Saturday, 29 December 2007

GRANT LEE BUFFALO – FUZZY (SOL)


GRANT LEE BUFFALO – FUZZY (SOL)

Easily one of the most stirring songs from my youth (aka the grunge years) was “Fuzzy” by Grant Lee Buffalo.  I came to me at a troubled time and appeared to offer some kind of optimism and freedom, exhibiting a reality that was not mine alone and would eventually get overcome.

It all begins succinctly as a beat far in the distance couples with muted guitar as eventually a troubled voice emerges from the darkness requesting some solace in craving “bring me home, to this house of many days” before seeming to submit with “just lay me on the floor” as the mental rainstorm tears down.

“Fuzzy” is a song open to interpretation.  As the chorus strikes “I’ve been lied to, I’m fuzzy” you struggle to sense what specifically is occurring.  Regardless it does not sound healthy.

For what its worth I’ve always taken that the narrator is exhibiting his emotions after being cheated on or rejected.  With this he is recoiling, maybe even regressing, as little of the situation makes sense, as it becomes fuzzy.  From here the majority of the song is defined by pained recollections and blind hope that he maybe able to rediscover better times and save the day.  In a way there is a guarded optimism attached to so much surface misery.  And as such through the basis of the agony it is possible for the listener to gain some degree of positivity.

This particular copy/issue of the single came out on the SOL label (the Singles Only Label), which produced seven inches with large jukebox holes specifically with the intention of being played on such devices.  Myself I managed to happen across this particular copy of the single on the Time Records stand that used to be housed in the Clacton Indoor Market.  I bought it during my wilderness years period while I was working at Texas Homecare around 1995 and spending so much of my earnings on great records at the stall.  It felt like freedom.

Alas the emotions of this song have always been a world away from me.

Thesaurus moment: bleary.

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