I’m really happy right now.
True euphoric happiness is unmatched and I’ve just got that right now. I stayed up until 3AM last night, had a very brief 3.5 hour snooze before getting back at it this morning.
Most people wouldn’t say that they’re that happy after a night like that, but we’ve got special circumstances today.
blink-182’s new album ONE MORE TIME… and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 both released today. Well, technically last night at 11PM my time, but now you can see how that led to me staying up until 3AM.
There was also some bullshit I needed to do for work that would’ve kept me up that late anyway, but that’s beside the point.
I’ll start with Spider-Man, then go into blink, and then wrap up this blog with more feelings. Sound good? Alright, let’s go!
Spider-Man 2
As you can see from my tweet above (posted at 2:38 AM CST), I did actually stay up that late playing this game.
What was so magical about Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018) and Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020), is that never has a game series made you feel more responsibility with the great power you’ve been given as the titular heroes.
When swinging in-between main quest objectives, random crimes pop up in this virtual New York City and you’re naturally drawn to them to stop them because YOU ARE SPIDER-MAN. The game just makes you want to do anything and everything because you can and its fun.
Back before I had even played Spider-Man 2018, I wrote a blog about how nostalgia sells. I was heavily anticipating this game but I was concerned about feeling too old to relate to a superhero game or to a character, but I was going to buy it and enjoy it anyway because there was also a chance I got to feel like Spider-Man.
As you can tell from release night back in 2018, my concerns were dumb and I’ve kept my habit of playing Spider-Man games into the wee hours:
3 games later, I’m sold on more than just nostalgia and fanfare. These games are spectacular, amazing, and dare I say, the Ultimate Spider-Man experiences. But what’s so wrong with still feeling like a kid?
Every kid wonders what it would be like if they woke up with super powers and for Peter Parker and Miles Morales, that happened to them. They are the most relatable and likeable characters among all the superheroes because they juggle being a superhero with life, relationships, school, family, work, bills, and more.
These games feel like a hug to not only the child that always wanted to be a hero, it’s also a hug to the adults we’ve become struggling with the same issues Peter and Miles are going through. We don’t have to forget about the child in us to deal with these issues. We have the power to do it all, no matter how hard it is.
I can’t wait to dig back into this game after work today because not even sleep deprivation, bills, or any other standard life dramas can bring me down.
blink-182’s ONE MORE TIME…
I mean, holy fucking shit, what an album.
By the time of its release today, we had gotten 6 songs off the album and it wasn’t a crazy thing to say that it could be blink’s best album.
I won’t say that yet, we’ll see how it ages compared to Enema or their self-titled record, but the whole point of this album is about how it is the grown up version of the blink we fell in love with at the rock show over 20 years ago.
In the interview the band put out with Zane Lowe earlier this week, they break down everything about this album, how it came to be, how Mark, Tom, and Travis survived death in some cases and came back to put out an emotional yet, kickass punk rock album.
Check it out, it’s really great:
During the interview, Zane brings up ANTHEM PART 3 and how it’s talking back to the original Anthem from Enema of the State and Anthem Part Two from Take Off Your Pants and Jacket and telling them that it’s ok, this is what we’ve become and even though it can get pretty fucking rough in between, we’re still here.
One of the lyrics in the titular song ONE MORE TIME says “Older, but nothing’s any different, right now feels the same I wonder why?“
When you put all the bullshit aside in life, you realize what and who is really important. I already discussed in my last blog why that’s important, but the rest of the album rings that message again and again in such a magnificent way.
The title of this blog is the same as what might be an early candidate for my favorite song on the album: CHILDHOOD.
This song is the last song on the album and closes it out strong. The lyrics really struck a chord with me today:
Remember when we were young
And we’d laugh at everything
Got caught up in a world
That forgot how to dream
I’d never thought we’d end up here
We’re back in time
To the best years
Remember when we were young
We thought we knew everything
Where did our childhood go
I wanna know
Where did our childhood go
I wanna know
You can’t have your childhood back, but you are still you. Blink can’t go back to 1999, but because they’re together again, reunited after break ups, Mark’s cancer, Travis’s plane crash, they can be just as magical. Yes, it’s the Mark, Tom, and Travis show again, and while they’re older, nothing’s any different.
On Repeat
For me, having these two things on a collision course release on the same day with the same sort of meaning to me is so awesome. That’s why I’m so happy.
As a Spider-Man fan, yes, I wanted the game to be great and was anticipating that as a gamer. But connecting to it on that emotional level and knowing it has something for everyone in it is what makes it special.
As a blink fan, yes, I was probably going to say I loved the album regardless of what it sounded like because those three were back together again. But connecting to it on the emotional level of the band growing through life’s atrocities and coming back together to write amazing songs about that and have it feel the same as it did 20 years ago is it what makes it special.
Both are about not necessarily not growing up. Because growing up happens and shit happens to all of us. But when the people and things you love grow with you and they’re still with you, you’re still you.
This blink album and Spider-Man game was for the kid that first played a Spider-Man game on a PS2 and listened to All the Small Things on the radio.
He’s still here.
~DS
The Danny Diaries 