Filed under: Indie Music 2008

There’s been some debate over at RLS regarding the correct line in the song “Sometime Around Midnight” from The Airborne Toxic Event. Is it cross, crutch, crux, crush, curse…? (See: Sometime Around Midnight Lyrics) And what’s a wonderwall anyways? (The song “Wonderwall” by Oasis is actually a song about “an imaginary friend who’s gonna come and save you from yourself”- Noel Gallagher).
The lyrics in question: “But you know that she’s watching. She’s laughing. She’s turning. She’s holding her tonic like a ________. 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.”
The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
Mikel (lead singer/guitarist) from the band was cool enough to offer RLS the correct word plus a brief explanation for its use: The line is “cross” and I meant it to mean sort of like she’s holding her drink ominously, as if it’s offering her comfort and guidance.
Thanks Mikel. This is another reason why we love indie music. There are still major label hits out there that are being misunderstood daily, with no courtesy in offering their listeners a valid explanation….
(See Fall Out Boy - This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an _______?)
36 Comments so far
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I get a lump in my throat every time I hear this song. I love the way it builds up, I love the strings. This is how I would forever feel if I lost my love.
Comment by Terry 10.21.08 @ 9:19 amthis song is exactly what it feels like when you see someone you once loved put into awsome musical notes and chords…the twising of emotions, the memories flooding your brain and the haunting that stays with you
Comment by rebma 10.24.08 @ 8:00 pmI love this song. Is so beautiful. I love the feeling of the song. My love of my life showed me this song and it meant a lot. Its adorable
Comment by sharon 11.30.08 @ 2:00 pmThis song made me cry the first time I heard it. I can really relate…I think this is the anthem for anyone who has ever had their heart broken.
Comment by angella 12.04.08 @ 9:07 pmWank-Splat
Comment by Anonymous 01.07.09 @ 5:28 pmGreat Tune.
Comment by RonPaul 01.08.09 @ 12:22 pmriveting lyrics…a common situation i’m sure everyone has felt but can never put it into ‘words’…i accidently fell upon this song on satillite radio oneday (alt nation) and immediately fell in love. love you guys. rock on and sing from the heart.
Comment by Car 01.21.09 @ 9:14 pmThis song makes me cringe cause it hits so close to home
It’s wonderful and I can’t stop listening.
I thought it was cross too but I thought it meant she was keeping him away like a vampire or other evils
Comment by Busby 02.03.09 @ 3:49 pmYou wrote that song about me. I am the girl in the white dress. And made sure he saw me leave “sometime around midnight”. You know you have a hit when someone listens to it and gets goosebumps. Your gonna make millions!!
Comment by Donna 02.04.09 @ 12:42 amlove this song!
check out ‘lost to the lonesome’ by pela - reminds me a bit of this ![]()
LOVE IT!!!
Comment by Dude Americaus 02.09.09 @ 8:34 amI’ve lived this night almost exactly the way it is written.
Comment by stich64 02.10.09 @ 2:06 pmAbsolutely brilliant track from a awesome album
Comment by Russ Field 02.17.09 @ 4:26 pmThis song is so very lovely and sad.
Comment by Barba Cornwell 02.18.09 @ 2:20 pmcant get enough of this song & the fact that “she’s holding her tonic like a CROSS” gives it that much more depth. Brings it full circle for me. May go down as an all-time favorite for me. LOVE IT!
Comment by jenn 03.03.09 @ 2:56 amI love this song!! One of my friends introduced it to me a couple of days ago, and it has been stuck in my head ever since. It is beautiful but heartbreaking =\ It is awesome!!
Comment by almita 03.07.09 @ 9:11 pmThis song is so great, I love it! I have had a very similar night just like the song. The lyrics are written so well, I can actually feel the pain and sorrow. The music is so beautiful, that is what I was drawn to at first, but when I stop and listened to the lyrics I felt so connected and very inspired!
Comment by Famis Joe 03.13.09 @ 2:09 pmwhat can i say. can’t get enough of this song. the way it builds up, the pain, the intensity. you feel it all.
Comment by Heidi 03.28.09 @ 12:02 pmthis song is amazing.
how did he come up with these lyrics?
This song reminds me of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Anyone else get that? It’s the restrained vocals; simple, evocative lyrics; and taut rhythm building to a crescendo.
Comment by M00kie 04.15.09 @ 1:53 pmI love this song! cant stop listening to it!!!
Comment by sally 04.17.09 @ 8:19 pmthe lyrics are so simple and stabbing at the same time. the music builds and resolves into this beautiful thing but it’s still holding onto the pain. simplicity makes you feel safe, images thoughts and chords draw tears when youre not paying attention.
Comment by megan 04.24.09 @ 9:17 amoften, when someone holds a cross that they have on their necklace, their hand is on their chest. I love the imagery of someone holding their drink close to their body.
Comment by Jen 04.25.09 @ 3:04 pmI never get sick of this song. I play it over and over..Beautiful.
Comment by Diane 04.27.09 @ 10:32 pmThis song reminds me so much of primitive radio god’s “standing outside a broken phone booth with money in my hand” in that the more you listen to it the more you feel like you can’t stop playing it. it captures the very essence of that break up that you didn’t want
Comment by mcory 05.01.09 @ 10:32 amI think anyone can relate, whether your the girl or the guy. Thats why I love this song. It touches everyone
Comment by iamflores 05.17.09 @ 5:55 pmThis song…it’s exactly what I would want one ex-love in particular to feel if we were to ever run into each other, especially if I happened to be wearing a white dress sometime around midnight…don’t get me wrong, I’m not an out for vengeance kind of gal…but just to think for a second that he actually gave a damn…man…it’s a good song that makes you travel back in time to something that happened 16 years ago…even when you’ve been happily married to someone else for 13…love, love, love this song and can’t wait to buy the album!
Comment by jiltedkitty 05.27.09 @ 12:19 amthis song makes me cry… just about every time I sing along… and I can’t help but to sing along… this is the soundtrack to my life… at least for a while..
Comment by Kat 05.29.09 @ 12:44 amMy new favorite! Heard it, googled it, can’t stop listening to it. I’m in awe at how someone could put heartbreak so accurately into lyrics. Fits me as well as so many others. Bravo.
Comment by Roger 05.30.09 @ 3:31 amim serious this song made me cry!!!i can really relate to the emotions in it!i love this song!!
Comment by Maria 06.16.09 @ 3:53 pmUnbelievably good song, I have to listen to it like 20 times a day to be satisfied. It’s refreshing, it’s got feeling and it doesn’t make you feel suicidal listening to it like so many of those “you broke my heart” songs. So well done…
Comment by Lys 06.23.09 @ 11:05 pmLove this song. It is the only hit I can recall that doesn’t have a chorus. Now that I have said that I am sure everyone will remind me of others.
Comment by KMH 06.24.09 @ 4:23 pmthis is exactly how i feel.
Comment by kate 06.28.09 @ 1:31 amthis song is so beautiful!! the lyrics are breath-taking.. the music leaves me in awe and together they leave me speechless!! so touching!!
Comment by carrie 07.02.09 @ 11:19 amLeave a comment
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ah! i absolutely love this song.
Comment by yesenia 10.19.08 @ 8:01 pmits really well written, and well you can feel the emotion that went into it.