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Chorus is catchy as sin. They knew the verse parts sucked so they made them as short as possible. Where the hell did he come from / go?
Feb 6, 2025
Related Recs
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Dolly's laugh when he fucks up the lyrics
Jan 27, 2024
George confesses to committing adultery in the cleverest way possible - just try to get this chorus out of your head
Whatta album cover
Apr 6, 2024
I really admire how he kept trying new things, routinely switching up his stylistic approach to explore the same set of themes, always sticking to his guns.
Here are some of his lyrics that have been on my mind lately:
ā„ From 'Pleasures of the Harbor'
For love was but a smile
Teasing all the while
Now dancing down the drain
ā„ From 'The Party'
The wallflower is waiting, she hides behind composure
She'd love to dance and prays that no one asks her
Then she steals a glance at lovers while her fingers tease her hair
And she marvels at the confidence of those who hide their fears
Then her eyes are closed as she rides away with a foreign legionnaire
And my shoulders had to shrug
As I crawl beneath the rug
And re-tune my piano
ā„ From 'When I'm Gone'
And I won't breathe the bracing air when I'm gone
And I can't even worry 'bout my cares when I'm gone
Won't be asked to do my share when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here
ā„ From 'There But For Fortune'
Show me a prison, show me a jail
Show me a prisoner whose face has gone pale
And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why
And there but for fortune, may go you or I
Also 'Jim Dean of Indiana' is great example of how lyrics are animated by melody, phrasing and pacing. None of the lyrics of 'Jim Dean' particularly stand out when written down, but when heard the emotional build-up is so intense and heart-breaking. Every quiet blunt little line builds on the one that came before, culminating in the final gut-punch:
"That is where I placed a flower
For Jim Dean of Indiana"
It's the only time anything in the song is said in first person, let alone implies that the story has anything other than a distant omniscient point of view. It's just so sad!!
Anyways, give him a listen and lmk if you have any insight into the lyrical pit of despair that is 'When In Rome' lol
(Phil could get extremely pessimistic, would often write from the worst person in any scenario's perspective to really make you look at it straight in the face [eg: 'Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends'*] and really loved writing about sailors. It can be a lot sometimes!)
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* "Maybe we should raise our voices, ask somebody why
But demonstrations are a drag, besides, we're much too high"
is another great line lol, get organized or get WRECKED
Jan 31, 2025
Top Recs from @cameron-winter
For a brief period in the late 60s and early 1970s Miles Davisā spiralling drug use and creative genius hit simultaneous peaks (a period which ended abruptly in October of 1972 when he obliterated a sports car full of coke, and every bone in both his legs, against a traffic column. The drug use would go on to make a full recovery, his genius would not). In these years Miles would frequently walk into Columbia Studio B and, seemingly with ten ounces of the good stuff dissolving in his rectum, offhandedly churn out total brilliance, music full of darkness and rhythm, at the cutting edge of several genres. I know itās often said that even geniuses need to write several bad songs for every good one, but I swear to God itās like even the scraps of tape they left on the floor during these sessions are solid gold. Itās possible Miles arranged some kind of deal with the devil to get an advance payment of good songs and pay off the bad ones in the 80s.Ā
Feb 6, 2025
In 2022 during my bandās first tour ever I witnessed the honest-to-God USAā¢ for the first time, and after about 2799 miles of driving I was about to chalk the whole country up to a disappointment until, not unlike the murderous fur-trappers of the early 19th century, I was rewarded for my long slog through the Bleak American NothingnessĀ® with something approximating paradise. Spending a sunny day in Big Sur can make your whole week.
Feb 6, 2025
The Laās made their first and only album three times, and rejected all three for not being good enough. The label got fed up and released the third attempt without frontman Lee Maversā permission. Mavers has dismissed it ever since as being āall fucked up like a snake with a broken back.ā I get that itās his burden to strive for perfection, but his failure is my inspiration.
Ā
I relistened to this album a while back and have been stuck on it for months. There is not a single wrong note, not a single moment of hesitation on the whole record. It is pop rock written and performed with a despotic level of focus. As far as songwriters go, Lee Mavers may well be the equivalent of a mad scientist deep underground trying to create a perfect vacuum night after night. The songs are concentrated, some of them so economically structured that they barely even exist. They may not be ambitious in scope or message, but they are crystal clear statements.Ā
I love Lee Maversā voice more than anything, he sings like he wishes his voice could be as perfect as a guitar. Heās straining so hard, he hits each note so squarely on its head, never a syllable out of time, heās got no room for attitude, heās trying to write songsā¦
Feb 6, 2025