May 19, 2025

What’s a song that grew on you over time?
There's a number of song choices that came to mind. Most are in genres I don't spend a lot of time in so I wanted to pick something that meant something to me. What came to mind is Grendel by Sunny Day Real Estate on their foundational album Diary. If you haven't heard it, you should change that but in the context of the album as a whole. Grendel is a different sort of song in some ways. It starts out with a somewhat mellow feedback driven ambiance that slowly builds to a heavier lyric reflecting on the story of Beowulf through the eyes of the monster Grendel: *"I wanted to be them but instead I destroyed myself..."
The song is that cycle a couple of times. On initial listening it might be jarring but there's something in the reflection. I don't know if beauty is the right word as much as realization would be. It's a great emotional moment that I missed at first but has become a favorite on this album.