When We Were 12 Or 22

Enon “Conjugate the Verbs”

The structure of “Conjugate the Verbs” is so dynamic that it feels volatile, as though the song is a building that’s collapsing one floor at a time. Every time the chorus kicks in it seems like the bottom drops out of the song, and the plunging sensation is both thrilling and terrifying. The song is all about that moment, and as cryptic as the lyrics get, the feeling of them is keyed into a sense of relief that something is being – or has been – destroyed.

It’s probably the latter, since most of these lyrics are written in the past tense. (The provocative opening line – “she’s on an unconscious mission to destroy you” – could be an ongoing concern.) The line that always lingers in my head is the chorus, “when we were 12 or 22,” partly because I like the way that disparity in age undermines its nostalgia. It’s so specific yet entirely vague, just random times in a past that’s not worth holding on to.

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