The “perfect pop song”, according to Evan Dando
Leading the charge during a time when stars like Kurt Cobain fronted grunge, it’s a wonder how Evan Dando ever made it. Despite the era’s social lubricant being heroin and the crux of punk still very much looking for anarchy, Dando showed up with as much boisterous energy and confidence as grunge threatened – even if his pretty-boy appearance provided a stark contradiction.
Although they occupied similar musical spaces, Dando and Cobain were polar opposites. Cobain, as beautifully pained as he may have been, was no match for Dando’s heartthrob persona and unapologetic rock ‘n’ roll ways. He enjoyed parties with some of the biggest names and took up a large portion of Hollywood’s attention in films like Reality Bites and Heavy.
As frontman of The Lemonheads, however, the gritty, devil-may-care attitude was thinly yet delicately veiled by the safety of power pop that promised the pretence of resilience – despite everybody knowing it was destined to end badly. Dando’s story plays out similarly to their song ‘It’s a Shame About Ray’; it’s mysterious and probably a little sinister, but it sounds upbeat and straightforward, so it’s hard to tell the truth.
Across various interviews, however, it’s clear that whatever mishaps happened in Dando’s life, music has been a constant. Choosing just nine songs – to reflect his nine lives – seems an impossible feat, and yet, the one song he manages to deem the “perfect pop song” probably makes complete sense, considering the musician’s appreciation for great rock melodies.
This is, of course, ‘Waterloo Sunset’ by The Kinks, a song that is as eloquent as it is revealing about the band’s attitude towards British culture. “The Kinks are one of my favourite bands,” Dando told The Line of Best Fit. “Just when you think the song couldn’t get any catchier, they just hit you again and again and again. It’s such ear candy. I love the major scales. There’s the weird, jazzy drumming. It’s even got the sentimentality.”
Admittedly, Dando recalls not paying it much mind the first time he heard it as it was on the radio, but his friend urged him to listen to it again and listen closely to the riff. “[It’s] just so beautiful,” he said. “I had some great friends in high school. Thanks to them, I got the good word early.” Although it may not seem it, ‘Waterloo Sunset’ actually came together completely organically, especially after Ray Davies identified the significance of witnessing Waterloo sunsets when he was in hospital as a child.
It seems that Dando can appreciate such songs with fresh eyes nowadays, now that he’s out of the woods and finally finished with the “stupid life” that involved drug abuse and coasting the line between life and death. It may seem less fun, boring even, but at least getting clean allows the star to experience nostalgia through a lens of appreciation rather than disdain.
