#196 (of 365) "The Ledge" The Replacements

Weeks before my freshman year in college, I bought my first two Replacements albums, Don't Tell a Soul (which featured the "hit" "I'll Be You" so that's how I knew about it/them) and of course, the predecessor Pleased to Meet Me, which featured this track. These two albums (we called them albums back then, even if you bought them on cassette, which I did) were the 2nd and 3rd "alternative" albums I had ever bought before--first was earlier that summer, The Cure's Disintegration, and they accompanied me to school. I remember listening to the cassettes and others I traded for with this girl down the hall who was into alternative and knew way more than me, and I would walk around campus with my headphones on, on my own for the first time, a little scared, a little excited, and falling in love with music--good music--for the first time. Oh, and Rutgers had a pizza spot on the New Brunswick campus, which I didn't live on but had classes on, that was easily the best pizza I'd ever tasted (and was universally recognized as the best pizza on campus). It happened to be called The Ledge. And anytime I hear this song, more than the lyrics about suicide or my freshman year obsession with the Mats, I think about that pizza shop, and walking around New Brunswick listening to Pleased to Meet Me.

I'm the boy they couldn't ignore.
For the first time in my life I'm sure!

I'm the boy they couldn't ignore
For the first time in my life, I'm sure

I'm the boy
For the last time in my life
All the love that they pledge
For the last time will not reach the ledge

"The Ledge" - The Replacements // Pleased to Meet Me (1987)