Brian Vander Ark - Freshmen - Plus Commentary

The smash hit performed by Brian Vander Ark at our home in Houston, Texas on May 24, 2008. Along with the Freshman Brian performed many other incredible tunes. The commentary at the end of the video is so good! A must see! Although, most know Brian from his Verve Pipe days, he has quite the solo career....check out www.brianvanderark.com and his tunes..... really incredible stuff. Thank you again Brian for the awesome performance and gracing our home with your presence. Everyone had a very special time! We look forward to another show next year!

In 2001, Brian Vander Ark explained what the song means to him on Verve Pipe's bulletin boards:
"When I was young I knew everything" - We all think we know everything at a young age. I thought I did. I realize I didn't know sh*t until I was 36.
"And she, a Punk who rarely took advice" - How many people do we know like that?
"Now I'm guilt-stricken, sobbing, with my head on the floor" - Something happened that caused this reaction, but I wouldn't want to give that away this early in the song, so let's throw in an some ambiguity:
"Stop a baby's breath, and a shoe full of rice, no" - First of all, forget the NO. Stop a baby's breath is just that. Abort the baby. A shoe full of rice is a result of a wedding. So - stop a baby's breath AND then you stop a wedding. She's pregnant, get her to abort, and then there's no wedding. And you know what?
"I can't be held responsible, cause she was touching her face" - When I wrote this song, The Divinyls had a song out called 'I Touch Myself.' The TV was on, she was touching her face in the video. Very sexy. So, I can't be held responsible because she was trying to be sexy, trying to seduce me, etc.
"I won't be held responsible, she fell in love in the first place" - I didn't tell her to fall in love.
"For the life of me, I cannot remember what made us think that we were wise, and we'd never compromise" - What was I thinking back then? Who am I to put a girl though that? Why was I unable to compromise? Guilty feelings.
"For the life of me, I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins, we were merely freshmen" - We were just kids, let it go, we all make mistakes, etc.
"My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her" - He needed to get away because of what happened.
"His girl took a week's worth of Valium and slept" - This is why this song is not that strong literally - it's confusing. HIS girl is MY girl. the same girl that had the abortion has now killed herself.
"Now he's guilt-stricken, sobbing with his head on the floor, thinks about her now and how he never really wept he says" - He has the same guilty feelings that I do about the abortion and death.
"We tried to wash our hands of all of this, we never talk of our lacking relationships" - We rarely spoke after the incident - we just tried to forget it. We never spoke of her or the fact that we can't have a decent relationship with anyone since then.
"We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip" - No matter how careful you might be, there are other perils out there.
The girl is real, the abortion is real. the death is not. it's poetic license to make the story more interesting.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• brian
• vander
• ark
• freshmen
• freshman
• verve
• pipe

[davidtusa]

Brian Vander Ark spends part of the year performing at small venues including homes. We were fortunate enough to get on his schedule!

[mcslbc]

he was at small venues and house parties???? nooo...i thought he was playing the forum this weekend. haha j/k...kinda...he sounds great, though. really talented.

[davidtusa]

He will be back in Texas in late May 2009!!! We look forward to having him in our home again!!

[guitardaze]

Amazing. This song seems like just yesterday. I guess that just goes to show how old I am getting.

[davidtusa]

He sounds better than ever!

[SpinDoctor91]

great performance,i think this is the greatest version Brian has did!

[stacey191106]

love him and this song :) both beautiful:)

[anjelaf]

so underrated! fantastic musician and song writer!

[jrettig93]

he went to my school..kenowa hills...and he came and sang for us..his concert is tonight at our school

[murphsmp]

how can i get brian to come to my house?

[ineedsleepingpills]

:'( such a sad song.. amazing

[MINDCRIME518]

This is awesome...As I constantly say all the time, Verve Pipe and Brian never got the recognition they so deserved...This is one of MANY awesome songs...thanks so much for posting...btw, rumor has is there is a reunion?