THE BEST SONG EVR: #1. Only Shallow

THE BEST SONG EVR #1: Only Shallow, by My Bloody Valentine


First off, I'm going to cheat a little on this one. My first entry, and already I'm fucking everything up! I'll focus mostly on the first track of Loveless, "Only Shallow", but in reality it's impossible to talk about just one track and not the whole album. Loveless is just one of those cohesive masterpieces that transcends normal rules, although I suppose most fans will still have their favorite track. Mine is "Sometimes", but for the purposes of this article I will try to focus on "Only Shallow".

Hit the jump to read more.


I first encountered My Bloody Valentine years ago, via the hype-train on chatrooms focused on Indie music. Yeah, fucking chatrooms. I said it.
"Loveless is like what you hear in the womb."
"I named my first kid Loveless."
"If I could die right now, listening to Loveless, I'd probably have a boner."

Eventually I gave in to my Indie-fag scruples and decided that just because EVERYBODY loves them, maybe they don't suck. Tried them, thought they sucked, and moved on. Six months later tried a quick listen again, thought they sucked, moved on yet again. This cycle repeated itself a couple more times before something suddenly "clicked."

Wait, what? Why the fuck is this? Is it because I didn't get it? Or I wasn't listening to it right? Turns out, the latter was the case. Most of the time if somebody tells you you aren't listening to a band right, or that you aren't playing a game right, or that you aren't reading a book right, you should tell them to go fuck themselves. This time, I really wasn't listening to it right.

Loveless sounds kind of shitty at first glance. The volume is mixed very low, there's so much distortion and clashing noises, even the first notes of "Only Shallow" are seemingly purposefully designed to make you cringe until those sweet blissful first notes begin about 24 seconds in. All these things make the listener want to turn the volume down, lose interest, and then turn it off and never look back.

I will reveal the greatest secret of Loveless, doubtless that countless hipsters have already learned for themselves. You need to turn the volume up. Way the fuck up. Turn it up until your ears hurt, until the speakers actually distort the sounds of distortion already coming out of them. Also, use headphones. Nice headphones that don't come free with a shitty mp3 player. That's it. It also helps to use an EQ that's heavy on the mids, but not necessary. Once you try listening to Loveless really fucking loud on headphones, your life will never be the same.

I don't remember the exact day or time I first realized this plan and executed it, but my nights were spent listening to Loveless every single night for at least 2 years, crying myself to sleep to the joyous and miraculous sound.

Last year I had the amazing pleasure of seeing My Bloody Valentine perform live, and it was everything I could have ever dreamed. I've been trying to convert people to listening to Loveless really loud for years, and the show confirmed that I am doing things the right way. Earplugs were given out freely at the door, and the sounds inside the venue were so loud and earsplitting that I was deaf for several hours afterwards. Yet totally worth it. Loveless isn't just meant to be heard, it's meant to be felt, as in the bass vibrations nearly flung me from the balcony a few times. I didn't care. Kate and my friend Jeff were on the balcony with me, and all they could do was find an uncrowded spot and curl into the fetal position with their knees in their faces and listen. On the seven hour ride home from Austin, I think I listened to Loveless on repeat at least half a dozen times until we drove into Lafayette with the sunrise to greet us. What a magical time.



Loveless was the magnum opus of My Bloody Valentine's all too short creative career, released in 1992. It was infamous for going enormously over budget and over time in the studio. Kevin Shields, the frontman for the band, seemingly poured his heart and soul into this album. He's hardly done anything new since. But I don't really mind, because we got fucking Loveless.

I chose to focus on "Only Shallow", the first track, because, well, it's the first track. I sometimes, gasp, skip around on my listens, but my body will not allow me to ever skip "Only Shallow" or "Loomer", the second track. I know "Only Shallow" so well that it's become my benchmark for audio equipment. Any new pair of headphones, speakers, or hifi equipment that I buy, I must first test it on "Only Shallow". If I can't make it sound good to my ears, then fuck it. Throw that shit away.

As I began earlier, the first 24 seconds of the song are intended to be jarring and off-putting with the clashing and wailing of guitar screeches. Then on second 25, something magical happens. The stars align and suddenly the world makes sense. Everything is beautiful. "It's going to be alright, thinks Harry." Guitars throb in and out of focus, pulsing, covered in a ghostly and mostly indecipherable female voice. The real lyrics for these songs have never been revealed, but endlessly speculated.

Loveless isn't psychadelic rock, it isn't stoner rock, it isn't even shoegaze. It's pure sonic bliss.

Loveless is a love-letter to distortion, overdrive, and reverb. Kevin Shields loves his pedals, whammy bars, and Fender Jazzmasters, and every sound is so bathed in effects that you can barely tell you're listening to music at times. Except for the drums.

Turn the volume up. Now keep turning it up. Just turn it ALL THE WAY UP… until what you hear is not just the distortion of the effects, but your headphone speakers distorting from the sheer volume. When you reach this point, it's like lifting a veil from your eyes. The guitars shine with a warm, pink glow that somehow matches the album artwork.

At the end of the song it breaks down into random noises and crushing distortion, until track 2 explodes on you like a bag of chinese fireworks. The transition from "Only Shallow" to "Loomer" seems to parallel the one from "Come in Alone" to "Sometimes", tracks 7 and 8. Once you make it far enough in to hear "Sometimes", I dare you not to shit your pants. You may remember it from the film Lost in Translation. Kevin Shields also produced a handful of original songs for the film, pretty much his only new public work since Loveless, and they are all excellent.

Have you noticed how there is no silence between any of the songs? There are no fade-outs, no abrupt ends, only beginnings. Every fucking moment of Loveless is filled with sound, occasionally quiet, but mostly really loud. This is no accident. Cherish sound, and thank the Gods that we have ears to hear this music.

I'm finally running out of things to wax poetic over, so I'll wrap this article up. If you've never heard Loveless, do yourself a fucking favor, and put it on at the loudest volume your ears will allow. Smoke a joint. Put on a lame visualizer if you have to. Then find a member of the opposite sex and make out, hard. You'll thank me.

Reviewers Grade: The Best Song Ever
Likelihood to Get You Laid: High
Number of Times I've Written the Word "Loveless": 19



In the next installment of THE BEST SONG EVR, I cover one of the most naive, timeless, and purely sweet songs ever, that somehow manages to not be corny or dull. Written by a man-child of epic reputation, his works have been covered endlessly by the hip and in-the-know and continue to be relevant, thanks largely in part to what is essentially one of the best biopics ever filmed.