Carbon Leaf Countdown #5: The Boxer
Feb 15
I don’t think there will be a lot of peaceful sleep tonight for Carbon Leaf. Another strong contender for number drops at #5: “The Boxer.”
As I said with “Life Less Ordinary,” there are two songs by Carbon Leaf that are most commonly associated with them, that one and “The Boxer.” It is their trademark song similar to how you think instantly of Nirvana with “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” It’s their go to set-closer or encore song and the one guaranteed song that will whip the crowd into a frenzy no matter what day and no matter what city. It’s a fantastic song too and is evocative of their Irish-rock sound evident on Echo Echo, something that really captured a lot of fans around that time period. Here we are, over ten years later and basically four albums later; people are still longing for that Irish-rock sound and awaiting its return. They must have done something right to get that emotion from people and listening to “The Boxer” will prove that they did just that.
Of course, “The Boxer” is their trademark for many more reasons. It is their award song. It won them an International Songwriting Award in the Rock category. It won them Pontiac Vibe’s Summer Sound Off Competition. Oh and it even let them make history at the American Music Awards. In January 2002, the band won the first ever (and what ended up being only) Coca-Cola New Music Award and got them the chance to play on national television. Of course, that would make them the first, and one of the few, unsigned bands to play live on national television. Not too shabby, huh? So the song basically sums up their best work to date, it’s the best crowd pleaser a decade away, it won them three awards, it got them on live television; yeah, it’s safe to say without argument that this is their trademark song. Wouldn’t you think?
Song: The Boxer
Album: Echo Echo
Year: 2001
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Feb 15, 2012 @ 22:48:50
This is the song that introduced me to Carbon Leaf.
I live near Seattle and, obviously, CL didn’t play at venues around town here. But a local station, KMTT (the Mountain), which plays new & obscure music in the Adult Alternative category, tossed on “The Boxer” one afternoon. According to them, the switchboard lit up and lot of folks (including me!) wanted to know who they were and what album that song was from!
I headed to a number of music stores, asking for CL, but no one carried them. I then headed to the library, and found three albums: Echo Echo, 5 Alive, and Ether-Electrified Porch Music. Checked them all out and instantly fell in love. Hard.
Several months later, CL was signed to open for the Winterfest Concert and I convinced a friend to go with me. They blew away the Moore Theatre and most of the audience left after their set was done, hanging out with the band in the lobby for over an hour. I have pictures! Oh, my friend and I bought the two albums the library didn’t have and swapped them.
I was pleased to see a thank you to KMTT in the Indian Summer album liner notes when it came out. By then, most of the music stores around here had FINALLY put some of their albums on their shelves!
I’ve been to every show they’ve done since then, including the Marymor Park show in the rain, and the small On The Mountain CD release show where they flew in from Denver, did a 2-hour show in a small venue (amazing!!), and flew back out the next morning. Yes, we showed them the love.
Enough rambling. Thanks for the countdown and I’ve enjoyed revisiting CL music with someone who obviously loves them as much as I do!
Feb 29, 2012 @ 00:28:20
This was my first inkling that there was a great new band out there to listen to (followed closely by Merry Mac of course). That lead to Echo Echo which lead to Indian Summer which lead to live shows… Its a classic tale of musical seduction, with a punch.