Music Review: Train "Drive By"

Train

Drive By

Album: California 37

Year: 2012

               Pat Monahan promises to be a better boyfriend in the smarmy “Drive By.”

              A simple guitar opens the single, setting an ignorant tone.  He was standing in line waiting for coffee, texting on his phone and looking up to see if he moved closer. Then, his eyes fall upon a woman and he does a double take. He thinks it’s his sorta ex-girlfriend. He dismisses it, though. He had heard she had a hard time when he called it quits and moved somewhere out of state. (“On the other side of a street I knew/Stood a girl that looked like you/I guess that's déjà vu/But I thought this can't be true/'Cause you moved to west LA/Or New York or Santa Fe/Or wherever to get away from me.”)

           In the pre-chorus, he explains that when they slept together, he realized how much he loved her. It was the first time he ever felt deeply for anyone and it was too much to deal with. (“Oh but that one night/Was more than just right/I didn't leave you 'cause I was all through/Oh I was overwhelmed and frankly scared as hell/Because I really fell for you.”)

        In the chorus, he professes he will stick around this time. He won’t sleep with her and then not call her again. He’s quiet and needs a girlfriend who will open his heart to him. He likes her touch and being with her. If people can’t accept that he is with her, it’s their problem. He has her as his own. (“Oh I swear to you/I'll be there for you/This is not a drive by/Just a shy guy looking for a two-ply/Hefty bag to hold my love/When you move me everything is groovy/They don't like it sue me/Either way you do me/
Oh I swear to you/I'll be there for you/This is not a drive by.”)

         It wasn’t until she left that he knew he’d done something wrong. He was going through a difficult time and couldn’t handle a relationship. When he lost her, he couldn’t stop thinking of her. Now, they have ran into each other again, he wants to skip the small talk and be a couple again. (“On the upside of a downward spiral/My love for you went viral/And I loved you every mile you drove away/But now here you are again/
So let's skip the "how you been"/And get down to the "more than friends" at last.”)

      In the second pre-chorus, he reitarates it was the best evening of his life. (“Oh but that one night/
Is still the highlight/I didn't need you until I came to/And I was overwhelmed and frankly scared as hell/
Because I really fell for you.”)

     The chorus is sung again.

     In the bridge, the piano steps in, simpering and unrefined. He tells her that he plans to stay with her. He cares about her. He needs to adjust to the whole boyfriend concept. (“Please believe that when I leave/There's nothing up my sleeve but love for you/And a little time to get my head together too.”)

        A small part of the first verse is sung again. (“On the other side of a street I knew...’cause.”)

         The chorus is sung again to close the single.

        Monahan’s approach to win her over again is with pouty, entitled vocals remiscient of a horny salesman who has skimmed 50 Fifty Shades of Grey for pick up lines. His constant insistence he won’t run away combined with the constant emphasis on his fear of emotional initmacy is discouraging. There isn’t any reason to believe him.

    The glib “Drive By”  turns itself into a commerical jingle and only works for the Hefty company which gets free advertising.

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