for the dark and grunge side of that decade.

One of those days of driving without the mp3 player powered on and WRAT Radio kicks back something from the 90's that I never fully appreciated; Bush's Glycerine. With various 90's childhood memories mixed with the eerie almost-shoegaze sound of the instrumentals and Gavin's vocals, the song began to become a parasite to my ears. Now the lyrics and their meaning finally kicked in.

Nitroglycerine is a chemical used in explosives. It's a vicious, colorless, and odorless liquid. Something you normally don't want to be around I would have to say. Gavin is comparing love to a very delicate yet explosive chemical. That's the song title's base and the refrain.

Now for the rest of the song, it's really about losing someone who obviously meant a lot; but to make it worse, one minute she is there and the next she is not. While a troublesome relationship, the vocalist doesn't seem to mind because when she is there, it's basically good enough for him.

Also, Nitroglycerine is one of those chemicals that it is more dangerous as it gets shaken and is referenced with "If I treated you bad, you bruise my face" and "Could have been easier on you. I couldn't change though I wanted to." The other part is that glycerine is used in Nitroglycerine to stabilize the nitro side. By itself, Glycerine is just a sweet chemical used in perfumes, medicines, and food preservation. But the way it's referenced in this song is like love is a bomb.

Now, not touching the chemical side of Glycerine anymore, the rest of the song is about an unrequited affection where the vocalist is clearly more into her. "It must be your skin that I'm sinking in." and "When we rise, it's like strawberry fields." describe the positive side while "I couldn't love you more." and "I needed you more as you wanted us. I could not kiss, just regress." portray the heartache.

I listened to this song on loop for quite sometime to take it in; each time the strings pulling a different nerve inside me. I felt a lot of empathy overcome me as I listened to Gavin's pain in his relationship since admittedly, we all have been there; some of us are there presently and that just might be why we finally understand this song.  And for those of you reading, listen to this song and try to find the drums. You won't. This song does not use any percussion but a mix of electric and classic strings.