Album: Where You Been
Year: 1993
With his cracked voice and crackling loud guitar, there was always a bit of Neil Young in J Mascis’ music, but it wasn’t until Where You Been where it really came out to play.
Which wasn’t surprising, because in 1993, Neil Young was at the peak of his “Godfather of Grunge” phase, and artists as far afield as Matthew Sweet and Teenage Fanclub were putting out songs that borrowed riffs and especially rhythms from Uncle Neil. And so for Dinosaur Jr. to do a song that acknowledged the debt with the familiar mid-tempo kick-snare, kick-kick-snare drum pattern that graced some of Neil’s biggest tunes wasn’t really a surprise.
Of course, if “Get Me” was nothing more than a homage or knock-off, it wouldn’t be as nearly as remarkable as it is. So while the rhythm is familiar, the ringing guitar on the chorus is completely Mascis.
It’s also utterly gorgeous, as Mascis, augmented by Tiffany Anders, sadly asks:
You’re not gonna get me through this, are youuuuuuu?
You’re not gonna get me through this, are youuuuuuu?
You’re not gonna get me through this, are youuuuuuu?
You’re not gonna get me through this, are youuuuuuu?
In the end, instead of asking again and again, he just uncorks one of those guitar solos that suggests he already knew the answer even before he bothered to ask.
“Get Me” performed live in 1993
Official video for “Get Me” (single version)