Album: School of Fish
Year: 1991
. . .
I wonder why I never bought this album. I bought so many other albums because I happened to like the song on the radio, but so far as I can tell, I never got this one. It might be because that particular moment in 1991 it came out was a bit chaotic, and because 1991 was such an amazing year for music (even before Nevermind), I was already overloaded with amazing shit.
So I don’t really know all that much about School of Fish, outside of what I can find on the internet, which is this: they were one of those bands where the songwriting was by their lead singer & lead guitar player, and kind of shows.
Said lead singer was a guy named Josh Clayton-Felt, and I assume he was responsible for the fuzzy, psychedelic lyrics.
For three strange days
I had no obligations
My mind was a blur
I did not know what to do
And I think I lost myself
When I lost my motivation
Now I’m walking ’round the city
Just waiting to come to
For three strange…
I always loved that opening, because at that moment in 1991, the concept of having no obligations — not having to be anywhere at anytime for anybody — was incredibly appealing. That said, as the song went on, it became apparent that this wasn’t that.
What happened exactly to Clayton-Felt is basically a mystery. Did he have a mental breakdown? Did he have a bad trip? Was he on a bender? The song really doesn’t care what precipitates the three strange days, but rather only describing them in a voice that was as confused about what happened to him as anybody else.
For three strange days
Well I couldn’t put a smile on my face
So they dressed me up in all of their clothes
And took me somewhere else
And Johnny Clueless was there
With his simulated wood grain
So I pulled up a chair
And started drinking by myself
For three strange…
Said lead guitar player was a guy named Michael Ward, and I assume he was responsible for the fuzzy, psychedelic guitar throughout, from the backwards guitar fade-in to the central riff that never quite gets into focus. And he’s most certainly responsible for the fantastic hook that comes in after each verse and all of the crazy leads throughout. And maybe even the modulation before the final verse, where Clayton-Felt channels Jimmy from Quadrophenia.
Well I lay down for a while
And I woke up on the ocean
Floating on my back
And staring at the gray
It was completely still
Except the pounding of my heart
Bringing me back to life
From three strange days
Three strange…
Three strange days
Three strange days
Of course, those of you who listened to Modern Rock (or whatever the hell it was called) radio in the early 1990s will remember this song, as it was a very big hit on those stations, if nowhere else. Probably 120 Minutes, I’m guessing. In any event, it turned out to be their only hit and School of Fish broke up after their second album, Human Cannonball. After that, Clayton-Felt released a series of solo albums, and died at the ridiculously early age of 32 from testicular cancer, leaving at least this song as a legacy.
“Three Strange Days” Official Music Video
“Three Strange Days” Live in 1991
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I remember digging this song in the summer of 1991. But I was going on 16, wrapped up in my identity of being a “metalhead, sort of”, so I never got around to buying this album. (The high sticker price of new CDs in 1991 and no summer job didn’t help, either.) It is sad that they pretty much faded after this song and the lead singer died so young. Sort of reminds me of how Jellyfish went from something to nothing in short time (though no deaths that I know of.)