Blogocentric Formulations

Being mistaken with Save Ferris

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Song: "Mistaken"
Artist: Save Ferris
Album: Modified

Save Ferris (yes, they got their name from Ferris Bueller's Day Off) is one of my all-time favorite bands. The ska music genre was briefly popular in the 1990s, particularly in California and New York, which was exactly where I happened to be growing up. No Doubt is probably the most popular band in the genre, but I was also a huge fan of bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Reel Big Fish. Save Ferris' first album It Means Everything came out in 1997 and had a handful of recognizable songs on it, most notably their cover of "Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners, and "The World Is New," which was used in a handful of trailers and movies at the time. It was a good album, but not nearly as good as their follow-up, Modified, which really changed their sound.

Rumors are that vocalist Monique Powell was going through a particularly bad breakup at the time and a lot of her depression and emotions found their way into the songs. If you think Taylor Swift writing a song about a bad relationship is impressive, try an entire album! Here are a few excerpts from song choruses on the album:

"I'm Not Cryin' For You" - Cuz' I'm not crying for you / No, no, no / I'm not crying for you tonight / So please listen when I say / That there's no way that I will stay / And know that / I'm not crying for you

"Your Friend" - I don't wanna have to be your friend / I'm so tired of tryin' to be your friend / I don't wanna have to be your friend, no anymore / When it really doesn't matter what I say / Cuz' you're never gonna listen to me anyways / Well, I don't wanna have to be your friend, no anymore

"No Love" - I remember all the things she used to say / And I remember all the games we used to play / And I remember loving you / But now that love has all gone away

"Angry Situation" - Did you think that this would make everything right? / Did you know the price you pay is your own life? / And as you're screaming out to me to make things right, tonight / How will you end your pain?

"Holding On" - When you feel the world is coming down on you / There's only one thing that you really should remember to do / Keep holding on / Keep holding on, yeah / Better days are coming / Just as this one's surely gone / Keep holding on / Keep holding on, yeah / Things will be much better / But you've got to keep holding on

"Let Me In" - So let me in / All that I wanted from you / Was something you'd never do / So let me in / Oh please tonight / Don't let this end / Tonight / I'll Fall

So, yeah, this is kind of a bitter, angry type of album. But it's really good and all the songs are really catchy.

Save Ferris is actually one of the first shows I tried to go to when I moved to Southern California. They were playing out in Riverside and my wife (at that point my girlfriend) and I got in my Jeep to drive out there from Long Beach. We made it about halfway before my old Jeep's radiator busted and we ended up spending the night on a very bizarre adventure with the tow truck driver, who decided to make several stops to take care of personal business on the way back to Long Beach. We never ended up seeing them perform, and the band ended up breaking up and performing their last show a couple months after that. So I've still never seen them live.

Most of the band members went on to other projects, and Monique briefly self-financed a "For the Fans" tour in 2003. In recent years (since 2013), Powell has been sporadically showing up and playing Save Ferris set lists with an entire new band, but the former members of the band decided to sue her, claiming she has no right to perform under the band's name or use its songs. Powell is counter-suing, claiming that everyone else left the group rather than officially disbanding, leaving her as the sole inheritor to the group name and songs. Knowing how slow the court system is in California, it'll probably be a good long time before the matter is settled, which means I'm going to have to stick to their two albums I've already got.