'The Line'

I remember a line I heard at a concert once.

It was a Third Eye Blind show (don't tune out, yet, please) at the Hard Rock Theater in Orlando, Fl, in 2000, I'm guessing. They weren't hugely popular anymore, but they still sold out venues. They probably still do. Some friends and I drove up from Sarasota, FL, about a 3 hour drive, to see them play. We were going to Ringling College of Art at the time, and wanted to party a bit. So, we probably hopped in my Jeep Wrangler, the same one I drive out in Cali, and headed out.

I was never a massive Third Eye Blind fan, but I think that I had all their CD's and one of their tunes was my graduating class's 'Class Song.' So, there's a bit of nostalgia lumped in with them, and it'd be cool to see 'em, right? Right. Why am I justifying listening to them as a teen to you, I don't even know you.

Back to 'The Line.' This line was said by the lead singer, Stephen Jenkins, towards the end of the show. And it was said during one of their hit singles, 'I'll Never Let You Go.'

You know the song, if you think about it really hard.
Da, na, na, na, naaa.
Da, na, na, na, naaa.
(Repeat, repeat)

And Jenkins is kinda awesome live, by the by. He nails the notes, struts, feels it, he's passionate. That's all I want to see in live music, anyway, the passion. That's what brings you back. These groups' passion. Show me honesty. Do it with honesty. Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk. Bring it.

Ah, but 'The Line.' This line, that Jenkins said, it came after this lyric:

'You tell me that I've changed.'

But before the next lyric began, he adlibbed a line after this first lyric.

Improv. He flipped the script. Sometimes bands do this cause they can't stand singing the same lyrics to the same songs over, and over, and over. And over.

But he didn't change the existing lyric, he simply added a bumper. So, here's what he said that's stuck with me for over 10 years, and will stick with me for the rest of my life, I'm certain.

'You tell me that I've changed.'

So far so good. Nothing unusual. That was supposed to be there...

And then this, 'The Line':

'YOU'RE G'DDAM RIGHT I'VE F*CKING CHANGED.'

Honest. Pure. Passionate.

To me, he's talking to a girl. She told him that he's changed, presumably, from her end, for the worse, and he agrees. But he doesn't see it in a negative light.

He's happy about it.

And that's what struck a chord with me.

I think we're kinda fed some BS by folks as we grow up. We're told to 'Never Change.' And that's some shitty advice.

Change is Good.
(Don't lose who you are as a person, or, if you were a crappy person, please do so)

I looked on Youtube to see if I couldn't dig it up, to see that I wasn't losing my mind, or maybe he said it differently, and I was kinda just hoping to hear it again, honestly, hoping that maybe he said 'The Line' at other performances, and as luck would have it, the sumbitch did.

Here it is, start watching around 3:05.