What Ever Happened?

What Ever Happened? by The Strokes
Fifth Best Song

"What?!?!" you say! "The Strokes wrote one of the best songs! That's impossible!" And you may have a point. For all I know the Strokes wrote this song on accident. But I think it's mind blowing amazing. In literature there is this little device they like to call ring composition: a technique which places the meaning of a text in the middle, framed by a beginning and ending in parallel. The Iliad, The Temptist, and Beowolf all use it in telling their story. In a five act play, the fist and fifth act will mirror each other: the same characters, structure, and themes will be found, the second and fourth parts will mirror each other... and the third? This is the most important part of the play/story. And guess what "Whatever Happens" does? It's a song in ring composition. The song is in seven parts: the verses align near perfectly and are fine but not great, they even nearly match up almost word for word*. The middle features a pretty dope chorus with this pounding and thumping guitar and kick ass drums and then we get to the middle of the song: Julian's voice drops a bit and sounds painful when he sings, "You don't miss me... I know." In other words, if I'm right and Julian and the boys actually wrote this song as a ring composition, then this line is hands down the most important part of this song. Seriously, listen to this song and you'll see what I mean. Everything after those brutal, heartbreaking words seem not to matter, because all you're thinking is "You don't miss me, I know." Could there be anything worse?

Watch (when I first saw this trailer on TV, I was all pumped. I have yet to see the movie, but I'd like to):



*If the first verus was song last, as in the seventh part, instead of the sixth, I would argue that this is the greatest song of all time.