Why I Reacted To This Song
I felt this one in my bones. Relationships are inherently troubled and the song never softens that truth, rendering their messiness with the same weight they carry in real life.
Original by Artist
About This Song
“A Decade Under the Influence” comes from Taking Back Sunday’s 2004 album Where You Want to Be, the first record to feature Fred Mascherino on guitar and co-lead vocals after founding members John Nolan and Shaun Cooper departed to form Straylight Run. The interplay between Fred Mascherino and Adam Lazzara’s vocals became a defining trait of this stretch of the band’s catalog and this song is one of the clearest showcases of it.
First Impressions
The back-and-forth vocals grab you immediately; it feels less like a duet and more like an actual argument set to music.
My Reaction
The push and pull between the two voices captures how messy relationships actually get in a way a single vocalist never could. Then there’s the ending, Fred screaming “I got it back,” which lands like a genuine release after everything that came before it. It’s the kind of catharsis that only works because the song earned it.
Rating
84/100