#1 Record by Big Star
by Lana Fleischli
I wanna start by saying just that this record made me happy. It is filled with a message of hope. The album itself is an ode to being young and in love. The songs are about moments in our young lives. They are very specific.
The first time I heard Big Star was probably where a lot of people first heard Big Star (depending on how old you are). I’ll rephrase– The first time most people in my generation heard Big Star is in the opening of “That 70’s Show.” In the opening, they are doing exactly what the song says: “hangin’ out… down the street… the same old thing… we did last week.” It’s like I said, the songs are reminiscent of moments in adolescence. Like when you and your friends just drive around together for no real reason, because you are too old for some things, and too young for others (at least that’s how I feel).
After I heard “In The Street,” my mom played “Thirteen” for me. We were in the car. I was about eleven at the time, and I remember looking out the window and thinking that this was the first slow acoustic song that I would basically always be in the mood for. It is happy and hopeful, but a little melancholy and that’s how it is for me. It can make me smile or cry. “Thirteen“ is once again about a moment. It is about someone asking someone they like to a school dance. It’s very sweet. It’s about those questions that you ask. The ones that might get them to spend more time with you. I think it is so special.
“When My Baby’s Beside Me” and “Don’t Lie To Me” are songs that I hadn’t heard until this past week. Honestly, they are just really fun songs. “When My Baby’s Beside Me” is also about young love. That idea that if you are together, everything will work out– hopeful. It’s all hope.
“The India Song” is about wanting to go to India. It is about wanting to see the world and experience life. It is what the whole album is about. Once again– hopes and dreams. The songs are romantic. They give the listeners a point of view of life that is romanticized. It brings the listener into that and makes you feel that way. Even though it’s been almost 50 years since #1 Record was released, it still makes you hope and dream a little more. It makes you want those moments, or really try to live in them, because there is so much that happens in one moment.
But the thing about moments is that they are fleeting. Chris Bell, who co-wrote #1 Record was only with Big Star for this one album. That is why it is so unique. The band always had people in and out, so things got changed up. I like to think of #1 Record as a record about moments, and a moment of its own.