Crash – Dave Matthews Band

Overview

Crash is the second studio album of American rock band Dave Matthews Band released on April 30, 1996. It consists of 12 tracks and clocks in at a runtime of one hour and eight minutes. The interesting thing about Crash is the tracks are so wildly different than the next and they have their own unique personality. Some are louder and rockier like Drive In Drive Out whereas others are more acoustic and coffeehouse-esque like Let You Down. Some tracks tackle real-life things that we all go through like So Much To Say and some are just all about romance like the famous Crash Into Me. I wish I could go back in time to before I’d listened to it and tell my past self that he won’t know what is coming to him. And I think that’s what albums should be. If it has good music then that’s truly all that matters, however, it’s good for an album to have a lineup that keeps you on your toes halfway into listening because it isn’t the same type of lyric or music over and over. Dave Matthews Band is also kind of an anomaly because they have violins, saxes, and flutes in the tracks on top of the typical instruments one would find so it makes them even more unique in anything they do. I can’t name another rock band that has such an odd assortment of instruments. I’m sure they’re out there though. 

With all of this said, I think it’s time we open the hood and check out each track in this thing.

Da Tracks 

1. So Much To Say (4:06): To start us off is the upbeat big-band song all about what every single person on this planet goes through: wearing a mask. Musically, the song starts off with a funky guitar riff that eventually leads to a nice upbeat snare(?) beat. As time passes the song fills up with more and more sounds until you end up with a smorgasbord of strings, horns, percussion, and Dave’s vocals that work wonderfully and make you want to dance. The song itself is an interesting juxtaposition between upbeat music and a more somber meaning and lyric. It has lines like “Keep it locked up inside-Don’t talk about it-T-t-talk about the weather” and “I find sometimes it’s easier to be myself-Sometimes I find it’s better to be somebody else” that create this common ground for everyone who listens to it. I think I’d be confident to say we’ve all been in situations where being ourselves didn’t seem optimal. I can’t imagine how many people heard this when it came out and thought “that’s the exact way I feel!” That’s the whole point of music, though, isn’t it?
2. Two Step (6:27): Two Step is interesting because the verse and the chorus are wildly different musically. The song starts with a fast-paced electric guitar strum that is eventually joined with some smoky and mysterious acoustic guitar and you end up feeling like you’re some horseback desperado riding into a sunset. It swells with percussion and background vocals before getting to the main beat (which is very fast) and Matthews starts. Once the chorus starts the music shifts from this fast paced and heel-tapping western sounding tone to a modern-day sounding dance riff. The percussion slows down and the music itself sounds much more easygoing. Lyrically, this song is a lot like it’s successor Crash Into Me in that it has a lot of these very rich and poetic romantic lines. Notable examples include “Oh my love do you believe that we might last-A thousand years, or more if not for this” or the entire third verse if I’m honest. The song itself seems to be about love/relationships but also about the fragility of it all due to the fragility of life itself. Maybe the fast-paced drums were supposed to signify trying to enjoy things because life flies by. Or maybe I’m diving too deep.
3. Crash Into Me (5:16): The ever-iconic 90s love song follows a simple but catchy guitar riff throughout its entirety. Crash is a lot like So Much To Say in that the instruments keep getting added on making the track more and more complex but it never really ends. The first several lines of the first verse only have that guitar riff and what sounds like a marching snare beat and then some bass comes in but it’s not until you get done with the entirety of the first verse when most of the music adds on too. The best part of the entire track, in my opinion, is when the song reaches one massive swell at the third verse where all of the instruments are blaring and Matthews’ vocals start off the verse almost before the verse’s chord progression even starts and the lyrics just keep flowing. The track includes multiple hyper-romantic lines including “Touch your lips just so I know-In your eyes, love, it glows” and “Lost for you, I’m so lost, for you.” The track’s music has this lighthearted playfulness to it but the lyrics have more of a sexy connotation and putting these two opposites together like this creates this image that’s similar to tickling your girlfriend/boyfriend and giggling but then suddenly you’re kissing. I know that was very specific.
4. Too Much (4:22): What’s cool about Two Much is that it starts right in the action with a big band opening that leads to Dave’s high-energy singing. The song seems to be about greed and/or gluttony or just modern life’s excessive noise. If I had to sum it up in one word, I think I would say “congestion.” Some lines mention the idea of literal gluttony (“I’ve got this growl in my tummy-And I‘m gonna stop it today”) whereas some mention more the idea of the buzz of life itself (“Ooh traffic jam got more cars-Than a beach got sand”) Musically, the track is funky. It has an upbeat snare beat keeping it together while the entire band unleashes every instrument it can. Matthews himself seems to sound crazed at times, which adds to the high-octane nature of the track. I hope downtown clubs in the 90s had this song blaring because it’s incredibly easy to want to move to it. I was born a year before this song came out so I wasn’t allowed in clubs yet, unfortunately.
5. #41 (6:39): #41 is shrouded in mystery. I don’t want to write much about the artists because I want all of this to be about the music itself but I will break the rule for this track because Dave Matthews himself has said he doesn’t remember how the song got its name or what the hell it’s even about. It has an array of good lyrics but, to me, the lyrics don’t paint a clear picture of anything. The music boasts another upbeat rhythm but this one is slightly slower than the songs before it. The second half of the almost seven-minute song (the 90s were a different time) features a generous serving of sax and violin that give the finish a smoke-filled jazz club feel. Despite being as confusing as it is #41 is one of those songs that you just shut your brain off and vibe too.
6. Say Goodbye (6:12): If Crash Into Me is sexy then Say Goodbye is just dirty and everything about the song embodies that. The start of the song with its flute (possibly wood flute but I couldn’t say for certain) and hand drum veer away from the funk and rocky big band sound we’ve heard so much up to this point and make it exotic. The lyrics depict this steamy night between two lovers that can only happen on just this night. Again, I can’t name specific lyrics that stand out because the entire song is full of excellent lyrics though I will have to knock some points off because it mentions adultery “but tomorrow go back to your man-I’m back to my world-And we’re back to being friends.” Don’t ever cheat boys and girls. The music is stripped to mostly guitar and percussion though there is some flute and violin ringing in the background. The minimal music puts more emphasis on the lyrics and allows you to create an image in your mind and while the lyrics are pretty obvious in what they say there’s still enough room for you to put your own spin on what’s happening but still keep it in the sexy/dirty zone that Matthews was aiming for. I like sexy and dirty things like most people and this track wears it well. 
7. Drive In Drive Out (5:55): The rockiest addition of the entire album, Drive In Drive Out still employs the horns and the big band sound but Dave’s voice contains so much grit and rasp that it sets the tone for the whole song. To me the lyrics describe someone who’s in some kind of relationship and leaves but always comes back because they’re disillusioned. Some lines depict strong urges of wanting to get away “When all that I want is so badly to be-By myself again-It’s going to drive me right out of my brain” but then the chorus mentions driving in and driving out whatever this thing is. The track overall has a lot of attitude that kind of makes you want to curl your lip and bang your head. It made me feel that and I’m not that big into rock.
8. Let You Down (4:07): While Drive In Drive Out got most of its personality from the singing, Let You Down easily gets its personality from the music/vocals. Off the rip you get this gloomy but gorgeous main acoustic guitar progression and it’s joined with hand drums and another acoustic guitar playing this another smoky melody in the background throughout the song. The music itself is so easy to get lost in and because of that I feel like it is better at grabbing anyone near it than any other track on this album. Matthews’ vocals do some heavy lifting matching the weightlessness of the music by keeping his voice delicate and also in the way he sings the titular “I let you down.” The interesting thing about this track to is how it can be interpreted in so many different ways. You get told this story of the narrator letting someone down as the name goes and how much they want to win them back (“I let you down, oh, forgive me-You give me love”) and it is a somber/gloomy song because of the overall story/theme and the music but it’s also sweet and even romantic too when you factor in lyrics like “I let you down-Tail between my legs-I’m a puppy for your love.” I’d say it’s a very emotionally charged song overall and that I’m sure it did some damage on 90s teenagers fresh after a breakup. 
9. Lie In Our Graves (5:42) So, we go to an emotional song dripping with regret and move to the opposite. Lie In Our Graves is all about enjoying life and not regretting anything when it’s done. And I think the narrator is talking to someone who doesn’t enjoy their lives for any number of reasons because throughout the track you hear “would you not like to be-Sitting on top of the world with-Your legs hanging free” and “would you not like to be ok, ok, ok?” Then at the end the narrator says how foolish it would be to “lie in our graves” and wonder if we could’ve done it all better. It’s better to just enjoy every day as they come. Like #41, the track’s runtime is split between instrumentals and vocals alongside the music but this time the instrumentals are scattered in between the verses and used as a chorus by themselves. Most of the instruments in DMB’s arsenal are used and they create this upbeat energy that could be a good pick up on a bad day and that doubles down when you factor in the very positive lyrics.  
10. Cry Freedom (5:54): The entirety of Cry Freedom is devoted to a man named Steve Biko who was a South African anti-apartheid activist. The title comes from a biopic about Biko that came out in 1987. The verses mention three different scenes that seem like three different storylines: one a crowd, one a man, and one a little girl. The verses have this minor feel that, mixed with the overall slow pace of the song, makes it feel like a rainy day but then the chorus flips that by becoming more major sounding and including more instruments than the percussion, guitar, and minimal violin that is in the verses resulting in an uplifting/hopeful sound. Notable lyrics include “Hands and feet are all alike-But fear between divide us” and “Brother, sister go dancing-Through my head-Human as to human-The future is no place-To place your better days.” These lyrics and more in the song carry so much gravitas when you think about how they were made in someone’s name and I respect DMB for that.
11. Tripping Billies (5:00) This is a fun one. Upbeat, full of life, and full of music Tripping Billies is a song that gives some clear images of having a good time interconnected with a repeating lesson caught in a lyric “eat, drink, and be merry-For tomorrow we’ll die.” Lie In Our Graves told us to enjoy every day that we can so that we don’t have so many regrets in the end, but Tripping Billies tells us to make every day enjoyable because we don’t know when the end will come. And this sentiment pairs beautifully well with the lively instrument-filled music blaring in the background. On top of this, the track also gives plenty of time for an all-out foot-tapping instrumental that makes you want to twirl someone or be twirled by someone and dance like fools. 
12. Proudest Monkey (9:11): Literally, the album’s final track is a fable about a monkey going from a humble forest to a bustling, crowded, and congested city to become the “proudest monkey” and beginning to question if the right decision was made. It’s in the same realm as So Much To Say in that many people have experienced what this song is describing. The track itself starts off simple, calm, and slow and while it remains slow throughout it becomes a big band track in time. The song clocks in at a whopping nine minutes and more of the song is instrumental than sang. It works out for the track to have almost four minutes of instrumental because it feels like a goodbye from the album as it leads back to that mellow sound that the start of the track had. That mellow end feels like the aural version of a wave goodbye.