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The Airborne Toxic Event — Sometime Around Midnight
Album: The Airborne Toxic Event
Avg rating:
7.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 4418









Released: 2008
Length: 4:59
Plays (last 30 days): 3
And it starts, sometime around midnight
Or at least that's when you lose yourself
For a minute or two
As you stand, under the bar lights
And the band plays some song
About forgetting yourself for a while
And the piano's this melancholy sound check to her smile
And that white dress she's wearing
You haven't seen her for a while

But you know that she's watching
She's laughing, she's turning
She's holding her tonic like a cross
The room's suddenly spinning
She walks up and asks how you are
So you can smell her perfume
You can see her lying naked in your arms

And so there's a change, in your emotions
And all these memories come rushing
Like feral waves to your mind
Of the curl of your bodies
Like two perfect circles entwined
And you feel hopeless and homeless
And lost in the haze of the wine

Then she leaves, with someone you don't know
But she makes sure you saw her
She looks right at you and bolts
As she walks out the door
Your blood boiling
Your stomach in ropes
Oh and when your friends say,
"What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Then you walk, under the streetlights
And you're too drunk to notice
That everyone is staring at you
You just don't care what you look like
The world is falling around you

You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You know that she'll break you in two
Comments (511)add comment
 jelgator wrote:



Thanks for the TPOH quote!!  Man that is one of my all-time fav bands that would have a happy home here at RP.  Just sayin'.

Yay! Nice to know that there are other RP listeners that remember TPOH and I’m an Adult Now. I’m surprised to see that Wikipedia says they still play “selected events”. I thought they broke up over 30 years ago.
SKIP!  WAY over played on here. I love the SKIP option!
Rips my guts out every time I hear it - that said, is one of my favorites.
 lizardking wrote:
William just played "Ashes to Ashes" by Bowie before this too.



Just did it again
 nakitu.tenatako wrote:

Reminds me of Heros by David Bowie

William just played "Ashes to Ashes" by Bowie before this too.

 RichardArthur wrote:

No song better captures the hyper-real moment of true unrequited love.   Gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.



yes. yes. yes.
Reminds me of Heros by David Bowie
Raw, visceral, heartfelt and true.  
A wonderful song that is so beautifully constructed to pull the strings of anyone who’s been in that position. It takes me every time through the emotional pain when, in the military overseas, the woman I was passionately in love with dumped me for a colleague; I couldn’t escape from seeing them together repeatedly at social functions where she would flirt with me before leaving with him, often to a room a few doors from mine. They later married but the pain never left me.
There VERY FEW songs that evoke as much of an emotional reaction as this song does.
Turn it up!   
This song certainly elicits a few passionate responses, from (mostly) men, it seems.
On Reddit, the vociferous ones deride it as "too literal".

I completely disagree.

When struggling with a battered & bruised heart ( gonna name you: Lauren M), the soul oft times has not the desire for subtle reflections, or quiet prose.

No, when the Heart is rent asunder, it is ruled by raw, direct emotion.
The memories of the tactile, and the ethereal.
The scent of Her, the feel of Her.
To see Her again, is at both Pleasure, and Pain.

This song fits it perfectly.
Pitchfork nearly destroyed their career by rating zero their first album (this one) due to a pure personal dislike of the reviewer.
I think the whole album deserves a 7 and this song maybe an 8. 
 RichardArthur wrote:

No song better captures the hyper-real moment of true unrequited love.   Gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.




this comment should be at the top of the most liked list.
Such a great track. Love it more with each listen.
 springof63 wrote:


Someone said - 'women are from venus, men are from mars'
someone else said - 'Men need to have sex to feel loved, Women need to feel loved to have sex'
dunno who, or if any of thats true,
but, to quote 'I'm An Adult Now' by 'The Pursuit Of Happiness' -

'Can't write songs about girls anymore,
Gotta write songs about women,
No more boy meets girl, boy loses girl,
More like, man tries to understand what the hell went wrong'




Thanks for the TPOH quote!!  Man that is one of my all-time fav bands that would have a happy home here at RP.  Just sayin'.
still zesty
 HStaples wrote:

This is one of my current top 10 songs on my playlist. No, make that top 2. I distinctly remember this emotion from about 30 years ago. I don't think it makes a difference that I'm a woman. It's the same shock and regret. The music falling like tonal curtains around the setting that the writer paints here is incredible. Love this band!


Full agreement from this guy who has also rated this a 10 due to the heartache from (almost) 30 years ago it reminds me of - actually it's quite impressive how the knot in the stomach happens just hearing about someone else's pain.  

Long Live RP and having a stomach not in knots!!
This is one of my current top 10 songs on my playlist. No, make that top 2. I distinctly remember this emotion from about 30 years ago. I don't think it makes a difference that I'm a woman. It's the same shock and regret. The music falling like tonal curtains around the setting that the writer paints here is incredible. Love this band!
Instantly reminded me of LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
 sunybuny wrote:

Please, please - I strongly urge you to read Mikel Jollett's book Hollywood Park.    



I just read Mikel Jollett's book Hollywood Park and loved it! There's so much in there. How he grew up in a commune/school and had to figure out his place with his parents. Helped me sort out my own stuff. Will second your commendation for others to read it.
I both love and hate this song.  Love it cause it is an amazingly well written song and the instrumentation and intensity is brilliant.  Hate it cause it brings back memories I would rather let go of.  Very emotional song and one day I hope I will hate it more than I love it if that makes any sense.
NICE! I never heard of this band before! ...Thanx RP!   
 alexandersmcmillan wrote:

Reading through the comments of this song makes me think that just about every RP listener has had that one love that got away. I do too. Admittedly it was more lust than love, but the memory is just as painful. An absence that can't be filled. A wound that won't heal. We men are an emotional lot, try as we might to hide it.



Yup.
As devastating as this is, if you've never had this emotion, you haven't truly lived.
 aonley wrote:

Pathetic.  Man-child.  Trying so hard to be epic, profound poetically emotional - just weak and desperate.


Normally you only get that much projection at the movies.
I've heard this song here a million times and only now read the lyrics. Ouch. Been there done that. "Under the bar lights" would've meant the original 9:30 on F street 40 years ago. And the rest is history. 
 Duc1098 wrote:

who was it that said “ women make the highs higher, and the lows more frequent” ?




That would be me. 
 alexandersmcmillan wrote:

Reading through the comments of this song makes me think that just about every RP listener has had that one love that got away. I do too. Admittedly it was more lust than love, but the memory is just as painful. An absence that can't be filled. A wound that won't heal. We men are an emotional lot, try as we might to hide it.


And don't forget... we're pigs too!
Seeing someone sitting naked in her arms while this song is playing must be the best times ever. Or am I wrong  
who was it that said “ women make the highs higher, and the lows more frequent” ?
This one gets me every time. I went out with a woman for 2 years when I was in the military in Germany. She then inexplicably dumped me for someone else. I used to see them together at official functions and seeing her tied my stomach in knots and I could barely keep myself together. Even almost 30 years later this song brings back those same desperate feelings of loss and wanting.
I love almost everything played on RP. I regularly rate songs too, and have never rated above 9; the classics and good oldies etc, but this is a 10 for me. Just love it. Just gets to me.
 fiddler wrote:
Man, I don't know both sides of the story here, but I really don't like this girl.
 
Don't tell him that- they may end up getting back together again.
Amazing....except for the way he pronounces 'feral'
 aonley wrote:
Pathetic.  Man-child.  Trying so hard to be epic, profound poetically emotional - just weak and desperate.
 

Did they piss on your chips or something?
 aonley wrote:
Pathetic.  Man-child.  Trying so hard to be epic, profound poetically emotional - just weak and desperate.
 
Possibly, but it's still a pretty good listen.
Pathetic.  Man-child.  Trying so hard to be epic, profound poetically emotional - just weak and desperate.
 sunybuny wrote:
Please, please - I strongly urge you to read Mikel Jollett's book Hollywood Park.    
 

And while we're reading, might as well pick up "White Noise" by Don DeLillo, which is where the band got its name.
Please, please - I strongly urge you to read Mikel Jollett's book Hollywood Park.    
I was this young man once.  Simultaneously beautiful and devastating.
 nicknt wrote:
Pitchfork rated this album 1.6 out of 10 and ruined the band's career, a real shame that won't be forgotten. 
 
I've already forgotten.
Man, amazing song still. This still makes you stop and listen, stays with you and think back to different places and different times. Instantly taken back to my early 20s, a period of unrequited love and listening to this on loop at the time for a short period, as if it was written exactly for me and my situation.
Lyrics remind me of How Soon is Now. 
 unclehud wrote:
Buck up, man; she's not the one.  If she was, she would love you back.  And it's obvious she doesn't.
 
Good advice, but the world won't listen, not just the man.  
Good track. Anyone hear similar chords to High & Dry by Radiohead?
 midget wrote:
When I heard that for the first time here on RP I bought the album right away. It was quite underwhelming. This song really is phenomenal but the rest of the album feels like: "Ok, we got that great song, but we need a few more.". Sorry to say that. 
 
Might still have to give it a listen for an IMO moment? Thanks for the heads up, though
 thewiseking wrote:
Amazing how things change as you age.
You are in your teens or 20s and she leaves you for someone else: catastrophe
You are in your 50s and she leaves: no biggie, a relief actually 
 
I'm in my 50s, now I know who I want to leave with.
When I heard that for the first time here on RP I bought the album right away. It was quite underwhelming. This song really is phenomenal but the rest of the album feels like: "Ok, we got that great song, but we need a few more.". Sorry to say that. 
Pitchfork rated this album 1.6 out of 10 and ruined the band's career, a real shame that won't be forgotten. 
Gives me prickles up the back of my neck and through my head. This guy's voice always makes me stop what I am doing and pay attention.
I hear passion.
That's an instant 7 for me, whatever genre it is.
10+++ for breaking my heart every time I hear it.
Reading through the comments of this song makes me think that just about every RP listener has had that one love that got away. I do too. Admittedly it was more lust than love, but the memory is just as painful. An absence that can't be filled. A wound that won't heal. We men are an emotional lot, try as we might to hide it.
This song always reminds me of Echo and the Bunnymen. I'm not sure why.

8
Very beautiful and much lovelier than the current toxic event....
awesome !  builds and builds and explodes and singing your head off!  LOVE it!!!  Thanks again RP!
H O L O C O S M I C A L  
rate 7 
 unclehud wrote:
Buck up, man; she's not the one.  If she was, she would love you back.  And it's obvious she doesn't.
 
Amazing how clear it is for us after having had this happen in our lives....and my daughter is going through the same "he doesn't love me anymore" drama and I feel for her even if she doesn't get that I get it....it's her world now and she'll learn (hopefully) from this experience.   Long Live RP and short live the heartbreak caused by ending relationships (except when great art is created as a result) 
cool cool cool
Buck up, man; she's not the one.  If she was, she would love you back.  And it's obvious she doesn't.
Sounds much like something similar performed by Amanda Palmer... not sure which came first?
All the failed romantic endeavors of my youth summarized in one song. Painfully brilliant!
Gosh - I STILL get chills listening to this one.  It captures what may as well have been the EXACT experience I had decades ago, and perfectly.  
The only thing that’s going to make this guy feel better is a few years of stalking.
Yeeeee haa
Wow. This is a nice surprise.
 fiddler wrote:
Man, I don't know both sides of the story here, but I really don't like this girl.
 
But she's HOT!!!
I like it Ok?
Man, I don't know both sides of the story here, but I really don't like this girl.
Good tune.  So much good music out there made by bands with awful, unmemorable bands names.  Symptomatic of the times, no one cares enough to be remembered.
 lizardking wrote:
 aspicer wrote:
Can't believe I still get chills hearing this song after so long....it's masterful at capturing this experience.

 
I must have felt that way when I originally rated it an 8, and today, after a couple weeks of thinking about past loves, wow....this one hits me hard.  Up to a 9 now.  And BillG - you can stop the theme now of painful post-relationship songs.  {#Cheesygrin}  PEACE
 
Yeah...I just had to bump it to a "10" - the soulful expression captured in this tune is amazing; I only wish the rest of their music was a few levels higher overall.
thewiseking wrote:
Amazing how things change as you age.
You are in your teens or 20s and she leaves you for someone else: catastrophe
You are in your 50 and she leaves: no biggie, a relief actually  

Grayson wrote:



LMAO! Hate to champion such a truth, and I'm not. It's just that thewiseking is right. Otherwise he wouldn't be known as so gosh darn wise. The self-fulfilling wishful thinking is strong in that one.



 
Grayson...thank you for commenting on thewiseking's 'wise' post....hell that's one funny ass truth post, one of the best....hahahahaha…..still I like the song and it's a 9 for me...but damn if it really only applies to youngsters, eh? Long Live RP!!
 thewiseking wrote:
Amazing how things change as you age.
You are in your teens or 20s and she leaves you for someone else: catastrophe
You are in your 50 and she leaves: no biggie, a relief actually 
 

LMAO! Hate to champion such a truth, and I'm not. It's just that thewiseking is right. Otherwise he wouldn't be known as so gosh darn wise. The self-fulfilling wishful thinking is strong in that one.



This is a hot song. One of those leave-at-all-on-the-stage kind. Would like to hear it live too. Goals. 
 zemoke wrote:
saw them play Osheaga in 2012: pouring rain, which magically stopped with warm sunshine during this song's climax

singer's comment: "I guess our tech meeting with God went well"

one of the best live music moments of my life
 
That's a great moment!
saw them play Osheaga in 2012: pouring rain, which magically stopped with warm sunshine during this song's climax

singer's comment: "I guess our tech meeting with God went well"

one of the best live music moments of my life
A fantastically passionate and compelling song.  A modern classic.  The epitomy of style.
 BonzoWiltsUK wrote:
I had to go and play this again, it's what a song should be: a great emotional expression in words and music, even if, perhaps especially, when it churns up reminders the visceral pain that love and desire have caused us all.
 
Yes!
I had to go and play this again, it's what a song should be: a great emotional expression in words and music, even if, perhaps especially, when it churns up reminders of the visceral pain that love and desire have caused us all.
10!!! 10!!! 10!!! Rockin' in the kitchen! {#Dancingbanana_2}{#Bananasplit}{#Dancingbanana}
 RichardArthur wrote:
No song better captures the hyper-real moment of true unrequited love.   Gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.
 
You said it perfectly.
What a great song! Always liked this band....especially this. {#Dancingbanana_2}{#Drunk}
Amazing song and lyrics that rings true to a past event in my life. The official video is pure perfection. So glad this Bill includes this on the playlist. Music likes this makes my monthly donation a no-brainer.
You just have to see her
https://hudemozi.club/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2b6a7c2749bcd58eaa96fe71cf2bc885.jpg
This song always makes me think of Dustin Hoffman crashing the wedding in The Graduate.

And that white dress she's wearing
You haven't seen her for a while
You don't care what you look like
The world is falling around you
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
 aspicer wrote:
Can't believe I still get chills hearing this song after so long....it's masterful at capturing this experience.

 
I must have felt that way when I originally rated it an 8, and today, after a couple weeks of thinking about past loves, wow....this one hits me hard.  Up to a 9 now.  And BillG - you can stop the theme now of painful post-relationship songs.  {#Cheesygrin}  PEACE
 thewiseking wrote:
Amazing how things change as you age.
You are in your teens or 20s and she leaves you for someone else: catastrophe
You are in your 50 and she leaves: no biggie, a relief actually 

 
Really? Lucky you! I guess...
All I hear is David Bowie...
Can't believe I still get chills hearing this song after so long....it's masterful at capturing this experience.
 RichardArthur wrote:
No song better captures the hyper-real moment of true unrequited love.   Gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.

 

True unrequited love. Perhaps. Or true proof he loved the wrong girl.  Maybe he should have left the bar before she did and saved himself the anguish. 
No song better captures the hyper-real moment of true unrequited love.   Gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.
 mrsquid wrote:

Yeah, the U2 guitar driving this piece. I think that this singer leads with his emotions, I have a hard time connecting with Bono, but this guy I can feel.

 
Bono lies awake every night because you two have not connected lol {#Bounce}
Did these guys once go on a trans-atlantic flight with The Killers, or something?
 richlister wrote:

Bit like U?

 
Yeah, the U2 guitar driving this piece. I think that this singer leads with his emotions, I have a hard time connecting with Bono, but this guy I can feel.
 springof63 wrote:
That's exactly right.

Someone said - 'women are from venus, men are from mars'
someone else said - 'Men need to have sex to feel loved, Women need to feel loved to have sex'
dunno who, or if any of thats true,
but, to quote 'I'm An Adult Now' by 'The Pursuit Of Happiness' -

'Can't write songs about girls anymore,
Gotta write songs about women,
No more boy meets girl, boy loses girl,
More like, man tries to understand what the hell went wrong'
 


 kayakingclark wrote:
Fuck, where's the 11 button?

 
Amen!
This becomes more insufferable on every hearing.
 thewiseking wrote:
Amazing how things change as you age.
You are in your teens or 20s and she leaves you for someone else: catastrophe
You are in your 50 and she leaves: no biggie, a relief actually 

 
This I like.  Now I have the remote.
Amazing how things change as you age.
You are in your teens or 20s and she leaves you for someone else: catastrophe
You are in your 50s and she leaves: no biggie, a relief actually 
*SHIVERS*
 trevc wrote:
Dreary. Bit like U2.

 
Bit like U?
 ShaunJ wrote:

Rockin on this rainy Vancouver Friday afternoon....{#Dancingbanana_2}{#Drummer}{#Bananajam}

 
Hey Tsawwassen! My home town.
 daniel_rusk wrote:
This sucks. Really sucks. Sounds like a neil diamond song. Help me. Dont get the value. And they play it like pop radio!

 
Upon reflection, his voice is somewhat like Neil Diamond's. But everything else you've said here is totally wrong. This song is epic, the emotion is visceral.
Dreary. Bit like U2.
{#Bananajam}
Kills me every single time I hear it...
Absolutely love this song.
 thewiseking wrote:
pretty brilliant segue from Eleanor into this. Jus sayin.

 
TheWiseKing's comment pretty much nails it (other comments pretty out of it)—where would we be without RP..... 
 Hoosfoos wrote:

...and neither does the guy before her. She is a vine-clinger.

 
I think this comment says more about you than the supposed protagonist of the song......
 
pretty brilliant segue from Eleanor into this. Jus sayin.
This sucks. Really sucks. Sounds like a neil diamond song. Help me. Dont get the value. And they play it like pop radio!
Evocative if you've ever been in a relationship and the other party moves on quickly
I think I am still looking at ghost, so can't say if I seen one.
 DigitalJer wrote:
Wow, what a great song.  Really nails it.

 
Yep - sure does.
8>9
I keep clicking the 10 button but the rating isn't going up.  Can someone else have a go, please.
the son of Sonic Youth
goosebumps.
 WonderLizard wrote:

Yeah, but you have to remember that for her it's a numbers/ego game. You don't count. Never did. Then again...neither did the guy she left with.

 
...and neither does the guy before her. She is a vine-clinger.