I saw them at The Crocodile Cafe in Seattle. I didn't know this album at that point. The first album I had was Blue Screen Life. But I still totally remember hearing the chorus of this song for the first time in that venue.
Anyone else think this song is about dead surfers? Coming from a San Diego band, the use of surf slang like 'ripped' seems super intentional. I keep visualizing surfers getting pulled underwater... 'say goodbye'. Of course there's also the classic "49531 = DIECA = Die California" refrain at the end to hammer home the melancholy vibes. The surf subtext I haven't seen elsewhere, but it's a fun theory to me! Just things you think about when listening to the same song for 2 hours...