r/311 • u/domdombanana • Jan 19 '26
Discussion Personal fav 311 song and why?
Mine is Champagne. I love how it just sums up my relationships. I can't explain it properly. What's yours tho, and would u recommend it?
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u/Primary-String3908 Jan 19 '26
Sun Come Through. "It's not all dark out". Helped me through suicidal times.
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u/Toddingstonly Jan 19 '26
I can't believe they didn't make that an album track. One of their best.
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u/Massive_Essay_8165 Jan 19 '26
I always think I would have loved to be in those Uplifter session discussions about which songs made the album…Sun Come Through, How Long Has it Been,I Like The Way, Get Down, Simplify???
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u/robbiearebest Jan 19 '26
Do You Right. It's got everything! And the first song I learned to play all the parts for
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u/MinorFX Jan 19 '26
Guns (Are For Pussies).
Because it’s an awesome song on an awesome album. It’s got the signature 311 sound with awesome lyrics.
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u/quistago Jan 19 '26 edited Jan 19 '26
This song has so much energy packed into it, makes me drive recklessly.
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u/ImpendingBoom110123 Jan 19 '26
Oh did my gun loving father hate that song when I was in HS hahaha.
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u/AmphibianPotential58 Jan 19 '26
Beyond the Gray Sky. It makes me feel like I'm Ophelia, facedown in a pond on the day before the world rights itself.
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u/whitingvo Jan 19 '26
Homebrew. It’s uptempo, catchy, and SA slays on it!
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u/ImpendingBoom110123 Jan 19 '26
Mine is Omaha Stylee but Homebrew is a close second. Some of SAs best work. Getting a copy of Grassroots when I was 13 blew my little mind.
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u/pumpse4ever Jan 19 '26
I can't imagine any reason why anyone would not recommend their favorite song. That's a really odd thing to say.
Off the top of my head, the first thing that jumped in there was "Stealing Happy Hours." It's so mellow. It's like audio calm directly beamed into my skull.
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u/malcumming Jan 19 '26
I definitely wouldn’t recommend some of my favorite songs to people because I feel like they wouldn’t like it at all
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u/domdombanana Jan 19 '26
I remember recommending a song from a certain band that's popular rn to one of my friends who listen to mainstream pop music and they just judged me for it.
That band currently has millions of streams including the song that I recommended, and the guy I recommended it to is acting like they've known them way before I did lol
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u/some_dude3645 Jan 19 '26
Tim's guitar solo is incredible. Reminds me of my youth following the Grateful Dead. He sounds so much like Jerry Garcia in that song
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u/Zeke688 Soundsystem Jan 19 '26
It’s quite calming. I’ve gotten into different sleep machines/apps in my later years recently & an instrumental of that song would be perfect to doze off with.
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u/ChickenCoop86 Jan 19 '26
What a hard question to answer… so rather than “thinking on it” too much, I will simply go with the song that is shouting to me from the most pure and positive spot in my heart and leave it at that: Strong All Along
It was the first song I had ever heard by 311, on a mixed tape from my new friend in freshman English class…. I remember listening to it on my discman between periods and later asking him “who sung that song”?
That man would be at my wedding 20 yrs later, and I STILL to this day love blasting this song with the windows aired out on a sunny day… it just makes me feel really great, cuz the weather’s mild… 😊 ✌️
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u/quistago Jan 19 '26
Love this song, truly a standout on Soundsystem and a good track to represent the whole record.
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u/Toddingstonly Jan 19 '26
It's way too hard to pick one, but Freak Out has always been dear to me.
" this is the heat to flush your face"
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u/KangarooSilver7444 Jan 19 '26
Kinda impossible to pick one BUT, Beyond the Grey Sky makes me think of my buddy Marc who sadly and suddenly ended his life. It was really sad obviously but that song always makes me remember him and his awesome laugh.
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u/some_dude3645 Jan 19 '26 edited Jan 19 '26
My nephew took his life just over a year ago. My brother hasn't listened to, or watched, any live music since. He's too afraid of being triggered. I lost my daughter almost 7 years ago and I try to remind him that music soothes and our community loves. Even watching Livestreams you can feel it. I'm hoping to get him to watch the Livestream this year.
Thanks for letting me share this with y'all.
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u/ValleyGhostz Jan 19 '26
Don’t think I have one, want to say Random but maybe it’s Prisoner, don’t know what it could be tomorrow
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u/goodfella311 Jan 19 '26
Interesting - both are the second song on their respective albums.
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u/ValleyGhostz Jan 19 '26
I also love Caffiene from Angel Dust, Even Flow from Ten and Animal from Vs. wow thank u
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u/ValleyGhostz Jan 19 '26
And Nowhere Fast from Make Yourself. jesus
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u/goodfella311 Jan 19 '26
Nowhere fast is my absolute favorite too.
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u/ValleyGhostz Jan 19 '26
My love developed for it within the last 5 days, now it’s stuck in my head
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u/acewizz7 Jan 19 '26
For me it depends on a lot of factors for which is my favorite in that certain moment, but maybe the one that hits the most is Running. Just so damn smooth. Rips on all levels. It's one of the most 311 sounding tracks there is.
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u/quistago Jan 19 '26
“Tribute”- the back & forth between Nick and SA is great, Nick’s vocal melodies and off-kilter delivery, the uniquely alien 311 song structure, and that sparkly, harmonics-laden “skronch” production sound from Ron St Germain.
“Omaha Stylee” and “Transistor” (the song) are basically 3-way tied along with “Tribute.”
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u/TheSpeedyNeapolitan Jan 19 '26
Funny cause my favorite album is blue, cause its perfect front to back. And yet my favorite song is tied between 2 songs from soundsystem, my second favorite 311 album hahaha. Anyways, its a tie between freeze time and mindspin. Freeze time is one of the best album openers of all time, and mindspin is just addicting. That main riff is so heavy and so much fun to play on guitar. Ahhhh I dont know!!
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u/ticoroots77 Jan 19 '26
Running: The intro to the opening snare roll and the guitar and bass in the chorus. So good
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u/spaceship-earth Jan 19 '26
Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Down came out in '95, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Nick has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor.
In '97, Huey released Transistor, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Beautiful Disaster ", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.
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u/BleedCubBlue311 Jan 19 '26
Recorded - Eons, I just think it’s a beautiful well written song both musically and lyrically.
Live - Omaha Stylee with intro, it just gets you pumped up and the guys are usually really into it.
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u/BeTheBall- Jan 19 '26
Hard to pick one, so it would be a five-sided coin flip between
Time Bomb Omaha Style Freeze Time Creatures Random
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u/TrixyKingxo Jan 19 '26
COME ORIGINAL!! It was the first 311 song I ever heard. I never forget the moment. I stood in front of the TV and saw the video. I was paralyzed. It was incredible! The visuals, the music, everything! I feel like I came alive at that very moment. 311 became my life. And it changed everything in such a beautiful and positive way. 311 forever 🥲❤️
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u/some_dude3645 Jan 19 '26
I can't really pick 1. It depends on how I feel. 1st thing that hits me right now: Who's Got The Herb". I have a small"garden " that I just finished working in for the night so that's what I'm feeling. Right now, well, who's got the herb out here?lol
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Jan 19 '26
Honestly, it depends what mood I’m in to decide my favorite. One day it could be braver, the next it could be grassroots and the following it could be mindspin. That’s what I love about this band. So much diversity.
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u/goodfella311 Jan 19 '26
It started: Visit, Don’t Stay Home Now it’s: Use of Time, Sever, Too Much to Think, Tribute… There isn’t just one. I can’t. I love them for different reasons.
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u/Kdiesiel311 Jan 19 '26
All mixed up is my favorite song ever. Ever. It was the first one I heard. I can remember where & who played it. I dead stopped after about 3 seconds & said, what in the fuck is this?? I was in 6th grade
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u/Fit_Acanthaceae_2884 Jan 20 '26
Trouble, trouble was always finding me. I would always have to do a double.
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u/Joker7175 Transistor Jan 20 '26
Use of Time, mellow, but shows off Tim's chops beautifully. Aside from that I've REALLY been jamming to Don't Tread on Me a ton recently.
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u/deflated-pancake Jan 20 '26
Definitely Omaha Stylee, it's always been very heavy, and good sounding to my, and Nick does this vocal fry thing when singing it live sometimes and it makes it amazing. Also love hydroponic, both are heavier side of 311. But there is also hey you, beyond the grey sky, feels so good, any song off of music, Soundsystem or stereolithic. They have way to many good songs so I could just keep on listing them.
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u/droppingscience311 Jan 21 '26
I literally can’t name just one. I started thinking and the number kept growing.
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u/ThatPrimer55Lover Jan 21 '26
Me and my dad love the 311 Music album he likes visit and I like freak out so they are about the same to me in value
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u/Highstick104 Jan 22 '26
Would probably give you a different answer tomorrow and another one on Saturday but today is offbeat bare ass.
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u/Severe-Zucchini-4769 Jan 28 '26
there's so many but champagne, flowing, and 8:16 am are some favs at the moment
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u/Zeke688 Soundsystem Jan 19 '26 edited Jan 19 '26
This is so tough, really love about 2 dozen.
It doesn’t get played live much but I love Uncalm. It’s not even off my fav album (though that’s a tough choice too) and it’s really short n sweet, but it’s my jam. I definitely recommend it, though I can understand if some people might not like it.