The Impression That I Get
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| “The Impression That I Get” | |||||
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| Single by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones from the album Let's Face It |
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| Released | 1997 | ||||
| Genre | Ska-punk | ||||
| Length | 3:14 | ||||
| Label | Mercury Records | ||||
| Writer(s) | Dicky Barrett Joe Gittleman |
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| The Mighty Mighty Bosstones singles chronology | |||||
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"The Impression That I Get" is a song by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
It is the first single from the 1997 album Let's Face It and reached number 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. In 1998, a live version of this song appeared on Live from the Middle East. That same year, the Bosstones performed this song during their debut performance on Saturday Night Live.
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[edit] Music
"The Impression That I Get", like their song "Where'd You Go?", is fairly characteristic of the Bosstones’ ska punk style. Horns play a large role in this sound, as do the distinctive vocals of Dicky Barrett.
[edit] Track Listing
- The Impression That I Get
- Desensitized
- Is It
- Storm Hit
[edit] Original Release
More than year before the release of Let's Face It the song appeared on Safe and Sound: A Benefit in Response to the Brookline Clinic Violence [1] an album released in response to the slayings of two abortion clinic workers in two different clinics in Brookline, MA on December 30, 1995 and received heavy play on Boston radio throughout 1996. The song was seemingly written especially for the benefit.
[edit] Lyrics
In the lyrics, the singer asks listeners if they have "been close to tragedy" necessitating "a strength most don't possess". The singer says while he has not faced such a daunting situation himself, he "know(s) someone who has" and makes the understatement that he is "sure it isn't good." The singer also expresses doubts about his own mettle and wonders how he would perform in such a situation himself. While stating "I like to think that if I was I would pass" he confesses "I'm afraid of what I might find out."
The opening line of the chorus states "I never had to knock on wood," and it may be more accurately rendered as "I never had to...(knock on wood)" referring to something that the singer has never had to do (i.e. face a huge crisis) and utilizing the superstitious phrase "knock on wood" which is said in the hopes that a good thing will continue to occur after it has been acknowledged. Similarly, the mid-chorus lyrics "It makes me wonder if I never had to knock on wood" are more easily understood with the insertion of ellipsis and other punctuation, i.e. "it makes me wonder if I...? Never had to... (knock on wood)."
The lyrics have been interpreted by some to be in reference to AIDS, and the anticipation of blood results, but the group's official website denies this.
[edit] References
- Official Bosstones Page
- Bosstones Letter to fans regarding the hiatus
- William Krick's Bosstones Discography
| Preceded by "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind |
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single June 28, 1997 |
Succeeded by "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind |
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