Nada Surf has carved out an impressive career as indie-rock lifers with a loyal following awaiting each new album. But their biggest success also turned out to be the thing that almost finished off the band for good.
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Luckily, they kept doing it for the love of the music. And that led to amazing songs like “Inside Of Love”, one of the standout tracks from their 2002 album Let Go, often regarded as the finest of the band’s career.
The “Inside” Scoop
In 1996, Nada Surf’s single “Popular” put the trio on the map in a hurry. They were on a major label, coaxed The Cars’ Ric Ocasek into producing their debut album, and had a buzzy song all over MTV and alternative radio. The potential seemed infinite.
Instead, just two years later, they were without a record label and struggled to even get their sophomore album released. Record execs expected another “Popular”, which was somewhat of a novelty song and not emblematic of much of the band’s other work. The three members (Matthew Caws, Daniel Lorca, and Ira Elliott) got day jobs and made music for nobody but themselves.
That process culminated with the outstanding 2002 album Let Go. Although there weren’t any hit singles, the band received a swell of critical praise for the album. “Inside Of Love”, chosen as one of the singles for the album, stands out thanks to Matthew Caws’ touching evocation of longing.
Caws had a few verses of the song in place but no chorus to start. Sitting on a park bench one day, he took a look around. He imagined love as a physical location, one with gates that could either keep you out or admit your entrance. So as not to forget anything, he ran home through the crowd at the park and finished writing the song.
Exploring the Lyrics of “Inside Of Love”
Caws sings in “Inside Of Love” about his current state, which is in direct contrast to where he wants to be. He uses television to distract him into a stupor: “Getting spacier than an astronaut.” His romantic entanglements are empty. “Making out with people I hardly know or like,” he says. “I can’t believe what I do late at night.”
In the second verse, he looks for a way inside love’s domain. “Only when we get to see the aerial view,” he muses. “Will the patterns show, we’ll know what to do.” In a killer couplet, the narrator reveals how he keeps subverting the happy ending he seeks. “I know the last page so well, I can’t read the first,” Caws sings. “So I just don’t start, It’s getting worse.”
The chorus lays bare his longing. “I wanna know what it’s like,” he laments. “On the inside of love/I’m standing at the gates/I see the beauty above.” In the middle eight, he imagines a different outcome. “Must be a different view,” Caws sings. “To be a me with a you.”
The insistent music behind these lyrics amplifies the steadfastness of the narrator’s mission. But the sudden minor chords hint at the forks in the road to get there. On “Inside Of Love”, Nada Surf suggests that the kingdom of love is always within sight. It’s finding the keys that’s the tricky part.
Photo by John Shearer/WireImage for KROQ-FM
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