Forgotten Songs of the '90s: Morphine

Forgotten Songs of the ‘90s: Morphine

Morphine were one of the greatest power trios of the ‘90s, without a doubt. The fact that they consisted of bass, saxophone and drums were enough for them to stand out but because they wrote great songs ensured that their legacy would outlive them. Most people remember them for their individual albums but the songs contained on many of them could be looked at as their own entity. In this case, that song is “In Spite of Me,” from 1993’s Cure for Pain.

Starting off with a lovely mandolin played by frontman/bassist Mark Sandman, the song is built around just the mandolin and the power of Sandman’s rough, but extremely soulful vocals. The song is about the girl who got away who achieved everything she has because of the relationship and how it ended. The narrator still sounds broken over what happened but let’s on that he is happy regardless. The fact the song consists of one instrument and one voice and can be haunting and absolutely beautiful at the same time is just remarkable.

This song got a lot of attention when it was used in the 1994 indie comedy “Spanking the Monkey,” but Morphine ended prematurely five years later when Sandman was felled by a heart attack on stage in Rome. The band may be gone but the songs still live on and it’s amazing that “In Spite of Me” hasn’t been heard in other films or commercials because it is the perfect track to be used in love scenes and the like. So go and listen to the track and then spread it around so that word continues to grow on this band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egqI84zsnYw

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