ICYMI TUNES // Third Eye Blind – Persephone

ICYMI: Idk about you, but for me the ’90s are a pretty hazy blur of Oshkosh footy pajamas and Disney movies on VHS. Turns out somewhere in between Pocahontas and the Pokemon craze quite a lot of good music got made. In case you missed it, Hullabaloo has you covered.
Words by Colleen Callahan
When you think of Third Eye Blind, my guess is catchy hooks containing phrases like “do do do, do do do do” (Semi-Charmed Life) or “I would understAAAAAAaaaaaaAAAAAAnd” (Jumper) come to mind. While 3EB made major waves in the late nineties (a wise colleague of mine calls them “the original emo band”), the group continues releasing music and touring non-stop. Throughout time, frontman Stephan Jenkins and drummer Brad Hargreaves remain the constants, continuously providing the band’s backbone. However, we’re not here to highlight the hits.
Let’s go back to 2003, when the band released their third EP, Out of the Vein. It’s largely hypothesized/uncontested that the album was influenced by Jenkins’ and Charlize Theron’s breakup, the kind of stuff fan forums drool and debate over. One song never formally released and said to have been cut from Out of the Vein is “Persephone.”

I won’t get into what the song is about for Jenkins (there are varying stories in the depths of third and fourth page Google searches) but here’s what I do know:

1. In Greek mythology, Persephone is the goddess of vegetation and queen of the underworld. You know, good ‘ol Hades abducted her cuz she was pretty and stuff. This caused Demeter (Persephone’s mom) to be all sad, so Zeus (dad) tried to get their daughter back even though Zeus had consented to the abduction (!!!). But since Persephone ate some pomegranate seeds in the underworld, apparently that meant Hades got to keep her for a third of the year and as a result we all get winter. (By the way, those rules suck. I wonder what Persephone wanted? I guess I should brush up on my extensive Greek mythology to get all the dirt here.)
2. This song drips with longing, abandonment and an edge of hope, so cue it up when you want to burrow within those emotions. This is not for your upcoming spring fling, backyard barbecue or pool party. Although if someone made a remix of it for Emo Night LA, that’d be sick.
3. Highlights of the track include the strings’ debut at ~ :50. Also since this song has never been officially released, the mix’s raw quality parallels with the song’s message. It’s pretty perfect as is.
4. If you listen to “Persephone” and like it, give the rest of Third Eye Blind’s catalogue a listen. Hit me up when you do so we can extensively discuss.

Third Eye Blinds’s latest EP, We Are Drugs, is out now via Mega Collider Records. Buy it here. This summer the band is heading on the Summer Gods Tour to celebrate its twentieth anniversary. They’ll play self-titled in full, so it’s bound to be epic. You should buy tickets here. And no, epic is not a hyperbole for this situation.