"I feel not necessarily nostalgic (punk was and is decidedly anti-nostalgia, and if ever a band kicked against the pricks of preservation societies like books and halls of fame it was these guys), but I admit that I feel a need to know if any of it mattered, or if it even happened."
That's a quote from the introduction to Jim Walsh's book about The Replacements. It's funny that a book that is all about reminiscing about a bygone era and talking about how great it was includes a disclaimer that it's maker is not nostalgic about the subject. What are you talkin' about? This book is 100% nostalgia. Why deny it or apologize?
One of the great things about Paul Westerberg's songs is the romance and nostalgia they contain and project. Songs like 'Heyday' and 'Talent Show' (among many others) are about being aware of yourself in time. They are about instant nostalgia, about catching yourself existing outside the moment you're in and reflecting on that. They are about feeling the past in the present and contending with it.
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