The Verve Freshmen

musicismylife78

Cant say I know anything about the band other than this song. pretty song and also very poignant

very haunting song. Never hear it on the radio, but its one of those songs that stick in your mind years after you last heard it.

i feel like I am losing my innocence when I hear it

faithful227

Great song. It is one of those that I forget about but when it pops up on the ipod i remember how much I love it. Haunting is a great word.

And it's The Verve Pipe, btw

Anon

that is so weird. for some reason, this song came to my mind today and i was going to make a thread about it. i dont know anything about them either but this is a great song... very nostalgic.

wcsmith

I really, really don't like this song. It came out while in was in college (sophomore year - maybe that explains my dislike) and I group it (and The Verve Pipe) with all of those other ponderous, over-earnest bands (Better Than Ezra, Catherine Wheel, Collective Soul, Matchbox 20, GooGoo Dolls, etc.) that seemed to take things SO seriously. The problem was that they weren't nearly as eloquent as their predecessors (Pearl Jam, Nirvana, AIC) nor did they have a sense of humor like the originals (I love the little "sexual chocolate" bit on Sap).

Anyway, this song always struck as kind of pretentious. Oh well, to each his or her own. After all, I actually like Van Halen - who am I to talk down another person's taste?

Ricsard

fuck, I thought it was about THE VERVE. They really rule but these guys...hm...not the same quality at all.

civ_eng_girl

A band called Mustard Plug did a ska version of Freshmen.

It was awesome.

Gardenparty

They were a pretty cool band. I liked the other single "Villians" a lot.

Always thought their lead guitarist had a pretty unique style but lost touch with them after their follow up to the one with "The Freshman" on it.

Igottago

That song is pretty bad. The band that sung it were bad too. The Verve hower, are really good.

MotorCityMike

i forgot about that album...i used to really like it; gonna dust it off and give it a listen.

I always felt kinda bad for these guys. I remember the first couple singles (Photograph, Cup of Tea) hit the rock stations ...mmm... summer '96ish? Brian Vanderark went into the WRIF studios one night and did Photograph by himself on a casio keyboard, sounded sweet. Then Freshmen came out..('97 was it?) and was picked up by Top 40 radio and it was all pretty much downhill from there, methinks. I also remember hearing of some squabble they had with their label. The label wanted Penny is Poison as the next single, and the band wanted something more rocking, cause they didn't wanna be pegged as a pop rock band. I believe i heard Penny is Poison one time on a shitty station i was forced to listen to at work.

I can't think about the Verve Pipe without also thinking of Tonic. They toured together back then and Tonic also seemed to have the same path. Two songs on rock radio (Open up Your Eyes, Casual Affair) then If You Could Only See hit pop radio probably a full year later. Shame, really.

ledvedderman

wcsmith wrote:

I really, really don't like this song. It came out while in was in college (sophomore year - maybe that explains my dislike) and I group it (and The Verve Pipe) with all of those other ponderous, over-earnest bands (Better Than Ezra)

I don't think I've ever heard "ponderous" or "over-earnest" used to describe Better Than Ezra. They're one of my favorite live acts going today. They always put on a solid show and really entertain. Great pop rock music never hurt anyone.

suns rival

Penny Is Poison is also worth listening.

orig_long red

weren't they called Verve Pipe?

chopitdown

the version of the freshman that made it big was around 96 or 97. The song first came out (guitar/voice only) in the early 90's with a much different feel, almost upbeat. It's on the original release of i've suffered a head injury. the one in the stores doesn't have it. 96 was my freshman year of college and my RA was a huge verve pipe fan and he tried to indoctrinate everyone into the cult.