The House of Substance: Playing

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Playing

21 comments:

vacuumslayer said...: That's beautiful.; March 8, 2011 at 6:31 PM
Substance McGravitas said...: It is such a great song that I am now thoroughly depressed.; March 8, 2011 at 9:11 PM
Dr.KennethNoisewater said...: *hugs*

[bossy]Ya know, you should do more music-related entries.[/bossy] I like your taste because it's so far-flung, so there's bound to be some overlap with mine. Yes, I am basically being a selfish cow and looking to mooch music off you.

This song always gets to me...notsomuch because of the lyrics, but just because of its sound.; March 9, 2011 at 4:46 AM
Substance McGravitas said...: I feel bad for the octopus.; March 9, 2011 at 7:24 AM
mikey said...: Yeah. Do you have any .38 Special?; March 9, 2011 at 7:48 AM
Dr.KennethNoisewater said...: Yeah. Do you have any .38 Special?

OK, that's funny.; March 9, 2011 at 8:13 AM
TruculentandUnreliable said...: Oh, Jesus.

This is the song I play when someone dies. Or I'm desperately sad for some other reason. I have a thick skin for sad songs (I'm a Smiths fan after all, and most of his other songs don't really faze me), but this one ALWAYS gets me.

Sub, there's a video somewhere of him where he tries to play it at someone's request at a show, and he just has to stop because it's too emotional. It's obviously autobiographical.

I can't even hear it and now I'm sad, too. Poor Elliot.; March 9, 2011 at 10:18 AM
TruculentandUnreliable said...: *trying to decide whether to be a humorless dildo or not*; March 9, 2011 at 10:26 AM
Substance McGravitas said...: You can be as humourless as you like. This is a perfectly constructed song for misery. The only part of the song that sounds like it might lead to musical relief is the little passage that includes

"She's a pretty thing
And she knows everything"

and all of those bits are about good things all through the song until the last go-round:

"And if I went with you
I'd disappoint you too"

Good lord.; March 9, 2011 at 10:38 AM
TruculentandUnreliable said...: "And if I went with you
I'd disappoint you too"

OMG I KNOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. I was actually going to post that. That fucking gets me every time.

I was actually going to be a humorless dildo about his suicide (murder?), and how much it still upsets me after 8 years that he'll never make any music ever again. Seriously, just typing that brings tears to my eyes because I am a dork. But really, he was an amazing songwriter.

The other line that always gets me is from Waltz #2:

"Tell Mr. Man with impossible plans
to just leave me alone
in the place where I make no mistakes
in the place where I have what it takes."

"Coming Up Roses" is probably my favorite of his, or possibly "Clementine."; March 9, 2011 at 10:54 AM
TruculentandUnreliable said...: Here's another (non-Elliot Smith) perfect misery song.; March 9, 2011 at 10:59 AM
Smut Clyde said...: OT, but relevant to your interests:
http://www.boingboing.net/images/powerofthewill.gif; March 9, 2011 at 11:07 AM
Dr.KennethNoisewater said...: I had to look up the lyrics to the Elliot Smith song, because I wasn't familiar with it. But it seems like there is a tiny bit of overlap in the lyrics of that song and the the one I linked to. Which I find interesting.; March 9, 2011 at 11:23 AM
Brando said...: It's one of those songs like Johnny Cash's "Hurt" that's almost too painful to listen to, but so rewarding when you do.

And I couldn't help but laugh quite loudly at Mikey's joke.; March 9, 2011 at 12:09 PM
Substance McGravitas said...: But really, he was an amazing songwriter.

It's pretty remarkable that he managed to bring such craft to the songwriting when he spent so much time being nuts. I mean, I'm a big fan of some folks who are nuts - and M. Bouffant! - but often their songs seem more like the messy result of craziness rather than a carefully-put-together piece of art that works on its own terms (if you can pretend you don't know who's singing it).; March 9, 2011 at 3:39 PM
Substance McGravitas said...: I should never have released eyebrow-motion technology into the wild.; March 9, 2011 at 3:42 PM
TruculentandUnreliable said...: Substance, I don't know if I'd call him "nuts"--just severely depressed.

(Maybe that's because I don't want to think of myself as nuts).

But yeah. The fact that he was able to get out of bed, much less write really good songs is pretty amazing.

Nick Drake, too. Also.

(Maybe this actually makes you more depressed in the end, though. If you're too depressed to write/make art/make music, then it could feel like the well has gone dry and there's no reason to live anymore.); March 9, 2011 at 6:38 PM
Righteous Bubba said...: There was some nuttiness in Smith for sure even apart from the depression, but maybe not separate from the drugs.

One of the problems with drugs is that you get to tap into this well of stuff that you wouldn't really get to without them, so when you're trying to continue to be an artist without this other pathway are you still that artist? I like to think that Elliott Smith was smart enough with the melodies and words that he could have written interesting things as a happy and drug-free guy.

Nick Drake I've never been impressed with.; March 9, 2011 at 7:36 PM
mikey said...: In the final analysis, it is generally accepted that I was the more interesting character and human being when I was badly strung out.

Unpredictable, unbalanced, unstable, unreliable, unemployable, violent, dangerous and oddly dressed, sure, but WAY more interesting.

The open question remains nothing more than locating the threshold where the net turns positive.

And that, my friends, is something you can only truly see in the rear view mirror.; March 9, 2011 at 7:42 PM
Substance McGravitas said...: Oh shit it's that Bubba guy again.

In hindsight I wish I'd had anti-depressants when I was about 16: would have taught me a valuable lesson about how my brain works and that could have save a whole load of loopiness in later years.

Quite enjoyed the booze and the psychedelics though.; March 9, 2011 at 7:57 PM
M. Bouffant said...: Just out of curiosity, is the link that has me, me, me! in it supposed to go where it goes? (That being back here.)

(I know it's not about me, just askin'.)

Nahgonna start on friends/friends of friends who were very wigged when local guy Mr. Smith died.

"And if I went with you
I'd disappoint you too"

Well, yeah. What'd you expect?; March 10, 2011 at 12:01 AM

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