Vasoli has lately been focusing on his side project, known as Person L. Tom has been recording with his new band, Cheap Seats, with Matt as their manager. Mike also has a side project, called The Traded Series. The origins of the group that would become The Starting Line go back to 1999, via an AOL instant message from Churchville, Pennsylvania guitarist Matt Watts to vocalist/bassist Kenny Vasoli. It asked if the then fourteen-year-old Vasoli, who was at that time in a band called Smash Adams, was interested in "Jamming and shit", as the message title read.
Only a few weeks later, Vasoli found himself rehearsing with his future bandmates Watts, guitarist Mike Golla and drummer Tom Gryskewicz. Soon, the band started touring under the name Sunday Drive, selling out home-made merchandise and a self-recorded demo cassette that the guys titled 'Four Songs'. Their first official release was a three-way split with The Jimmy Tuesday Band and The Commercials contributing three songs each, the work released on KickStart Audio in 2000.
Sunday Drive was soon approached by We the People Records and asked to produce a recording session (the infamous We the People Records Sessions). Set for a release in December 2000, the twelve songs were initially planned to become the band's debut full-length With Hopes of Starting Over on We the People Records, but they ended up serving only as demos for tracks on future releases, as the band signed with Drive-Thru Records in April 2001. On Drive-Thru, they soon released their debut EP With Hopes of Starting Over. Yet, as the name Sunday Drive was already taken by a Christian rock band, they went on as The Starting Line.
On July 16, 2002, almost exactly one year after the release of their EP, the full-length Say It Like You Mean It followed. The songs ranged from energetic and fast-paced to melancholy and calm, dealing with performing on stage ("Given the Chance"), feeling homesick ("Left Coast Envy") and getting even with Vasoli's ex-girlfriend Karina ("Up & Go", "Hello Houston", among others). The hit single "The Best of Me" and its two music videos, as well as the second single "Leaving", received heavy radio and TV airplay, securing The Starting Line a spot on the Warped Tour.
Due to their desire to put out new material, the band decided to release an all-unplugged EP, recorded in three sessions over the following year. The first three songs (recorded in The Prize Fight's Bob Jones' bedroom in August 2002), the second session (recorded in Vasoli's basement in March 2003) and the last track (recorded on the band's touring bus in April 2003) became The Make Yourself at Home EP, released on November 25, 2003. The CD and the DVD version issued simultaneously, featuring an acoustic set performed live at Skate & Surf 2003 in Asbury Park, New Jersey, would be their last releases put out solely on Drive-Thru Records, as The Starting Line was signed by Geffen Records soon afterwards.
Their major label debut, Based on a True Story, came out in May 2005. Lyrically, the band dissociated themselves from the post-relationship formula that was predominant on their previous records. On this album, a lot of the songs (e.g. "Inspired By the $", "Autography" and "The B-List") were explicitly inspired by the band's disdain for their record label Geffen and its executives. The album was far more successful than the band's 2002 effort and sold 42,000 copies within its first week, as opposed to its predecessor's 11,000. The release was followed by the semi-headlining Nintendo Fusion Tour with Fall Out Boy, kicking off in September 2005. A few dates into the tour, The Starting Line were — at their request — released from their record deal with Geffen, and became free agents. In early January 2006, their signing with Virgin Records was announced.
On March 5, 2008 the band announced in an e-mail and on Absolutepunk.net they would be going on a break in order for Ken and Brian to explore Person L, Matt and Tom to explore The Seventy Six, and Mike to spend time with his two daughters and explore The Traded Series. The band had been playing with the idea of coming back in 2011, but in a chat with absolutepunk.net, Kenny Vasoli said, ""it's looking good, may even be earlier. I hung with Matt and Tom the other day, we all are still in love with one another.
On November 10, 2009, The Starting Line released their first-ever live concert CD, film and documentary DVD titled "Somebody's Gonna Miss Us" via Image Entertainment on a 2-disc set. Through intimate and honest interviews with the band, friends and family fans will get a glimpse into the inner workings of the group and a career that spanned nearly a decade, five releases, and thousands of shows.
On December 29, 2009, The Starting Line had a reunion concert at the Theater of Living Arts. Starting Line guitarist Matt Watts stated on the website AbsolutePunk that "this doesn't mean that TSL are back together....It simply means that we're taking a break from our break, and wanted to play a fun show in Philadelphia and continue to focus on our lives outside of TSL"
The Starting Line added a second holiday show on December 30, 2009 in Philadelphia at the Trocadero Theater. This was added due to the fact that the first holiday show scheduled for December 29, 2009 sold out in a little over an hour and the band would like to give their local fans a better chance to see them. Towards the end of their set, Kenny Vasoli announced the band's reunion. However, the group has only toured intermittently since then.
Main Website: http://www.startinglinerock.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thestartingline
Decisions Decisions
The Starting Line Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And leave tonight behind us
I'm unsettled letting go of you
And sleeping the night in silence
And this laptop falls along with me
Onto my bed while rolling over
Break my heart and break my fall
Memories you had of me
The last time I saw you
You were standing by his side
The last time you saw me
Seated close as I waited by the phone
He loves you
Who loves you more?
To let you go
He loves you
Who loves you more?
To let you go
I can wait until my heart mends
So I can finally go outside
And I tell myself, look Ken
It's better to lost love
Then paint a smile and pretend
The last time I saw you
You were standing by his side
The last time you saw me
Seated close as I waited by the phone
He loves you
Who loves you more?
To let you go
He loves you
Who loves you more?
To let you go
The last time I saw you
You were standing by his side
The last time you saw me
Was in a crumpled photograph that missed the bed
He loves you
Who loves you more?
To let you go
He loves you
Who loves you more?
To let you go
The Starting Line's "Decisions Decisions" is a lament about a relationship that has ended, but where one partner is still struggling to move on while the other has seemingly moved on quickly. The singer of the song is filled with a sense of unrest and dissatisfaction as they try to come to terms with the loss of the relationship. The opening lines, "I can't wait for this to end / And leave tonight behind us," set the tone for the song as one of wanting to move on from the relationship, but at the same time feeling a sense of unease about doing so. The singer is "unsettled letting go" of their former partner and is finding it difficult to sleep at night without their presence.
The second verse of the song introduces the idea of memories and how they can be painful reminders of what was lost. The singer talks about a laptop falling onto their bed and how it is a painful reminder of past memories with their former partner. They express a desire for their former partner not to "kiss him and color all / Memories you had of me." This suggests a difficult and painful breakup where the singer still holds hope that the relationship can be salvaged.
The chorus of the song repeats the question "He loves you / Who loves you more? / To let you go," with the implication being that the singer loves their former partner more than the new person in their life. The song ends with a sense of finality as the singer reflects on the last time they saw their former partner and how they now only exist as a "crumpled photograph that missed the bed." The song is a powerful exploration of the feelings of loss and confusion that can come with the end of a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
I can't wait for this to end
I am eagerly counting the moments until this situation is over
And leave tonight behind us
And once it's over, I'll be relieved to forget this painful night
I'm unsettled letting go of you
I'm feeling unsure and uncomfortable about moving on from our relationship
And sleeping the night in silence
I will have trouble sleeping as I try to come to terms with my feelings
And this laptop falls along with me
I am collapsing both physically and emotionally
Onto my bed while rolling over
As I try to sleep, I toss and turn in distress
Break my heart and break my fall
You have hurt me deeply, and now I am suffering the consequences
Don't kiss him and color all the memories you had of me
Please don't replace our memories with new ones of you and your new love interest
The last time I saw you, you were standing by his side
I am haunted by the memory of seeing you with someone else
The last time you saw me, seated close as I waited by the phone
The last time we interacted, I was eagerly waiting for you and feeling rejected
He loves you, who loves you more? To let you go
He may say he loves you, but if he truly did, he would let you go and not keep you tied down
I can wait until my heart mends
I am willing to be patient and heal my heart before moving forward
So I can finally go outside
So I can finally face the world again and move on from this painful experience
And I tell myself, look Ken, it's better to lost love than paint a smile and pretend
I remind myself that it's better to experience loss and sadness than to fake happiness and pretend that everything is okay
The last time I saw you, you were standing by his side
The memory of you with him is still fresh in my mind
The last time you saw me, was in a crumpled photograph that missed the bed
You haven't seen me in person since we broke up, but you may have come across a picture of me that got left behind
He loves you, who loves you more? To let you go
Despite his protests, if he really loves you, he would understand the importance of letting you move on
He loves you, who loves you more? To let you go
Letting go of someone you love is a true act of love and selflessness
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: GOLLA, GRYSKIEWICZ, VASOLI, WATTS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Samson Lawal
I'm 22 but I love this type of music. It sounds so liberating and blissful, especially 0:00 - 1:02.
Cambiare_Idea
22?
from the photo you show 40.....
Samson Lawal
@Cambiare_Idea Thank you, I like subverting expectations.
Camryn Hernandez
This is def my go to "starting line" song. 32 now, but used to walk around in high school blasting this on my headphones. Saw them at warped tour as well. Great band.
Michael Stone Grandison
same boat. 37 here and my 1st warped tour was to see them as well
ImOn2TheNext1
August 2002, a 20yr old college kid with $20 burning a hole in his pocket walks through a Best Buy in BFE Indiana and randomly picks The Starting Line's "Say It Like You Mean It" (and Something Corporate's "Leaving Through The Window") up off an end cap display for no other reason than "it looks alright". That dude's 31 now. Graduated college. Got married. Had a daughter. Found this old CD in her room. Moral of the story? You will get old, great music never does.
Hasan
The dude's 41 now :O
Dustin Butch
Love it! Thanks for sharing :)
ImOn2TheNext1
@Hasan 40 -_- 🤘🏻
Executor
Wow. Reading these comments while exploring these old punk bands gives me goosebumps. This guy is around 40 now. I'm 24 and this Covid-19 is taking my youth away with these lockdowns. I wish I could redo my life.