“Tell me you love me and I’ll teach you to swim / Then we can go swim / I’ll buy you a boat if you give me a grin / Give me one grin / Cause I can fix anything…” Ah, the Kübler-Ross model of the five stages of grief are absolutely fascinating and relatable in any number of situations involving loss. For folk-rock collective Skittish (Jeff Noller is the sole permanent member), he recorded a project, The Five Stages EP, that covers denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The aforementioned lyrics hail from “The Fixer,” which represents bargaining. Noller seeks to atone for the grief of a breakup. Describing “The Fixer,” he states, “It happened, she left, and at first, you try to fix the situation, but eventually, you have to accept it and grow.”
Just as Noller describes on this grandiose number (the music itself is beautiful, quite awe-inspiring), Skittish tries to do any and everything to get her back. “If I admit that I need you around, would you keep me from drowning?” Of course not, and NOTHING seems to work, as is the case when you attempt to fix something that just can’t be repaired. Many times, throughout “The Fixer,” the listener perceives the desperation, because he literally ‘goes to the ends of the earth’ to fix, yet, it’s completely and utterly unreasonable. Furthermore, Jeff Noller gives an expressive performance to match. Of course, when in the bargaining stage, what is perceived by others to be unreasonable is reasonable to you until you progress from that stage.
“If this ship is sinking, I’m pouring some drinks
If this ship is sinking, let’s have a drink
I can patch, I can plug, I can fix anything.”
Despite his desperation, Skittish can’t fix or prevent the inevitable. A takeaway from “The Fixer” is simply, sometimes, the atonement one desires isn’t the atonement one gets, or something like that. I’ll close with one of the best lyrics of “The Fixer,” which fittingly appears during the dynamic ending:
“And after a while in the sun, put this whole fucking beast in the ground
I’m tapping my S.O.S. out.”
You can learn more about Skittish here:
About The Curator - Brent Faulkner
Slightly eccentric with interests that seem to know no ends, restless ‘Renaissance Man’ is the best way to characterize Brent Faulkner, a native of Kentucky. A certified music educator, multi-instrumentalist, and composer known for his incredibly sharp ear, he lives and breathes music of a variety of styles. In addition to passion for educating, performing, and writing music, he’s equally passionate blogging and writing about it, managing his own site, The Musical Hype (https://themusicalhype.com). When he’s not intensely analyzing music, you can find him reading or watching a movie, reality television or some sporting event.
