All The Pain Money Can Buy | Fastball
release date: 1998 record label: Hollywood
track
listing: 1) The Way
2) Fire Escape
3) Better Than It Was
4) Which Way To The Top?
5) Sooner Or Later
6) Warm Fuzzy Feeling
7) Slow Drag
8) Good Old Days
9) Charlie, The Methadone Man
10) Out Of My Head
11) Damaged Goods
12) Nowhere Road
13) Sweetwater, Texas
“I complain very little because
it’s better than it was…”
Fastball continues to play shows around their native Austin, Texas, releasing their latest album in 2004, and yet the band has never come close to replicating the success of their sophomore effort, All The Pain Money Can Buy. Released in 1998, the album, propelled by the hit radio singles The Way and Out Of My Head, achieved platinum status (surpassing one-million sales) in only six months.
It’s amazing just how much difference time can make.
A used book and CD junkie, I’ve spent countless hours combing the shelves of my two favorite places in Lexington: Half-Price Books and Goodwill. In the music sections of both, I’ve noticed a trend: a handful of albums are repeatedly for sale. These records, once extremely popular, have now taken up permanent residence on the shelves of second-hand stores. Some of these albums are masterpieces like August and Everything After by Counting Crows or U2’s Achthung Baby (seriously, who is giving these albums away?). On the other hand, some albums belong on those shelves – honestly, how many copies of Hanson’s MMMBop can there be in the world?
Fastball’s All The Pain Money Can Buy is one of those albums; I’ve seen it over and over in used CD bins. A fan of 90’s music, I’ve considered purchasing it numerous times but always found myself changing my mind at the last minute. A few months ago I ran into the album again, this time at Goodwill. For whatever reason (maybe the money in my pocket was burning a hole), I finally broke down a bought the album for a whopping price of $2.50.
I’m rather ashamed to admit that after the car ride home, during which I played the two radio singles on repeat, I promptly forgot about my purchase. Until this week I’d never listened to other eleven songs on this platinum-selling album; truth be told, without this project, I probably never would’ve.
All The Pain Money Can Buy starts off with a bang, the first four songs being among the strongest. The record opens with The Way, a song inspired by true events. In 1997, Lela and Raymond Howard, an elderly couple from Texas, left home to attend a festival in a nearby town. Two weeks later, their bodies were discovered at the bottom of ravine, some 500 miles away from their intended destination. In The Way, the band reimagines a happier ending, painting a picture of a couple taking to the open road with no particular destination in mind, searching for a way to escape from the world around them. The band’s most successful single, The Way spent much of April and May 1998 as Billboards #1 Modern Rock track.
The next officially released single, Fire Escape, follows, begging the question “I can be myself, how about you?” Better Than It Was comes third, a hopelessly optimistic song declaring that life only gets better with time, followed by Which Way To The Top, a tune which sounds like it could have been pulled off any Wallflowers album (and coming from me, that’s a compliment).
The second half of the album, however, doesn’t quite hold my attention like those first four songs do. By no means is the remainder of the record a wash – its certainly worth a listen – I just find the album to be a bit frontloaded. Bright spots on the latter half of All The Pain Money Can Buy include Slow Drag, a fierce breakup song, and the exceedingly sing-along-able Out Of My Head.
Less than a month ago, the world was up in arms. The focus of their ire was a popular socialite, who 72 days after walking down the (heavily televised) aisle in a (very) public wedding ceremony, filed for divorce from her newly married husband. I try to keep my life as far removed from celebutantes and Hollywood gossip as possible, but I could not dodge this story – it seemed to be on everyone lips (even NPR’s). I’m in no way qualified to make an assessment of this short-lived marriage, except to feel remorse for the couple. Most of world seems to believe this marriage was nothing short of a shameful moneymaking venture and popularity boost – and it certainly may have been. But it’s also equally possible that in moving so quickly to divorce, the bride was only acting out what she has seen modeled.
Research shows that children from broken homes run a higher risk of experiencing divorce than those children whose parents remain married. In fact, if your parents divorced, you’re at least 40% more likely to experience divorce yourself. If your parents married others after divorcing, the chances of your own marriage ending in divorce increase to 91%*. That being said, I know plenty of couples in happy and healthy marriages who grew up with the pain of separation in their homes. It’s not impossible to beat the odds – by the grace of God broken things can be made new again. We can be rescued from the mistakes of our families, but at the same time we cannot ignore the effect of divorce on the children who are forced to live through it. For whatever reason, divorce seems to beget more divorce.
The fact that almost half of all marriages in America end in divorce has done our society a disservice – it has normalized the premature end of marriage. Divorce is no longer shocking, no longer appalling or surprising; it’s treated as an unwelcome, but accepted, part of everyday life. We treat divorce like taxes – we don’t like it, but it can’t be avoided.
All of this combines to create what scientists call a positive feedback cycle. Divorce leads to divorce which leads to divorce. When ending marriages becomes the norm, then divorce looks like the only answer to a relationship on the rocks. I certainly can’t speak for everyone, but it seems like many marriages end not because the couple has exhausted every means for reconciliation, but because divorce is the simplest, most accepted answer. Let me be clear, I don’t speak for every situation – Christ himself seemed to allow divorce in the area of infidelity – but, if we’re talking big picture, it’s easy to see that our society too quickly rushes to end our most important human relationship. We (myself included) have become a people who look to our own needs first, willfully ignoring the compromise and sacrifice that family life requires.
Which brings us back to that newly divorced socialite. Of course, the choice to end her marriage before it was barely out of the gate is her responsibility – but at the same time, we can’t diminish the effect her life played in that decision. At the age of 10, her parents split up. Less than a year later, her mother remarried; her father followed suit in 2003. No one can say for certain what role the end of her parents marriage played in her own decision to move toward divorce, but we would be wise to refrain from judging, especially when we don’t know the whole story. It may be that the cards were never fully stacked in her favor to begin with.
All this rambling eventually leads to my parents. The family I was born into is easily one of the biggest blessings I have ever received. My parents have profoundly shaped my life and set me on the course I am currently on: working a fulfilling job in ministry, engaged to the woman I love, and living a life of purpose. I could write volumes on the lessons they have taught and modeled for me, but as the day of my own wedding approaches, one sticks out above the rest: the way my parents have stuck it out together. To be honest, I know little about their conflicts, because neither of them have ever degraded or talked negatively about the other in front of their children. I do know, however, that over the course of twenty-nine years of marriage, conflicts will arise. My parents have managed to love each other not only during times of happiness, joy and peace, but also through the dark nights of disappointment, pain, and regret. Only they could really tell the story of their lives, but from my outside perspective, I know that it’s not always been a cakewalk – and yet, they muscled through it. Together.
My family is not immune to the pains of divorce either. While studying for the ministry at seminary, my father learned that his own parents were splitting. This broke his heart; he could have let it define and set him on a course destined for the same end. But by the grace of God, he and my mother have found a way to persevere. While doing so, they have become role models for those around them, not the least of whom are their three sons.
The video below (click the link) is a small tribute to a couple that lives as if every day together is better than the last. Your marriage has set a foundation that generations of your children and grandchildren will be able to stand upon. Thank you – for following your God, loving your children, and keeping your commitments.
"Better Than It Was" - A Tribute to Mom and Dad
* Nicholas Wolfinger, Understanding the Divorce Cycle, Cambridge University Press, 2005.
release date: 1998 record label: Hollywood
track
listing: 1) The Way
2) Fire Escape
3) Better Than It Was
4) Which Way To The Top?
5) Sooner Or Later
6) Warm Fuzzy Feeling
7) Slow Drag
8) Good Old Days
9) Charlie, The Methadone Man
10) Out Of My Head
11) Damaged Goods
12) Nowhere Road
13) Sweetwater, Texas
“I complain very little because
it’s better than it was…”
Fastball continues to play shows around their native Austin, Texas, releasing their latest album in 2004, and yet the band has never come close to replicating the success of their sophomore effort, All The Pain Money Can Buy. Released in 1998, the album, propelled by the hit radio singles The Way and Out Of My Head, achieved platinum status (surpassing one-million sales) in only six months.
It’s amazing just how much difference time can make.
A used book and CD junkie, I’ve spent countless hours combing the shelves of my two favorite places in Lexington: Half-Price Books and Goodwill. In the music sections of both, I’ve noticed a trend: a handful of albums are repeatedly for sale. These records, once extremely popular, have now taken up permanent residence on the shelves of second-hand stores. Some of these albums are masterpieces like August and Everything After by Counting Crows or U2’s Achthung Baby (seriously, who is giving these albums away?). On the other hand, some albums belong on those shelves – honestly, how many copies of Hanson’s MMMBop can there be in the world?
Fastball’s All The Pain Money Can Buy is one of those albums; I’ve seen it over and over in used CD bins. A fan of 90’s music, I’ve considered purchasing it numerous times but always found myself changing my mind at the last minute. A few months ago I ran into the album again, this time at Goodwill. For whatever reason (maybe the money in my pocket was burning a hole), I finally broke down a bought the album for a whopping price of $2.50.
I’m rather ashamed to admit that after the car ride home, during which I played the two radio singles on repeat, I promptly forgot about my purchase. Until this week I’d never listened to other eleven songs on this platinum-selling album; truth be told, without this project, I probably never would’ve.
All The Pain Money Can Buy starts off with a bang, the first four songs being among the strongest. The record opens with The Way, a song inspired by true events. In 1997, Lela and Raymond Howard, an elderly couple from Texas, left home to attend a festival in a nearby town. Two weeks later, their bodies were discovered at the bottom of ravine, some 500 miles away from their intended destination. In The Way, the band reimagines a happier ending, painting a picture of a couple taking to the open road with no particular destination in mind, searching for a way to escape from the world around them. The band’s most successful single, The Way spent much of April and May 1998 as Billboards #1 Modern Rock track.
The next officially released single, Fire Escape, follows, begging the question “I can be myself, how about you?” Better Than It Was comes third, a hopelessly optimistic song declaring that life only gets better with time, followed by Which Way To The Top, a tune which sounds like it could have been pulled off any Wallflowers album (and coming from me, that’s a compliment).
The second half of the album, however, doesn’t quite hold my attention like those first four songs do. By no means is the remainder of the record a wash – its certainly worth a listen – I just find the album to be a bit frontloaded. Bright spots on the latter half of All The Pain Money Can Buy include Slow Drag, a fierce breakup song, and the exceedingly sing-along-able Out Of My Head.
Less than a month ago, the world was up in arms. The focus of their ire was a popular socialite, who 72 days after walking down the (heavily televised) aisle in a (very) public wedding ceremony, filed for divorce from her newly married husband. I try to keep my life as far removed from celebutantes and Hollywood gossip as possible, but I could not dodge this story – it seemed to be on everyone lips (even NPR’s). I’m in no way qualified to make an assessment of this short-lived marriage, except to feel remorse for the couple. Most of world seems to believe this marriage was nothing short of a shameful moneymaking venture and popularity boost – and it certainly may have been. But it’s also equally possible that in moving so quickly to divorce, the bride was only acting out what she has seen modeled.
Research shows that children from broken homes run a higher risk of experiencing divorce than those children whose parents remain married. In fact, if your parents divorced, you’re at least 40% more likely to experience divorce yourself. If your parents married others after divorcing, the chances of your own marriage ending in divorce increase to 91%*. That being said, I know plenty of couples in happy and healthy marriages who grew up with the pain of separation in their homes. It’s not impossible to beat the odds – by the grace of God broken things can be made new again. We can be rescued from the mistakes of our families, but at the same time we cannot ignore the effect of divorce on the children who are forced to live through it. For whatever reason, divorce seems to beget more divorce.
The fact that almost half of all marriages in America end in divorce has done our society a disservice – it has normalized the premature end of marriage. Divorce is no longer shocking, no longer appalling or surprising; it’s treated as an unwelcome, but accepted, part of everyday life. We treat divorce like taxes – we don’t like it, but it can’t be avoided.
All of this combines to create what scientists call a positive feedback cycle. Divorce leads to divorce which leads to divorce. When ending marriages becomes the norm, then divorce looks like the only answer to a relationship on the rocks. I certainly can’t speak for everyone, but it seems like many marriages end not because the couple has exhausted every means for reconciliation, but because divorce is the simplest, most accepted answer. Let me be clear, I don’t speak for every situation – Christ himself seemed to allow divorce in the area of infidelity – but, if we’re talking big picture, it’s easy to see that our society too quickly rushes to end our most important human relationship. We (myself included) have become a people who look to our own needs first, willfully ignoring the compromise and sacrifice that family life requires.
Which brings us back to that newly divorced socialite. Of course, the choice to end her marriage before it was barely out of the gate is her responsibility – but at the same time, we can’t diminish the effect her life played in that decision. At the age of 10, her parents split up. Less than a year later, her mother remarried; her father followed suit in 2003. No one can say for certain what role the end of her parents marriage played in her own decision to move toward divorce, but we would be wise to refrain from judging, especially when we don’t know the whole story. It may be that the cards were never fully stacked in her favor to begin with.
All this rambling eventually leads to my parents. The family I was born into is easily one of the biggest blessings I have ever received. My parents have profoundly shaped my life and set me on the course I am currently on: working a fulfilling job in ministry, engaged to the woman I love, and living a life of purpose. I could write volumes on the lessons they have taught and modeled for me, but as the day of my own wedding approaches, one sticks out above the rest: the way my parents have stuck it out together. To be honest, I know little about their conflicts, because neither of them have ever degraded or talked negatively about the other in front of their children. I do know, however, that over the course of twenty-nine years of marriage, conflicts will arise. My parents have managed to love each other not only during times of happiness, joy and peace, but also through the dark nights of disappointment, pain, and regret. Only they could really tell the story of their lives, but from my outside perspective, I know that it’s not always been a cakewalk – and yet, they muscled through it. Together.
My family is not immune to the pains of divorce either. While studying for the ministry at seminary, my father learned that his own parents were splitting. This broke his heart; he could have let it define and set him on a course destined for the same end. But by the grace of God, he and my mother have found a way to persevere. While doing so, they have become role models for those around them, not the least of whom are their three sons.
The video below (click the link) is a small tribute to a couple that lives as if every day together is better than the last. Your marriage has set a foundation that generations of your children and grandchildren will be able to stand upon. Thank you – for following your God, loving your children, and keeping your commitments.
"Better Than It Was" - A Tribute to Mom and Dad
* Nicholas Wolfinger, Understanding the Divorce Cycle, Cambridge University Press, 2005.
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