the blog returns to music. and there was much rejoicing.
so the current is starting up the request form for mark wheat's second annual "greatest love songs of all-time" show, which will air on valentine's day. but, really, who cares about love songs? danny siegelman's presenting the first annual "greatest break-up songs of all-time" online that same day, and i'll bet you anything if you weighed all the break-up songs out there against all the love-songs, the break-up songs would be the equivalent of the fat kid getting on the see-saw. i voted for pedro the lion's "bad diary days" because, holy jesus, that song gives me break-up chills every time i hear it. it's a phenomenally incisive look at the way that a situation can just go south without you ever seeing it. horrifying.
while we're on the topic: "the scientist" by coldplay. it was overplayed, yes. coldplay is definitely a little on the cheesy side, yup. but dammit, that's what you need in a break-up, am i right? on a purely volumetric scale, this song has produced the greatest quantity of personal waterworks for me of any song ever. it's not even a close second for "this year's love" by david gray, which is probably second. i guess "this year's love" is probably a love song, but it gets to me, too.
i'm trying to come up with some local songs that have kicked my heart around its chest cavity. "afterthoughts" by bellwether. "that one" by p.o.s. "broken toes" by love-cars. "i don't know if it's helping" by ela. oh buddy. that song is fan-frigging-tastic for the old break-up moments. anybody else?
oh, here's the link to the current's page with the thing about the stuff:
the current
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4 comments:
I would echo most of those breakup picks as well. Caperton seams to tear out his vocal chords and his heart at the end of "I Don't Know If It's Helping". We (Reticence) will be doing a cover of Bad Diary Days tonight (Feb. 3rd) at the Turf (plug, pluggity, plug).
Other options could include:
Halloween Alaska - Receiving Line
The Get Up Kids - Red Letter Day
Some other tunes I can think of like Death Cab's "Styrofoam Plates" are more about falling out (with the memory of a Father in this case) than breaking up in the traditional boy-girl sense.
big trouble did "bad diary days" last week at the kitty cat with capes. it were awesome, a highlight of an otherwise underwhelming night for me. my pedal board decided to go on vacation midway through the second set, returning me to a plastic constellations-like reliance on actual guitar skill. i was, naturally, screwed.
"red letter day" is a great one, although i always read it as being about a former bandmember, not a lover. still, though, it's a break-up song in its own way.
and jeez, if we're going to go death cab on this one, i am now realizing that "the scientist" has a a very real challenger to its throne in "transatlanticism." have you ever had that experience where a song affects you so powerfully that the ending of the song that comes before said song on a CD starts giving you that empty homesick feeling in your stomach? the end of "tiny vessels" has that effect on me. and that mechanical repetitive noise that starts the song does the same thing. i've never been absolutely knifed in the heart by someone's lyrics quite the way i have been by gibbard's...
"the distance is quite simply much too far for me to row/ it seems farther than ever before/ i need you so much closer..."
"there's piles on the floor of artifacts from dresser drawers/ that i'll help you pack..."
"i knew that you were a truth i would rather lose/ than to have never lain beside at all..."
to quote john mellencamp: it hurts so good.
TPC definitely have skills to play an awesome set even if their guitars and hands break.
I would have loved to hear Caperton sing Bad Diary Days. He emotes so well on CD. Might you go see them at the Dinkytowner this Sunday or is it Superbowl for you? I've been trying to catch them for a long time.
Transatlanticism isn’t totally a breakup song (I thought about mentioning it) since it’s about people wanting to be together that are apart. That’s my impression anyway. But yeah, the first time I heard that song was at First Ave. and I felt like I was going to explode in the best way possible. I think Tiny Vessels fits firmly into the breakup category though.
Many Death Cab songs fit into the break or love song category it seems. Photobooth is a great breakup song, Passenger Seat strikes me as a love song.
i guess for me "transatlanticism" is about the inevitable unsustainability of a long-distance relationship, the way that you can be keeping things together while all the while it's slowly eroding. then one day you find yourself separated by a gap that has grown too large to cross.
one of the beauties of death cab for me is how their songs are rarely just generic love/break-up songs but are rather very focused on individual moments or situations. i think their purest break-up song is "i was a kaleidoscope," where the protagonist makes his way to his girlfriend's house. "this is when i forget to breathe, and all the things i've scripted: they sound unfounded. and it's the look that you're giving me, that tells me exactly what you are thinking: 'this ain't working anymore.'"
that's some killer shit. i haven't yet decided about ela at the dinkytowner. i like football, but don't really care about the steelers or the seahawks. i like ela, but dislike the dinkytowner, especially as a rock venue. i'm torn up about it.
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