Losing a close friend conjures myriad emotions. Initially, there is the mandatory grief, anger, and guilt to dominate all others. But once those feelings subside, you’re left with an amazing mix of nostalgia, gratitude, and happiness while experiencing new things he would have loved.
Today’s Jam of the Day, by Kurt Vile, is dedicated to Andy Seel, a great friend to a few of us here at Speakers in Code, and a guy who no doubt would have been a huge supporter and behind-the-scenes contributer to the blog.
“Runner Ups” is one of those songs that we immediately know he would have loved, and the subject matter is extra poignant on this day, the third anniversary of his death. Beautiful, layered guitars and shakers dominate the forefront. And as his vocals settle into harmonic refrain, Vile sings, “My best friend’s long gone, but I got runner ups, I don’t know if it’s real, but it’s how I feel.” It’s how we feel today.
We all, unfortunately, will have runner ups one day. Let’s all just keep in mind that everybody dies, but not everybody lives.
Kurt Vile’s new record, Smoke Ring for My Halo, is out now, and will no doubt make our best of the year list. Do yourself a favor and pick it up, but grab “Runner Ups” first below.