I get the impression that even a lot of Pavement fans don't know this one very well, presumably because it's on a pretty duff album (wowee zowee). However, it's one of my absolute favourite pavement songs. Musically it is very quiet - it's essentially just an acoustic guitar, though the funny noises the band make are quite entertaining. However, I really love the structure: there's nothing that can be called a verse or a chorus there - he just rambles on until he is finished. It has the full extent of Pavement's lyrics - completely ridiculous, funny, and sometimes very moving. Plus, as ever, malkmus' weirdy voice is a joy to listen to. So, if you like the pavement style - slow, quirky, funny, and often amazingly beautiful musically, and you don't know this one, you should really look into it. There's a brilliant solo version of it you can get off Napster (legally - Pavement distribute this stuff) - search for "we dance acoustic" - means you don't have to cough up for the album too.
27 Jun 01 ·karlmort: this one has been among my fave pavement albums since it came out. this album has some stand out tracks like grounded , fight this generation and we dance. there is also a rare version of this song on a 7". it was released prior to wowee zowee. 30 Jun 04 ·your_namesake: absolutely love this track. can't agree with you on wowee zowee though, i think that's a brilliant album...
I became able to vote about a week after the UK Conservative party had just won a fourth straight election victory. For me, this song just captures those feelings of utter frustration and anger which I was feeling at the time:
'3rd week with the jar you find
everything dies
we won't vote conservative
because we never have
everyone lies, everyone lies!'
It ends with Morrissey basically giving up on the country, singing 'We look to Los Angeles/ For the language we use/ London is dead, London is dead.' Even listening to it now, it takes me straight back to what was a pretty grim time for me, and - frankly - Britain.
15 Oct 01 ·LawrenceM: and of course, not long after that Morrissey moved to Los Angeles, to live the life of a fading rock star in the Hollywood Hills. All of "Your Arsenal" is brilliant ......
Honestly, I really like this one. I've done a lot of thinking as to the Max Martin style (ex-poodle rocker Max is Britney's songwriter and is basically responsible for the pop zeitgeist - he also does 5ive, NSYNC, Backstreet, even Bon Jovi these days), and believe you me, there is a pretty cynical formula here - verse, bridge, chorus, completely different verse, identical bridge and chorus, breakdown, then chorus to finish. Often this is pretty bad - NSYNC's its gonna be me is the nadir - but in this one it works really well - the verses are slinky, the chorus a classic pop one and basically the whole idea of oops! is pretty funny. I can't pretend I listen to it that often but I enjoy it when I do.
Seriously, this one is brilliant. Nick's love song to both his new-born child and the chaotic city he was living in at the time (Sao Paulo) is an utter feast for those who love language: Nick rolls off such lines as
I thought about my friend Michel
How they rolled him in linoleum
And then shot him in the head
A bloody halo like a think bubble
Was circling his head
And I bellowed at the firmament
It looks like the rains are here to stay...
I mean - can you imagine The Strokes or Kula Shaker coming up with something like that?
Meanwhile, the music - well, Nick apparently had to say to his band - 'can't you just stay on E minor?', but such is the genius of the bad seeds that they layer it expertly and it sounds absolutely fantastic.
This was the first bad seeds song I ever got into - I remember putting it on, doing something else and having to stop as I realised I was listening to something quite out of the ordinary. If you are interested, the whole album is really really good - in my top 5 ever. I know Nick hates it, but he is quite wrong to do so.
from Henry's Dream (Mute) available on CD - Live Seeds (Mute)
05 Feb 02 ·delicado: I agree, this is a wonderful track. I'm amused to find that I had misheard the lyric. I remember being corrected several years ago (by you) on 'firmament' (I thought it was vermin). My latest mistake was to hear 'pink' where it is actually 'think'. 'Think' makes more sense I guess, but 'pink' is more disgusting. 18 Aug 03 ·Cyninglich: I have to admit it took me quite a while to straighten out some of the lyrics myself... especially the magnificent last lines: "And with her kisses bubblin' on my lips/I swiped the rain and nearly missed..."
Purest AOR - the lyrics are about rejecting a divorce petition. Pretty moving though - no jokes in this one ("darling you may do your worst/ because you'll have to kill me first"). This whole album is extremely good if you are interested.
06 Feb 02 ·LawrenceM: Of course, you could have picked virtually any song from "69 Love Songs". A heartbreaking work of staggering genius. (My personal fave .... "I don't want to get over you" - the story of my life, age 18.) 07 Jan 04 ·umbrellasfollowrain: Oh dude, this song. This song. This song takes my heart and ties it to a string and walks around with it like a baloon. Many songs on the album do though. I'm a fan of "My Only Friend" and "Eptiaph For My Heart" and oh, the sweet horrible recognition found in "You're My Only Home".
