Today’s Song of the Day is “The Freshmen” by The Verve Pipe.
If you’re a Xennial like me, nothing screams throwback to the high school days like the intro to this song. And since The Verve Pipe is releasing new music these days, I couldn’t help but throw this one into the mix for Song of the Day.
It’s such a somber, melancholy tune, and everyone back then treated it with such reverence—stopping to sing along as if it were an anthem for the age. And I guess it sort of was, in a way.
From a production standpoint, I love the left-right guitar mix of the intro. So much bass on the left, very sparkly on the right. The guitar amp recordings really create the vibe of sitting right in front of the stage while the artist decides to slow it down and get personal. Throughout the song, there’s a lot of stereo information; the isolated guitar chunking and fly-ins really fill out the mix. It builds well and has that 90s screamy-ness at the end.
Lyrically, I’m not sure I ever knew what was going on, but for younger listeners, the hooks and callback lines were very strategic so as to create the sing-along moments throughout the song—regardless of the verse lyrics that were more subdued and cryptic. And, “Freshmen—” how were they not going to find a target audience, right?
For me, it’s a song full of nostalgia. I never really got into their other tracks as a young person, but I’ve listened to their albums a lot more as an adult. I’m excited for the upcoming releases and wish the band success!
Check it out if you haven’t heard it!
