Since the release of their 2000 album, “The Swiss Army Romance” Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional has been easing heartache through his sentimental, emotional and intelligent lyrics. In my personal life, Dashboard Confessional was the soundtrack to rounds of Mario Kart games with my little sister. Recently, Chris Carrabba opted to do something rather unique and special.
He decided to go back and re-record three of his albums. He’d been hinting at a frustration with how these albums turned out for a while. At a concert in Las Vegas in 2017 he said that he liked his older music better. He said that he felt his old music was more true to what was in his heart. Chris hinted that his more recent albums were altered by the expectations of labels and other sources of pressure in the music business.
Dashboard Confessional: Now is Then is Now
Last Friday Chris Carrabba released new versions of his albums “A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar”, “Dusk and Summer”, and “Alter The Ending”. He’s called these re-releases “Now is Then is Now”. Releasing acoustic, stripped down versions of Dashboard Confessional music makes sense. He originally rose to popularity based off of the success of albums that were simple stripped down and acoustic. Chris Carrabba goes beyond releasing acoustic versions. He’s releasing the songs how he originally intended them, reflecting a pure punk rock sensibility. On an instagram post he said, “I wondered what could have been if I had recorded [these albums] the way I had envisioned them, with their original lyrics and original structures”. In every case the original lyrics are better and in most cases the original structures are better.
A good example of the better and more emotional nature of the original vision is the song “Until Morning” from the album “Alter The Ending”. The lyrics from the original chorus are the words of a lover begging for one more night with his lover. He wants her to stay with him “Even if it’s just till morning”. In the new release, the lover is pledging to to be there “Every night and every morning”.
Other songs contain minor lyrical changes. “Even Now” is almost exactly the same lyrically. The one difference makes the song much more romantic and much less sensual. He changes the line, “I can feel your breast” to “I can feel your breath”.
A Truly Unique Experience
Musically, the new arrangements simplify the songs and give the albums the same feel as “American Recordings” by Johnny Cash. They portray the emotions of the songs with much more power. And, just as the “American Recordings” did for Johnny Cash, “Now is Then is Now” refines the branding of Chris Carrabba as an emotional punk rocker with deep romantic longings.
Finally, I don’t think an undertaking like this has ever been done before. Bands have gone back to share original demos and recordings. But, I’ve never heard of an artist going back to re-record the original versions of his or her albums. In that sense, the “Now is Then is Now” recordings represent something truly unique and incredibly enjoyable.
Enjoy!