3.1.24

Rivers flow into the sea

Yet even the sea is not so full of me

If I’m not blind why can’t I see

That a circle can’t fit where a square should be

I love a good power ballad.

Favorites of mine include Prince’s Purple Rain, Guns N’ Roses’ November Rain … ummm … I can’t think of another rain song to round this out, so let’s go with Heaven by Warrant. And for good measure, Heaven (the other one) by Bryan Adams. Oh! And Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison. Can’t forget about that one.

I also love a good concept album.

Operation: Mindcrime from Queensrÿche. David Comes to Life by Fucked Up. A Grand Don’t Come for Free by The Streets. All great.

Extreme checks off both of those boxes with Hole Hearted, from the band’s 1990 album, Extreme II: Pornograffitti. The album comes with the subtitle, A Funked-Up Fairy Tale, and that’s exactly what it is. The tracks explore the trappings of money, power, and sex in a way that sets the band apart from the dime-a-dozen hair metal bands biding their time before grunge took over.

Hole Hearted was the last single off the album, and for my money, it’s miles better than the album’s biggest hit, More Than Words (and that’s a damn good song). It’s heartfelt, frantic, and driving.

And I played it a ton on my college radio show. It made me a bit of a pariah among the hoity toity, artsy fartsy crowd on campus. Which was fine. The only part of that clique I’ve ever matched with is fartsy, so no big whoop.

Hole Hearted began playing on a loop in my noggin today while we were out wandering on chilly beaches and driving along the tributaries that feed into the Atlantic Ocean.

Rivers flow into the sea

Yeah. Where have I heard that before?