Ten Things I Should Probably Do Before I Die:
(in no particular order)
10> Travel to Australia and New Zealand
09> Visit my ancestral homeland, the Czech Republic
08> Swim in a tropical ocean (including scuba diving)
07> Complete a painting I really feel good about
06> Run a marathon...or something
05> Tour a cave where various crystals grow right in the walls
04> Design the ultimate comic book super hero team
03> Listen to every song -- in its entirety -- on every CD I own
02> Tell all the special people in my life what they mean to me
01> Love someone and be loved by that same someone
Ten Things I Might Do If I Had More Courage:
10> Address negative people more directly
09> Continue work on a master's degree
08> Wear an authentic kilt
07> Get laser eye surgery so I wouldn't have to wear glasses
06> Write a blog entry sharing ten things I'd do if I had more courage
05> Be more actively political
04> Be more open to people
03> Skydive
02> Be more creative
01> Move someplace new
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
"...Dancing about architecture"
"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture"
This quote has been attributed to Elvis Costello, although it's said that Frank Zappa and Laurie Anderson have uttered similar statements. It's an interesting concept. I most recently heard it on a video link on the Shins' website where lead singer and writer James Mercer says it in the hilarious video segment called "The Interview". In the clip Mercer's alter ego then asks him to compare his latest album to a building, in this case "the Empire State Building", and subsequently to "dance" that building... Nice. Fun and funny.
To cap off the week of the release of the new Shins album, below are the lyrics to my new favorite song on that album--more cryptically beautiful poetry.
"Red Rabbits"
by the Shins
from the album "Wincing the Night Away"
Hurled to the center of the Earth again,
The place where it's hot, love,
You know, it hurts to breathe in,
And the watershed you balance on is begging it,
Well did he ever know,
Will he ever know?
The trees in the moonshine are a dark lattice,
So you catalogue every angle you notice,
In a vacuum you are charged to record this,
So you won't make it easy on me.
I can't go into this no more,
It puts too many thorns on my mind,
And the necessary balloon lies a corpse on the floor,
We've pissed on far too many sprites,
And they're all standing up for their rights.
Born on a desert floor, you've the deepest thirst,
And you came to my sweet shore to indulge it,
With the wan and drilling eyes of an orphan,
But there is not enough,
There is not enough.
Out of a gunnysack fall red rabbits,
Into the crucible to be rendered an emulsion,
And we can't allow a chance they'd restore themselves,
So we can't make it easy on you.
Undaunted, you bathed in hollow cries,
The boys with swollen, sunburnt eyes,
A reward for letting nothing under their skin,
So help me, I don't know, I might
Just give the old dark side a try.
Don't cast your whirling eyes on the shore,
'til we even the score.
I still owe you for the hole in the floor
And the ghost in the hall.
Who decides who paddles over the falls?
Yeah, who makes the call,
Who makes the call?
Well, I know there's an eventual release
From every scale of crime,
But the necessary balloon lies a corpse on the floor,
We've pissed on far too many good intentions held by clever sprites,
And they're all standing up for their rights.
This quote has been attributed to Elvis Costello, although it's said that Frank Zappa and Laurie Anderson have uttered similar statements. It's an interesting concept. I most recently heard it on a video link on the Shins' website where lead singer and writer James Mercer says it in the hilarious video segment called "The Interview". In the clip Mercer's alter ego then asks him to compare his latest album to a building, in this case "the Empire State Building", and subsequently to "dance" that building... Nice. Fun and funny.
To cap off the week of the release of the new Shins album, below are the lyrics to my new favorite song on that album--more cryptically beautiful poetry.
"Red Rabbits"
by the Shins
from the album "Wincing the Night Away"
Hurled to the center of the Earth again,
The place where it's hot, love,
You know, it hurts to breathe in,
And the watershed you balance on is begging it,
Well did he ever know,
Will he ever know?
The trees in the moonshine are a dark lattice,
So you catalogue every angle you notice,
In a vacuum you are charged to record this,
So you won't make it easy on me.
I can't go into this no more,
It puts too many thorns on my mind,
And the necessary balloon lies a corpse on the floor,
We've pissed on far too many sprites,
And they're all standing up for their rights.
Born on a desert floor, you've the deepest thirst,
And you came to my sweet shore to indulge it,
With the wan and drilling eyes of an orphan,
But there is not enough,
There is not enough.
Out of a gunnysack fall red rabbits,
Into the crucible to be rendered an emulsion,
And we can't allow a chance they'd restore themselves,
So we can't make it easy on you.
Undaunted, you bathed in hollow cries,
The boys with swollen, sunburnt eyes,
A reward for letting nothing under their skin,
So help me, I don't know, I might
Just give the old dark side a try.
Don't cast your whirling eyes on the shore,
'til we even the score.
I still owe you for the hole in the floor
And the ghost in the hall.
Who decides who paddles over the falls?
Yeah, who makes the call,
Who makes the call?
Well, I know there's an eventual release
From every scale of crime,
But the necessary balloon lies a corpse on the floor,
We've pissed on far too many good intentions held by clever sprites,
And they're all standing up for their rights.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
3 for 3 with 3 more days...
And so Tuesday is the day the new album by the Shins is released, and I'm waiting in eager anticipation... The song below was released as a CD single in late December, and they have performed this on SNL and Letterman. Of course it's difficult to get concrete meaining from these somewhat cryptic lyrics, but it hints at overcoming superficiality and looking for connections...If it's any indication, the album will be wonderful!
"Phantom Limb"
by the Shins
from the album "Wincing the Night Away"
Foals in winter coats,
White girls of the North
File past one five and one,
The are the fabled lambs,
of Sunday ham,
The EHS norm.
And they could float above the grass,
In circles if they tried,
A latent power I know they hide,
To keep some hope alive,
That a girl like I could ever try,
Could ever try.
So we just skirt the hallway sides,
A phantom and a fly
Follow the lines and wonder why
There's no connection.
A week of rolling eyes,
And cheap shots from the trite,
And we're off to Nemarca's porch again,
Another afternoon with the goat-head tunes,
And pilfered booze.
We wander through her mama's house,
And the milk from the window lights
Family portrait circa '95,
This is that foreign land
With the sprayed on tans,
And it all feels fine,
Be it silk or slime.
So when they tap our Monday heads
Two zombies walk in our stead,
This town seems hardly worth the time
And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too far along in our climb,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky,
With no connection.
Oh whoa oh whoa oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh
So when they tap our Sunday heads
Two zombies walk in our stead,
This town seems hardly worth our time
And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too far along in our crime,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky
With no connection
"Phantom Limb"
by the Shins
from the album "Wincing the Night Away"
Foals in winter coats,
White girls of the North
File past one five and one,
The are the fabled lambs,
of Sunday ham,
The EHS norm.
And they could float above the grass,
In circles if they tried,
A latent power I know they hide,
To keep some hope alive,
That a girl like I could ever try,
Could ever try.
So we just skirt the hallway sides,
A phantom and a fly
Follow the lines and wonder why
There's no connection.
A week of rolling eyes,
And cheap shots from the trite,
And we're off to Nemarca's porch again,
Another afternoon with the goat-head tunes,
And pilfered booze.
We wander through her mama's house,
And the milk from the window lights
Family portrait circa '95,
This is that foreign land
With the sprayed on tans,
And it all feels fine,
Be it silk or slime.
So when they tap our Monday heads
Two zombies walk in our stead,
This town seems hardly worth the time
And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too far along in our climb,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky,
With no connection.
Oh whoa oh whoa oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh
So when they tap our Sunday heads
Two zombies walk in our stead,
This town seems hardly worth our time
And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too far along in our crime,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky
With no connection
Monday, January 15, 2007
Shins-mania continues
Another great song with beautifully poetic lyrics from the Shins is "Pink Bullets". I think this is my favorite song from their second album, "Chutes Too Narrow". I love the imagery of the kites...I've read that it suggests two people so inextricably linked (literally tied by knots) that when it came time to break up, the only way was to sever their ties completely. Of course, the song has a hint of melancholy, like so many of their songs, but in this case the memories provide "warm light on a winter day".
"Pink Bullets"
by the Shins
from the album "Chutes Too Narrow"
I was just bony hands as cold as a winter pole
You held a warm stone out new flowing blood to hold
Oh what a contrast you were
To the brutes in the halls
My timid young fingers held a decent animal.
Over the ramparts you tossed
The scent of your skin and some foreign flowers
Tied to a brick
Sweet as a song
The years have been short but the days were long.
Cool of a temperate breeze from dark skies to wet grass
We fell in a field it seems now a thousand summers passed
When our kite lines first crossed
We tied them into knots
And to finally fly apart
We had to cut them off.
Since then it's been a book you read in reverse
So you understand less as the pages turn
Or a movie so crass
And awkardly cast
That even I could be the star.
I don't look back much as a rule
And all this way before murder was cool
But your memory is here and I'd like it to stay
Warm light on a winter's day.
Over the ramparts you tossed
The scent of your skin and some foreign flowers
Tied to a brick
Sweet as a song
The years have been short but the days go slowly by
Two loose kites falling from the sky
Drawn to the ground and an end to flight.
"Pink Bullets"
by the Shins
from the album "Chutes Too Narrow"
I was just bony hands as cold as a winter pole
You held a warm stone out new flowing blood to hold
Oh what a contrast you were
To the brutes in the halls
My timid young fingers held a decent animal.
Over the ramparts you tossed
The scent of your skin and some foreign flowers
Tied to a brick
Sweet as a song
The years have been short but the days were long.
Cool of a temperate breeze from dark skies to wet grass
We fell in a field it seems now a thousand summers passed
When our kite lines first crossed
We tied them into knots
And to finally fly apart
We had to cut them off.
Since then it's been a book you read in reverse
So you understand less as the pages turn
Or a movie so crass
And awkardly cast
That even I could be the star.
I don't look back much as a rule
And all this way before murder was cool
But your memory is here and I'd like it to stay
Warm light on a winter's day.
Over the ramparts you tossed
The scent of your skin and some foreign flowers
Tied to a brick
Sweet as a song
The years have been short but the days go slowly by
Two loose kites falling from the sky
Drawn to the ground and an end to flight.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Countdown to Jan. 23...
I saw the Shins perform last night on Saturday Night Live. They performed their new single "Phantom Limb" and, later, their classic "New Slang". I had picked up the CD single for "Phantom Limb" a few weeks ago, and the song has grown on me. I only have two weeks 'til the new CD "Wincing the Night Away" is released. I cannot wait! Back to "New Slang"... I think it's a truly beautiful song with poetically oblique lyrics. See below...
New Slang
by the Shins
from the album "Oh Inverted World"
Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth.
Only, I don't know how they got out, dear.
Turn me back into the pet that I was when we met.
I was happier then with no mind-set.
And if you'd 'a took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree
And I'd 'a danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would'a fared well.
New slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries.
Hope it's right when you die, old and bony.
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall,
Never should have called
But my head's to the wall and I'm lonely.
And if you'd 'a took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree
And I'd 'a danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would'a fared well.
God speed all the bakers at dawn may they all cut their thumbs,
And bleed into their buns 'til they melt away.
I'm looking in on the good life I might be doomed never to find.
Without a trust or flaming fields am I too dumb to refine?
And if you'd 'a took to me like
Well I'd 'a danced like the queen of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would'a fared well.
New Slang
by the Shins
from the album "Oh Inverted World"
Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth.
Only, I don't know how they got out, dear.
Turn me back into the pet that I was when we met.
I was happier then with no mind-set.
And if you'd 'a took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree
And I'd 'a danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would'a fared well.
New slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries.
Hope it's right when you die, old and bony.
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall,
Never should have called
But my head's to the wall and I'm lonely.
And if you'd 'a took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree
And I'd 'a danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would'a fared well.
God speed all the bakers at dawn may they all cut their thumbs,
And bleed into their buns 'til they melt away.
I'm looking in on the good life I might be doomed never to find.
Without a trust or flaming fields am I too dumb to refine?
And if you'd 'a took to me like
Well I'd 'a danced like the queen of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would'a fared well.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Lyrics of the moment: Needles in My Eyes
A recent rediscovery that just got lodged in my head this past two weeks...
Needles In My Eyes
by the Beta Band
Last night it was so good
I felt like crying, I felt crying
Last night though you looked so cold
I felt like smiling, smiling while I'm dying
Last night looked so good
Felt like crying, felt like crying
Last night though you looked so old
I felt like smiling, smiling while I'm dying
You left me cold, you left me cold
You left me cold, you left me cold
Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright
Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright
Last night I dropped my heart and
I never wanna see it again
Getting tighter with you all the time
I think I'm gonna my buckle my spine
I crept in and I stole your mind
I think I'm having trouble with mine
Crept in and I stole your mind
I think I'm having trouble with mine
You left me cold, you left me cold
You left me cold, you left me cold
Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright
Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright
Needles In My Eyes
by the Beta Band
Last night it was so good
I felt like crying, I felt crying
Last night though you looked so cold
I felt like smiling, smiling while I'm dying
Last night looked so good
Felt like crying, felt like crying
Last night though you looked so old
I felt like smiling, smiling while I'm dying
You left me cold, you left me cold
You left me cold, you left me cold
Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright
Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright
Last night I dropped my heart and
I never wanna see it again
Getting tighter with you all the time
I think I'm gonna my buckle my spine
I crept in and I stole your mind
I think I'm having trouble with mine
Crept in and I stole your mind
I think I'm having trouble with mine
You left me cold, you left me cold
You left me cold, you left me cold
Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright
Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright
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