Sunday Music: Bullion And ‘96 Feels

I’ve been going through boxes (and milk crates, and plastic bins, and…) of old CDs.

Since I apparently don’t own a CD player outside of my car, I’ve been digging up whatever I can up online, and whatever I can’t, well, don’t get me started (but if you get in my car you will be subjected to Vast Aire bootlegs).

At some point I’ll write a post about how everything I know about distribution economics stems from closely watching indie punk and rap record labels in the 90s-mid-2000s (the pre- to post-streaming transition).

Until then, I’ll randomly hear some of this stuff with fresh ears and you might catch me at a weak point getting all sentimental about stuff.

Punk-o-Rama #2 dropped in 1996. To say I played it 47 million times that year would be to say I arbitrarily picked a big number to emphasize a point. This mix and so many of these artists ended up as the soundtrack to high school.

I washed dishes and cleaned up to it last week. First time in a long time. Beyond the smiles and chuckles, “Bullion” by Millencolin made me hit repeat and pull up the lyrics.

Now, they’re Scandinavian and there’s some odd references that I previously only wondered about (he really did say muffins and scaly fish?!). There’s also a beautiful message about self-transformation going on here.

Sure, some of it’s a little age- and era-dependent, but the sentiment holds. Once you find your gold, your value, your worth – stamp it and make it official. That’s what I felt listening to this song all those years ago. It’s what I feel even harder reading the lyrics now.

“Bull-i-on” (I always loved the way he sang it in his accent at the end). Enjoy.

Twenty one, feeling downI tell you nothing with a thousand wordsand I weaker get with every stepI waste my time on compact disc’s and staly fishI can’t remember the last time I did somethingthat made me feel all right for longer than a few hoursif I only had the strength to make some muffinsthen I swear that I would share them with you nowAm I odd or am I not?that’s the question I spend time analyzingI’m so soft but still I’m notliving up to what people want me to because I’m busy with me, myself and Ican’t be understood by someone I don’t know to wellso I’m shutting out the whole world just to play NintendoI’ve got these new games but I’m afraid you can’t join meThese last few years I’ve been strugglingand I’m tired of keeping a low profileso now it’s time to show that I’m aliveI’m gonna change my lifechange my planschange my Vanseven start to dance nowchange my thoughtschange my soxchange my moveseven change my pro fighter Q for youNo its not for youAnd change mine just for meAnd change mine just for meBullion