Artist: The Strange Boys
Song: Be Brave – Be Brave
Download It: 
Reader Cathy turned me on to this one via the request form. Thanks, Cathy.
The ad itself, “Meet Annie: The girl who could fly,” tells a nice little story about Annie, a 5th grader who dreams of flight. After many unsuccessful attempts involving umbrellas and first aid kits, Annie gets the bright idea to make a movie using her Dell Inspiron laptop. She proves the doubters wrong with her seemingly epic computer skills. Good on you, little girl. Stick it to the man.
A lot is packed in to the 60 second spot, and unfortunately Annie’s voice-over takes a little bit away from the awesomely gritty garage rock soundtrack supplied by Texas outfit The Strange Boys.
I mean, hot dang! This song has got some teeth on it. Old-school riff, call-and-response backing vocals, and there’s even a sweet saxophone solo (sadly not included in the commercial). It’s bluesy with a surprising edge. The song is an unexpected bit of punk-rock swagger to go along with Annie’s story of ultimate victory via Dell computers. An interesting choice overall, but “Be Brave” certainly got stuck in my head after I heard it, even if I couldn’t hear it all that well.
I walked away
From everyone I know
I looked around and thought
This must be what it’s like to be alone
Awareness fell on me
*My bones, my bones*
I felt my ribs
*My bones, my bones*
I’m mud, I’m mud
Everybody thinks I’m calm
Oh I had to be brave
*You gotta be brave
Oh I had to be brave
*You gotta be brave*
Oh I had to be brave
*Gotta be brave*
Don’t seem like no choice to me
