Paramore, new and improved

A bit of background first, for those of you who are not privy to the tale of one Paramore: they're a young, incredibly talented pop-rock band out of Nashville who got big around 2007 with their single "Misery Business," and have enjoyed a sizable following ever since. They're also fronted by Haley Williams (the rest of the band is all male), who's been garnering quite a bit of success lately. (Example: that's her voice on "Airplanes," one of the biggest hits of the year.) Whether she meant to steal the spotlight or not, it was always kind of bound to happen. Who wouldn't pay attention to an 18-year-old girl whose I've arrived-battle cry to the world of rock was "I'm in the business of misery"? I mean, just look at her. And that voice, that voice! If I had one wish, it would be to have Haley Williams' voice. (Sorry, world peace.)

Paramore has been pretty open about their inter-band rifts before -- they almost broke up before making Brand New Eyes, and Haley dated guitarist Josh Farro for three years before they broke up as well. ("Ignorance," "Playing God" and "Careful" are all about him.) But Josh and his brother Zac -- the band's drummer -- finally decided to part ways with Paramore last winter. Of course, they couldn't leave without writing their very own exposé, their "side of the story" -- an angry statement on their website about Haley getting too much attention and Paramore not feeling like a band any more -- classic backup-lead singer jealousy thinly veiled by hardly diplomatic language.

Since the breakup, Paramore's three remaining members have been very clear about the fact that they are still a band and are still going to make music together -- and finally, here's the proof, and my goodness. Very rarely do songs just wreck me, but this one does without question. A beautiful, emotionally loaded ballad; the lyrics a very clear reference to the breakup of the band (and the loss of two best friends -- Haley met the Farro brothers when she was just 13 years old). And I love the incomplete sentence -- "In the mourning / All my worries..." It's open-ended. Side note: this is the acoustic version, which is incomplete, but Warner Music Group kills dreams and removed the longer, studio recorded one from YouTube.



And no, you're not crazy if you think those beginning chords sound a bit like Fleetwood's "Landslide" -- check this out, from a Paramore concert a little while ago.



Any way, stay tuned this month for my coverage of the Golden Globe nominations -- they're announced in less than 10 days (!). Where does the time go?