this is our year

i've been reading the clash book
lisa gave me for christmas
a big pink number with all kinds of cool
photos and memorabilia
i've raced through it
already at sandinista and it's only been a couple of days
i would've killed for this when i was a kid
it's a pretty exhaustive document
of their story
they did so much in such a short time
kinda hard to imagine really it was all over before
any of them had reached 30 (no wonder joe got depressed afterwards)
and i can't help but asked myself what did i do before 30?
waste a lot of time being unhappy i suppose
i guess putting in those lean years
was paramount to my story
it couldn't have been any other way
it just wasn't my time yet
so i had to wait
and wait
...and wait...
that's one thing i've learned
if you're patient enough
with this life
sooner or later
your time will come
maybe blind optimism?
especially when applied to people living in countries
with hopeless situations
but i'm gonna stick with my theory anyway
your golden days may not hang around for long
but they will come
eventually
and you'd better be ready to seize the moment
when they do
suck 'em up for all they're worth
enjoy every last drop
everything ends
all things must pass
they will surely come and go
like everything else in this life does

this is the time in my life
where i'm shining brightest
it's easy for me to realize it right now
even though i'm in the thick of it
things still feel like they're on the incline
but i know artistically
i probably only have a few good years left
my best work is about to be released
even though i helped make it and am close to it
i know this is true
sometimes when you get to listen to the music
with close friends
and no distractions
from start to finish
you get to absorb things through their reactions to it
that you wouldn't otherwise be able to
it's an almost outta body experience
you feel like an objective observer
not the maker
the other night
when i got to play constellation for L and L
this happened to me
and i realized that billy and i have done something really special
i'm not trying to toot my own horn here
i've been quick to criticize everything i've ever done
(especially the MF and HF!)
that's what's always spurned me on to the next record
how was i gonna top the last fiasco?
all the flaws i find in my own work screaming at me to make the next one
BETTER
now don't get me wrong
i don't think this record is flawless
by any means
but it is truly an amalgamation of everything good
i've uncovered in 25 years of writing and playing music
i'm soaking it all in now
i'm ready to release the best one yet
i'm ready to help rhett make his
and buttercup theirs
and whatever other PL recording artists queing up
for '09
it's gonna be another great year of making music with my friends
i'm looking forward to it already