What’s Left Of My Right Mind

The Kills “Future Starts Slow”

Every other day lately I have a conversation with someone who is anxious to skip ahead to some point in the future. I’ve spent most of my life feeling that way too, so I have a lot of empathy for that sort of angst. Sometimes it’s about wanting far more than the world could reasonably give you, which makes me think of a brilliant lyric from a Maxi Geil song called “A Message to My Audience”: “I want the world, and I want it now / can’t that be arranged for me somehow?” But in less petulant moments, it’s closer to the feeling of “Future Starts Slow,” which bleeds out equal measures of passion and fear. Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince sing about feeling terrified that their passion – for someone, each other, their art, anything – could disappear. And then what? The Kills write from the perspective of people who thrive on intensity and emotional investment, so when Alison sings “if there’s a time when the feeling’s gone / I want to feel it,” it’s clear that she’s talking about her worst nightmare. The pain of waiting around isn’t so much about needing something to happen right away as much as it’s about fearing that it will never come, or that you’ll somehow go numb while you wait your life away.

Buy it for $5.99 from Amazon.