Attack of the Killer Track! is a series that explores tracks from artists from a variety of genres. Some of the tracks were singles, some of them were obscure b-sides or long forgotten album tracks. One thing is certain – all of them are killer tracks.
2006 saw the release of Sean Lennon’s 2nd album, Friendly Fire – a full 8 years after his debut, Into the Sun. On this sophomore release the genre exercises were gone. Instead, listeners were treated to a song cycle detailing his relationship with Bijou Phillips and the loss of his friendship with Max LeRoy (who was killed in a motorcycle accident before they could reconcile). It took a long, long time for this album to connect with me – it seemed redundant to me for Sean Lennon to put out a John Lennon type album. Silly me. Every song is stunning, but the 3rd track Parachute is probably my favorite. Pain spills from Lennon’s voice, the piano and instrumentation swells around him, all leading to a heartbreaking chorus. It is simply perfection. “Cause if I have to die tonight / I’d rather be with you / Cut the parachute before you die / Baby don’t you cry / You had to bring me down / We had some fun before we hit the ground”.