damageisdone:

The Features
“Lions”
Live @ Cannery Ballroom
January 13th, 2007

It took a very, very long time, but they finally got it right. Parts of this song started out as “Stick Together” back around 2000 or 2001 and, through a couple reworkings, they eventually got this modern day Features masterpiece.

And that’s really what I consider it to be. This is the buzz song from the band’s second album, I believe. The opening vocal hook is infectious, and the explosion of propulsive pop that backs it up grabs you from head to toe and makes the former bob and the latter tap. I especially love the “aw girl, but what are you thinking” part, with that snoopy and sneaky bass line creeping underneath it. It’s coy and sly, you can picture Matt backing away from the mic and glaring at you, with a half smile (which I’m pretty sure is exactly what he does during this part of the song). The guitar solo is also masterful, an upward climbing bit of classic rock, elevating constantly.

As I mentioned earlier, “Lions” began as “Stick Together” way back when. The songs share a chorus and nothing else. “Stick Together” almost immediately became “Leave It All Behind” (as the two share a first verse) and the chorus of “Stick Together” was cast aside. That is until the band brought the chorus back in a song called “Lions Dressed In Leather” in January 2006. This version of the song lasted a brief time, as it debuted rather close to the band’s 2006 hiatus. Post-hiatus, the music of the song was reworked completely and transformed into “Lions” as we know it today. They also ditched the “dressed in leather” part which was probably for the better, as “lions dressed in leather” conjures up a very peculiar Disney/biker image in my head that I’d rather not be there. “Lions” has become a staple at shows over the last couple years from what I can gather from the few bootlegs and setlists that are out there. Rightfully so. It’s also a single from their second album, Some Kind of Salvation.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Some Kind of Salvation, album release (2008)

LINEAGE:
Was “Lions Dressed In Leather” (2006; fewer lyrics but all are the same, slightly modified chorus)
Originally “Stick Together” (2000; same chorus, slightly modified)