Originally published at skankage.com. Please leave any comments there.

without a doubt, “semi-charmed life” by 3rd eye blind is one of the greatest hits of the 90s. this song brings back a lot of good memories for me from being 11 years old to my teenage years, singing along to this with brandon in his car. in fact, every time i hear it, i think of him.

this was 3rd eye blind’s first hit, and it came out in the summer of 1997. i was going through this period where i instantly hated any new song i heard and they just had to grow on me. i will never forget the moment i realized just how much i liked this one, though i was in downtown washington, d.c., and it was playing on my aunt’s car radio. suddenly, i was in love.

there’s a hidden verse that the radio stations usually don’t play, although i’ve heard it added every now and then before on the radio. it comes after stephen sings, “slide up around the belly, face down on the mattress:”

One
And you hold me
And we are broken
Still, it’s all that I want to do, just a little now
Feel myself, head made of the ground
I’m scared, but I’m not coming down
No, no
And I won’t run for my life
She’s got her jaws now locked down in a smile, but nothing is all right
All right

that verse really is the greatest part of the entire song, and it’s kind of sad they cut it out for radio edits. but i digress.

although the melody is catchy and upbeat, the lyrics are about drug use, particularly crystal meth. as an 11 year old, i didn’t know this at the time, and i probably would have been rather appalled had i known, lol. when i got older, though, i started to get that aspect of the song more.

this is one of those songs that i can just crank up the volume and get absolutely lost in. it’s loaded with hundreds of memories for me and always makes me think both of washington, d.c. and brandon.

and now without further ado, i bring you the video for “semi-charmed life” by 3rd eye blind: