Car Crash

I've always been told that the song you're listening to when something traumatic happens will be forever burned in your brain along with the incident. I recall a friend of mine in high school saying he could never listen to "Paint It, Black" without getting an uneasy feeling as it was what he was playing when he wrecked his car. The sudden, unexpected impact would play in his head and strike at random moments during the dark jangles of Brian Jones's sitar.

It seems fitting, and almost convenient that I was listening to Suicide's first record when my car was struck by a sleeping driver's Toyota Saturday night. I was a few minutes into the disturbing monolith, "Frankie Teardrop", when the loud thud pushed me forward and cut through the humming keyboard dirge. I guess I was lucky in retrospect. Firstly, that I wasn't seriously hurt in the accident, but secondly that I was listening to a song that seems designed for trauma. Nothing could be worse than having a great pop song like say, "Just Like Heaven", or "Tenderness", forever scorched by the screeching tires. Because it was "Frankie Teardrop", the idea is already there to give the listener nightmares. Having the actual memory of the unpleasant sensation of being hit into by a vehicle seems almost like a bonus when you think about what the band was trying to evoke with it's unsettling drone and shaky vocals. The only thing that could have made it better is if it was during one of Alan Vega's horrifying screams.

Being in a car accident is terrible, and something I would not recommend for anyone. However, if it has to happen, Suicide would be a good soundtrack for it.