Any meager, cursory glance at our culture in the world today should indicate decisively that lust and romance remain primary game for subject matter of pop lyrics. In terms of Stephan Jenkins, himself, he always seemed perfectly aligned with “pop” as a phenomenon by way of lyrics, which seemed to have begun, via his first rap group Puck & Natty, as decidedly based on relationship or romance, “Just Wanna Be Your Friend” being their most high-profile song title.
“I Want You”; then, track 10 on the self-titled debut, is a track that ingratiates itself sufficiently to the overall 3EB genus, with the adamant, almost canine, simple and repeated chorus [1] of “You do / You do / You do / You do… You make me want you” [2]. It’s a song that, with its intimacy, confidence and unflagging focus on a sexual relationship, is likely to make many people uncomfortable, or jealous, or both. Personally, as a lifelong fan of Seinfeld and any sleazy MTV sit-com or drama I could lap up, I’ve always stridently approved of it.
Musically it’s not bad, by any stretch of the imagination, with its refreshingly grating Casiotone keyboard within midsection, and stylish, jazzy groove. The lyrics, however, make far more of an impression, standing as possibly the most virile and steady-handed come-on ever issued by a white dude in the history of pop music. It’s also singular, within the general band oeuvre, for its reference to spirituality, or to a “soul,” as Jenkins particularly terms it.
Along these lines, his penchant for transforming “bones” into a nine-syllable word, in the lines “You wanna know how deeply my soul goes / Deeper than bones”, in tandem with his subsequent repetition of said simile, provides an alluring premonition to the listener that, maybe, he’s genuine. Ultimately, it’s kind of beside -the-point, regarding just the artistic value of the song. Still, it’s an interesting discussion when we come to the topic of Jenkins and what he’s trying to do, within a rock song, and within a relationship with a woman.
Does music have the power to forge a bona fide romance? Regardless, that seems to be the singer objective prevalent within “I Want You.” Insofar as it accomplishes this, then, as far as it provides a musical backdrop to ease the strain of everyday life, and champions sexual romance, all in one unified bundle. Credit Jenkins, then, for having the stones to follow “Semi-Charmed Life”; a blatant endorsement of paradigmatic Nihilism and spiritual doldrums, in a sense, with this unabashed paean to this girl, and her special ability to channel his spiritual realms, toward a musical result almost uncanny in its coolness and sense of permanency within the alt-rock canon.
Could “I Want You” have been a bona fide single? There’s absolutely no question. It stands in proud company, in this way, with “Thanks a Lot”; as a worthy album track, doubling as a potential single, within an LP which successfully saturates both rock and pop and the ideals thereof. Cadogan favorite and ’97 touring companions U2 come to mind, whose world-class ’92 album Achtung Baby, on its first 12 tracks, is composed almost exclusively of songs having the potential to take over all worlds radio and MTV. Even more so, anyway, with “I Want You”; Third Eye Blind constructed a cultural arbiter in coolness, undetectable to those poor souls who have never known romance, and might be inclined to cover themselves in tattoos, piercings and Grammy-directed rancor.
.
[1] Now, any of you scabs out there writing off the simple chorus as a tautological downfall should refer to the masterwork of R.E.M.’s “Talk about the Passion” and U2’s “Ultra Violet (Light My Way).”
.
[2] Actually, somewhat troublingly, if you were to glean a central thesis statement from the sum total of the debut’s lyrics, it might be something like, “Life is really boring unless you’re doing it.” Good thing we take all this stuff as tongue-in-cheek fanfare, right folks?