Four Days
"All I want is something good, It gets harder every time"

Four Days is like the 'typical song' on This Desert Life. Of all the songs I was hesitant to write about, this was the one that took the cake. Why? It's definitely a cool and catchy song. But that's where the problem lies, that's all it is to me. A great song over all.

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What a i'd like to write about basically is how the band so effectively reflects the mood and emotion that Adam is going through with his lyrics. The song is about waiting. For those who don't know the whole story, basically, this song was written while Mr. Duritz was waiting for 'Mrs. Potter' to come home from a trip. That's basically it...so he wrote the song about the wait. It;s cool because it's a situation we've all been in. You know how when you really want something...not necessarily a person, but anything you desire. You know it's coming eventually but you just don't know when. And that's the part that 'bites' the most. So you wait and wait and wait.

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Musically, yes, I'll say it again....it is a dead wringer for some vintage R.E.M. song. Sort of reminds me a bit of a classier "Daylight Fading". The band interprets 'the wait' Adam sings about dead on. The verses are somewhat fast but still laid back. The first few days of "the wait" are like that. You don't really miss the person yet, maybe you reflect on the relationship, but basically it's about getting used to the fact that the person is gone. "Take a breath, take your time". The really cool guitar before the chorus is symbolic of time passing...we fast forward t the chorus.

By this time, the wait is getting unbearable, and rightfully so, the pace of the song picks up. All of a sudden you can feel the tension in the way the band plays, the discomfort in the singer's words...sleepless nights, sunrises and sunsets, we've all been there before, everything just get's more unbearable as our longing increases, and it just builds up to my favorite part...the last line, wherein everything just loosens up again. The sudden abrupt change again is like a "reality check". Personally I just think it sounds cool...more reminiscent of "Ventura Highway" by America than R.E.M.

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Well in any case, any way you look at it...a cute portrayal of a love sick puppy waiting and waiting, or a perfect musical interpretation of those emotions, "Four Days" is just a cool sounding song in itself. That's good enough for me.