#82, "Over The Cliff," Jon Langford/Old 97’s (1995)

150 Favorite Songs: #82, "Over The Cliff," Jon Langford/Old 97’s (1995)

I learned "Over The Cliff" from the version the Old 97's put on their second album, Wreck Your Life, in 1995. Jon Langford wrote it, and it may have been a live staple of his with either the Mekons or the Waco Brothers before then, but I don't think he ever recorded it until a couple of years ago, on a solo record.

Regardless of where "Over The Cliff" came from, the Old 97's version really caught my ear because it sounded so unlike them. I talked to Rhett Miller a few days ago for a Texas Monthly story, and he described himself as trying to be a “perfect, people-pleasing guy” who felt like he “had to play it safe” for a lot of his career. I think he may have been harsh on himself—they've always had a sharper edge than their nice-guy, "we're alt-country, just not heroin addicts" image gave them credit for, but for the most part, it’s true that they didn’t often get as punk-rock as they do on "Over The Cliff." Rhett Miller rarely ends his songs by repeating the refrain, "Success on someone else's terms / don't mean a fuckin' thing," you know?

A couple of years ago, I started meeting people who were actually successful, and I found that most of the ones I found inspiring to be around had something in common: They actually agreed that success on someone else's terms didn't mean a fucking thing. I knew a successful prosecutor who opted to become a defense attorney—taking less money, receiving fewer accolades, limiting future opportunities—for that reason. I talked to a friend about the time she walked away from a really big job in video games because the people she worked for treated her like shit. I've met musicians who walked away from bands that were going places they wanted to be because they weren't playing music that they cared about. Lots of people who've gone over the cliff.

The reason "Over The Cliff" resonates so strongly with me is that its all that punk rock defiance that I've always loved, but it's not about being a teenager. I mean, I love "Rise Above" and "In My Eyes" and all those songs, too, but I am a grown adult with a house who pays taxes and has a career. They haven't really empowered me in a long time. But "Over The Cliff" is for people who are at a grown-up point in life, I think—people who worked hard and got some money and who are sick of the way it made them feel powerless, while in New York and L.A. they’re sending doing whatever business it is they do that makes the real money but is disconnected from the actual work of making things.

“Over The Cliff" feels like punk rock for grown-ups, to me. It's every bit as angry and defiant as "Rise Above," but it doesn't just rebel against faceless authority. It rebels against the fact that even though you worked to get where you are, it's not where you wanted to be, and it's about fighting to get there. And if that requires a "forgive me and forget me, everybody,” that’s cool, that's what it takes. Because while it's easy at 17 to shout that success on someone else's terms don't mean a fuckin' thing, you haven't been tested yet. Repeating that when you've got more to lose, though—that means something more.