So Sad We Ain't Superhuman

Every once in a while it happens. You come across an anthem.

I had been in Atlanta for four months, and despite having gained a reasonable amount of independence and sense of adventure, I was every bit as uncomfortably lost as I had been when I arrived in August. My Friend David and I were trying to work on some songs. The vision for our project was rough, and often-times we were side-tracked.

“Do you like the band Hey Mercedes?” he asks. I rush into memories from years ago. Suddenly I am sixteen again, with the windows down singing “Let’s Go Blue” at the top of my lungs with my best friends. Later we would shoot fireworks at each other in parking lots. It’s been ages since I’ve heard that band.

But that was a long time ago and now it’s December and chilly. David is showing me TELEPHONO, an ambitious musical project he developed. “Their lead singer helped out on this.” I tell him that Hey Mercedes was one of my favorite bands in high school. “How do you know their lead singer?” He doesn’t reply to my question, he just smiles while he puts the record on and turns up the volume.

And suddenly Robert Nanna’s voice is delivering me to what I’ve been aimlessly stumbling towards for six months. He lyrically articulates the ambiguousness that has haunted me since last year when everything shed off of me: there was a death in the family, a relationship was lost, a band disbanded, and my college career closed. But Robert Nanna knows how it feels to set out to conquer and return empty-handed. He too has realized that our lives cannot be set to plan:

“My heart poppin’, the apology ended, I should have ran off right before we began. I could have driven to the river and plunged right in! I’ve never been so unbelievably broken. I had a plan, how the hell did we fall? Suffice to say we’re not superhuman after all. Human, after all.”

There’s something hidden in the melody that you won’t get from reading lyrics. Between the erratic rhythms there is a feeling that has been lost to me, the need for aspiration and purpose. Despite the complete failure of my past ambition, it evokes that vital part of me. It’s time to try it all over again!

So maybe this song is not just my song of the day, but rather my theme song until otherwise stated. I’m still filled with ambiguousness, but my hopes are starting to take form, and this time I’m setting my sights higher.

The Telephono project that David started is inspiring. Please read more about it here. “So Sad We Ain’t Superhuman” is listed with the songs, but if you want the full effect you will need to get a hold of the vinyl sets that David has.