Goodbye Argentina, Todd Young and His Rock Band, Here Comes the Music, 1998

My old friend Todd Young and his wife Jen were in town to visit last week. Todd also happens to be an excellent songwriter and performer, so I thought in honor of his visit I’d pull out a track from his album, “Here Comes the Music,” recorded way back in 1998. The whole album is great, really, but “Goodbye Argentina” has always had a special place in my heart.

Todd actually claims to have written this song in his sleep. He says he had a dream about it, and he woke up and ran to write down the song and figure out the chords. So you’re thinking “Yeah, whatever,” but the thing about Todd is that he’s the kind of guy who can say something like that and you really believe him, not because he’s “spiritual” or anything, but just because he’s so honest and sincere that he couldn’t possibly make it up.

That’s what I like about the song, as a matter of fact. It has all that honesty and sincerity stitched right into the lining. The lyrics are not always easy to understand - what is the song about, really? Who or what is Argentina? The country Argentina? - yet somehow everything seems to logically fit together, and live in harmony in its own little song-world. That’s the way it should be.

By the way, Todd is still pretty active on the Philly scene. The Rock Band has a website with more tracks from “Here Comes the Music,” as well as newer stuff, and Todd also collaborates regularly with the mythical EDO and has sold his soul to The Satans.