вЂњI think IвЂ™ve always been punk,вЂќ Jenkins says, вЂњnot in the sense that I play three chords or have a fake British accent, although I do have a fake British accent. вЂњJumperвЂќВ addresses suicide with a catchy acoustic jangle, former member Kevin CadoganвЂ™s вЂњNarcolepsyвЂќ frankly explains his titular sleeping disorder, while вЂњGod of WineвЂќ ends the record with a car crash. вЂњNo one had done it before, and, like, three weeks later all of my friends were addicted.вЂќДЄs evidenced in вЂњSemi Charmed Life,вЂќ the fact that Third Eye BlindвЂ™s songs were both poppy and addressedВ some heavy shit infused the band with an edge over their radio-ready contemporaries that many would later imitate with less sincerity.

That angry swagger carried over into JenkinsвЂ™ persona back then, too-a 1998 interview with Rolling Stone has an enfant terribleВ sense of mischievousnessВ when the interviewer asks Jenkins about the overt references to crystal meth in вЂњSemi Charmed Life,вЂќ and Jenkins tells him he wonвЂ™t admit to being a user if thatвЂ™s what the interviewer is hoping for.В вЂњItвЂ™s about a time when my friends and I were at a Primus concert and somebody brought speed,вЂќ he conceded. And hip-hop gives the record its rhythmic characteristics, which is weird because itвЂ™s British rock riffs, you know?вЂќ вЂњThey also allowed for my sense of anger. вЂњThose rhythms were engrained in me,вЂќ he says. So I had a very different sense of myself.вЂќДЇor all its seemingly middle-class suburban platitudes, Third Eye BlindВ owes much of its rhythmic flow and swagger to the golden age of hip-hop, and Jenkins acknowledges groups like A Tribe Called Quest and The Jungle Brothers were essential in shaping his delivery alongside funk and the music of Prince. But I spent years just sleeping on packing foam, trying to get things together. It wasnвЂ™t some sort of overnight success, and it looked that way because once it came out, things with us ignited in public. We were very misunderstood by our own record company, and one other thing that was strange about us was that it was a long struggle to make music. And I felt that way at the time, worse from our own image. вЂњItвЂ™s funny because IвЂ™ll look at videos, IвЂ™ll look at the marketing and just flatline when I see it. вЂњI had no sense that I was my own puppet master,вЂќ he says. Jenkins acknowledges the road to realizing that he was his own scene started by realizingВ that, while the early songs were all about not allowing yourself to be controlled by other forces, other forces were controlling his career all the while. ThereвЂ™s only feeling whole within your self, thereвЂ™s really no exterior place of belonging, thatвЂ™s it.вЂќ So much of that first record for me just came out of always feeling so on the outside, being a misfit, and it really took me years to realize that I was the inside, I was the scene. вЂњI really only have one kind of revelation, and IвЂ™m afraid that it might sound kind ofвЂ¦simplistic. вЂњWhat is that like?вЂќ he asks me rhetorically over the phone, taking a beat to consider his response. JenkinвЂ™s words were thoughtful but direct, catchy, and smarter than your average pop song, if you wanted themВ to be. A song like вЂњGraduateвЂќ spells out JenkinвЂ™s concerns about adulthoodВ quite fine on its own as heВ wonders if heвЂ™ll ever be able to get his вЂњpunk ass off the street,вЂќ while an allusion to The Great Gatsby in opening track вЂњLosing a Whole YearвЂќ or the fact that the вЂњDo Do DoвЂ™sвЂќ in вЂњSemi Charmed LifeвЂќ were borrowed from Lou ReedвЂ™s вЂњWalk on the Wild SideвЂќВ were only evident toВ those who picked up on it, and of no concern to those who didnвЂ™t. in English Literature, Jenkins didnвЂ™t bother to overstuff his songs with arcane references or inaccessible metaphors. alone-and youвЂ™re left with a band still trying to process the feelings of transition theyвЂ™ve baked into their songs while those feelings are being codified and shaped into a product.ДespiteВ graduating from U.C. And you likely still have them stuck somewhere in the deep recesses of your brain.Д¬astВ aside any considerations of Third Eye BlindвЂ™s tremendous commercial success-it peaked at No.В 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, saw the band performing single вЂњHowвЂ™s It Going to BeвЂќ on Saturday Night Live and sold 6 million-plus copies in the U.S. Two years later, they were still soundtracking memories of friend hangs and drinking beer from koozies on Michigan docks in American Pie. Three of its five singles-вЂќSemi Charmed Life,вЂќ вЂњJumperвЂќ and вЂњHowвЂ™s It Going to BeвЂќ-dominated both radio and television, as frontman Stephan JenkinвЂ™s rap-influenced singing style added an edge to the riffs and the lyrical themes that scoredВ him ample cool points with listeners.

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