Nestled warmly in the pocket of his new release, When The Needle Hits The Wax, Stook’s “Seasonal Affective Disorder” quietly surprises as the finest piece of autobiographical poetry on the album. The precursor to the booming drunken jamboree “How Long We Gonna Dance?” and following his best Springsteen song on the album, “Diggin’ on You,” the track finds harmony in an avenue outside from his ever-outgoing, ever-rambunctious personality.  “Seasonal Affective Disorder” projects an occasionally weak, sensitive musician; so, pretty much, he’s just like the rest of us, after all.

“I came out here to stake my claim, and I’m feelin’ like I lost my aim. The season is what I blame, but it’s probably me.” This is the heart of the song, the heart of its lonelinesss, and the heart of who it is that I’m beginning to understand Stook is as both a person and as a musician. Both Stook and myself have left the regions where we were born, both ending up here in Minneapolis, but the main difference is that he had a passionate goal in mind when doing so while I just sort of ended up here. Minneapolis is a long ways away from his Indiana upbringing, and in some regards I can understand the longing for familiarity that the song suggests. But has he lost his aim, or rather, has he just now realized his direction?

The second part of that line reminds me of just how human it is to commit a passionate crime against yourself, whether it be damning yourself with the entire burden of your pain, or neglecting to take on any responsibility whatsoever and painting the blame on something else, the mind can never seem to adjust when depression comes crashing. I find this line beautiful in that I have thought something similar so many times, the line is about giving into whatever it is that haunts and assuming the responsibility for how you feel whether or not you could control the situation at all. It’s almost to say – the weather isn’t good, but I can hardly blame what I’ve done or how I feel on winter.  Hope I remember that in the coming months.

Stook “Seasonal Affective Disorder”

“Seasonal Affective Disorder” is available on Stook’s recently released album When The Needle Hits The Wax. For anyone in the Twin Cities area tonight (Friday, October 26, 2007) I highly suggest heading down to The Varsity Theater and taking part in Stook’s co-headlining CD release party with Dan Israel. The Jukes will be backing him and it would be wise to expect many guests (including the likes of Molly Maher and Martin Devaney) throughout the show.

Stook – Official Site
Stook – MySpace Site