With famed alternative rock outfit Counting Crows set to perform at this year’s A&O Ball this Thursday, One-Click Wonders wanted to analyze the group in the week leading up to the big show, exploring various facets of the band. In the NU community, Counting Crows hold a very odd place in our collective hearts, being both one of the top ten musical acts on this campus according to Facebook and the folks behind a Wildcat marching band staple, “Accidentally in Love.” In the third installment of our series, we look at a Counting Crows’ marching band video.

I had this great idea for a post. Basically, I was going to unload on “Accidentally in Love,” the song Counting Crows wrote for Shrek 2 and one of the most god-awful pieces of music ever recorded. I was going to detail the idiotically love-dovey lyrics (one can convey the emotion of love without having to say the word “love” roughly a gazillion times), the bloated details (the too-much backing vocals and weird synth-flourish that hits mid-song) and the song’s beyond-stupid video (just watch it, if you don’t feel like going on a tasing-spree, you aren’t a real human). I wanted to write about how “Accidentally in Love” is also the closest the band has ever come to selling out, though that sentiment feels a little mean since a band known for singing sad songs suddenly singing a happy one shouldn’t necessarily be criticized (”dude, why did you stop being depressed? That was your thing? You used to be cool”).

But not today. No hate. We’ve done enough of that (this is Counting Crows, after all). Instead, lets watch a video where the UC Berkely marching band performs a bunch of the group’s songs, and does them super well. Look, positivety!

I still hate “Accidentally in Love,” and hope the NU Marching Band collectively decides next year to play something much more enjoyable in its place, like “Hell’s Bells.”