68. Graduate by Third Eye Blind

"Graduate" by Third Eye Blind

Written by Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan
Produced by Eric Valentine and Stephan Jenkins
Released on Third Eye Blind (March 26, 1997)
Released as a single in August 1997
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Warning: Explicit Lyrics

Initially I wasn't convinced that I actually liked Third Eye Blind. "Semi-Charmed Life" was all over the radio. It was catchy and probably a little too poppy for my tastes at the time. I, of course, realize now that "Semi-Charmed Life" is awesome. At the time, however, I was still too caught up in the idea that my musical tastes somehow defined who I am as an individual. I still wanted to protect my fragile sense of what it meant to be me. I finally came around to Third Eye Blind when they released their music video for "Jumper." At that point I purchased their album on CD. I then learned that "Graduate" was one of their songs too. I had enjoyed hearing "Graduate" on the radio, but hadn't realized who it was by. It was much harder and more aggressive than their other stuff.

Now fast forward about 20 years, and I'm trying to put together my list. I wasn't set on including "Graduate," but it was definitely in contention. As I was converting playlists and stuff over to Spotify, I noticed something odd about this song. The version included with the album on Spotify was different from what I remembered. It's still the same song, but the arrangement is all weird. I thought maybe I was remembering things wrong, but the version on my CD was the one I always remember listening to. I then found that version attached to a greatest hits album on Spotify, so that was what was added to my playlists and ultimately, this top 100.

Now I have to wonder, why did Third Eye Blind change the version on the album for streaming services? "Graduate" was not a successful single for them, but it is still one of their more recognizable songs.

I ended up wondering if this was a result of the fabled Mandela Effect. For those of you unfamiliar, the Mandela Effect is a term used to note a shared "memory" that many people have that turns out to be false. Apparently lots of people thought they clearly remembered Nelson Mandela dying in prison, only to discover that he was in fact very much alive when he was released and elected president of South Africa. I do not suffer from that version, but I can relate to the throngs of people that for years thought the beloved family of bears they read about as children were named Berenstein Bears. Turns out their name has always been spelled Berenstain with an "a."

People love to account for this by making wild accusations about time travel. They think that somehow someone changed the past resulting in a present that doesn't quite match up with what we remember. Of course, what we are really experiencing is the fact that the human memory is often full of crap. People remember seeing, hearing, and witnessing things all the time that are unequivocally false. These are unequivocal facts: Memory is flawed and time travel does not exist.

I'm just grateful that the version of the song I remember still exists on my CD and on my hard drive and on a best of album. The new version is not the result of some errant time traveler. It is simply some stupid decision that someone made while uploading the song to various streaming services. Or maybe the band thought this other version was actually better and changed it on purpose. I don't really know. Apparently there are not enough fans of this song to write about why there are two different versions of it. All I know is that better or worse, the version I know is the version I am familiar with, and familiarity leads to comfort, and comfort leads to peace. So when I am seeking peace through listening to music, I want familiarity. That is what the correct version of "Graduate" by Third Eye Blind now means to me.

Right now, "Graduate" by Third Eye Blind is (probably) my 68th favorite song of all time.