Earlier in the week, I said that I'd been listening to Amorica a lot lately and Descending is not a song that probably stood out to me before. Now, however, I can't get it out of my head. The piano intro is so gorgeous and Chris' voice . . . Descending is another one of those songs that sound like he speaking only to me. According to Crowesbase, "Th[e] earliest known version of the song features a "backwards" arrangement with both guitars playing the primary rythm part (as a riff and as a solo, respectively) and the paino playing the secondary rhythm part (played by the rythm guitaist on the Amorica version)." The piano intro and outro are the most memorable parts of this song but the whole thing is just so perfect sounding when Chris starts singing.
There are two primary versions of Descending-- the Lost Crowes or Tall version and the Amorica version-- they sound the same but have different lyrics. Plus, the Tall version has a different chorus/refrain. I prefer the Amorica version, in terms of listening. I'm going to include both sets of lyrics, however, for posterity and because I prefer the Tall version's lyrics.
Amorica album lyrics
Have mercy baby I'm descending again Open your eyes This time it's sink or it's swim No sermons on ascending No verdict on deceit No selfish memorandum No confusion for me
Curses Curses and clues A feast for fools Have mercy baby And hand me downs It was just a few years ago You'd hand me ups and map Right out of town But I would let it slide Like mercury Silver and quick Poisonous and deadly So deadly
Tall album lyrics
Have mercy baby I'm descending again Open your eyes, baby Cause, this time it's sink or it's swim No sermons on ascending No verdicts on deceit No selfish memorandum No confusion for me, not for me
A curse, a clue the same to me regardless of your sympathy reminded me to find beauty!
Have mercy baby and hand me down It was just a few years ago you hand me up and a map right out of town well I will let it slide like mercury so silver and quick poisonous and deadly, so deadly
A curse, a clue the same to me regardless of your sympathy reminded me to find beauty! A feast for fools!
How could I, even for just mere moments, forget the greatness that is Warpaint? I have just been in the sort of mood to listen to We Who See the Deep, which makes me listen to Warpaint again and again and it's like lightning striking. I feel like this a lot about various TBC albums. I will get in the zone of listening to a lot of live shows and then put on an album and instantly remember all the track progressions, all the hidden gems. We Who See the Deep is one of those gems that is perfect where it is, track five on Warpaint.
Crowesbase details that We Who See the Deep was recorded in July, 2007 at Allaire Studios, Shokan, NY (where most of Warpaint was recorded, as well). However, Crowesbase also offers this other nugget quote from Chris: "That one's for the freaks (laughs). This song was born from another acoustic-y version and I asked Rich to kinda turn it up and Steve just came up with that groove. It's pretty much just freak-funk.” Well that quote definitely explains a lot-- this song is pretty mellow but in a funky way. This is one of the rare songs where I just want to listen to it, not analyze and dream of every lyric. And it's perfect for realizing that it's only Wednesday.
Put forever in your mind Let go of space and time Yeah, said it is wee who see the deep It is wee that the lesson teach
Do you even know this place? Nowhere is over To find our way back to grace Nowhere is nothing at all
Well I have come from the hurricane A messenger that the tempest brings Eyes full of sun, hands full of seed At one with the night just to help me see
Do you even know this place? Nowhere is over To find our way back to grace Nowhere is nothing at all
Nowhere is nothing at all Nowhere is nothing at all Nowhere is nothing at all Nowhere is nothing at all
Who knows what draws me to different TBC tracks at different times? This weekend I'm listening to Three Snakes and One Charm a bunch, along with Amorica . . . and it's like, every single time, I'm drawn to different songs. There are, of course, my eternal favourites but still, new songs stick out to me every time I listen. That's the staying power of TBC. So, one of the songs I'm loving right now is Better When You're Not Alone. Not much to say about this song-- it's been played 40 times live -- so not very popular by TBC standards. Apparently Better When You're Not Alone was released as a single, as well, according to Crowesbase.
As always, I love the lyrics of Better When You're Not Alone (but then again, when don't I love TBC lyrics?) but I also love the beginning and end melodies. The end is a little jam that just fades out (see the video below, particularly, for the jam LIVE) and the beginning starts so slow. My favourite line is "I hope you don't lie to me / There's nothing better than your touch" because those two lines together are so contradictory, yet so perfect.
I love you in the worst way The only way I know They say the clearer the water The more that it shows They say the deeper the river The stronger the love Your eyes don't lie to me And your smile is worth its weight in gold This life, this life aches And this life moans This life is great, this life is great And it's better when you're Not alone, not alone
You love me in the worst way The only way you know They say the higher the mountain The more love that grows They say the stronger the wind blows The farther we'll go I hope you don't lie to me There's nothing better than your touch How many times does this happen Two people like us meet As I try to be humble and lay Down at your feet
Confession time: I love By Your Side. Okay, so that's really not much of a confession since you should, by now, already know that my favourite TBC song is on that album. But, after TSHMC, By Your Side is tied with Warpaint for my second favourite TBC album! And my second favourite song on By Your Side is Only A Fool. The true sparkle of this song is the horns! They compliment the lyrics so perfectly that I can listen to this song a million times and never get bored. Also the close harmonies of the chorus are spectacular, although Only a Fool has only been played 47 times live. That surprises me because on the iTunes exclusive interview, Rich said, "The songs on By Your Side, there's some really good songs on there, like . . . Only a Fool." (Although, technically Chris chimed in with Only a Fool first!)
Crowesbase explains, "This song evolved during the Band Sessions. Part of a song called Baby evolved into Only A Fool. There are three studio versions: A Band version, the BYS album cut, and the BYS B-side edition." Interesting-- this song, for me, doesn't quite fit with the Band Sessions while I find it perfect on By Your Side. I guess the band agreed. As for favourite lyrics, it's hard to choose-- I really really love this song. But twist my arm and I say "When we're lying in our big old bed / We wake up just to fall asleep again." I mean, who hasn't felt like that? I kind of want to feel like that every day.
Your words buzz around my head You make me feel warm again You are my lover, my song, my best friend I don't want this to ever end
You hold my heart in your hands Our home is like a promised land I just want you, just want you to understand
Only a fool would let you go Only a fool and I should know Only a fool would let you go I need you so baby please don't go
When we're lying in our big old bed We wake up just to fall asleep again When i dream of the time we've spent It makes me so happy I just can't quit
I see the love in your eyes It will stay there the rest of our lives And after that, and after that And over and over and over again
Oooh! So, over the weekend I also treated myself to a few shows from LiveBlackCrowes (this site is an amazing catalog of authorized recordings from TBC shows and they are adding older shows all the time!). And I made sure I bought/downloaded the show from 12/19/08 in San Francisco, which I was lucky enough to attend. I didn't realise it at the time of the show but when TBC played Bewildered, it was truly the first time they'd touched that song since 7/18/93!!! Needless to say, getting to hear Bewildered live was amazing.
Crowesbase details that Bewildered was "[r]ecorded at Kingsway Studios in New Orleans on October 11, 1992 on an off day from the High As The Moon Tour. It was played regularly towards the end of the tour and seemed to be a strong candidate for Tall, but was abandoned and not heard from since 7/18/93." So, again, we were all very lucky to hear this song played live because it was also only the 23rd time the song had ever been played live. I should also point out that this song was not released on any album.
At the show, before they began Bewildered, Chris said: "All right, we haven't tried this one in . . . quite a while. You know I've never said that, so (laughs)."
My favourite line in Bewildered is actually the first one "I know I never took the time to try and learn the things / That make you come and go." It's such a branch and such a segue to the entire feeling of the song. I take the feeling to be one of accepted regret. That is, and I think this a common theme for Chris and Rich, yes, I regret the things I did to you but it's just how it is. I'm going to write you a song now. I'll take the song, you keep the regret.
I know I never took the time to try and learn the things That make you come and go Heaven knows, I'm feeling it now All those days that came and went All those evenings spent With holocaust and disillusion Acknowledge me this wink Upon your calendar I think Marks the day of our disaster Misplaced affections, misread equations And the blessing of love
When you see the curses in me The crime of your rouses And we can call it infidelity Or my love of your bruises
You scrawled your family's name upon the moon The very same night that They toasted your splendor The theory dear is not to fear Oh can you tell me please, what of creation Now this tragedy surrounding me Has taken a turn for the worse And borders on fascination To call a spade a spade In regards to shade And all those who enter
So when you see the curses in me And the crime of your rouses Well now we can call it infidelity Or my love of your bruises
My heart waits here, bewildered A wilderness My convictions' arrangement with vanity With my vanity, with my vanity
To duplicate this soiled fate For better or for worse, now or later Answer me, answer me This question mark you live and breathe Only give to me My belief, my belief in enigma Yes it does
But when you see the curses in me The crime of your rouses We can call it infidelity Or my love of your bruises
My heart waits here, bewildered A wilderness My convictions' arrangement with vanity My heart waits here bewildered A wilderness My convictions' arrangement with vanity With my vanity, my vanity
I decided to give Lions a few listens over the long weekend since it is the album I'm least familiar with in the TBC catalogue. Two things happened: one, my previous suspicions were confirmed in that it is my least favourite TBC album, and two, I fell in love with a few songs from it, anyway. One of those songs being Lay it All on Me. This is one of the gems on the album and it's probably no surprise that I think Lions is the most different sounding album while Lay it All on Me sounds like the older TBC stuff. Regardless, I have had this song (and a few others from Lions) on repeat the past few days.
Crowesbase details that this song has been played 47 times live, on the low end for TBC, but a handful of times on the Warpaint tour! Otherwise, there are no notes on the song. So, for my own notes: I love the jamming, on the album version, at the end of the song. This gives it a live-like quality. And if there is one thing TBC does well, it's live. As for my favourite lyrics of the song, that's easy: "Do you remember when it started / You had a dream / Now you never talk about it." These lyrics seem so perfectly suited to Lions too . . . because I think that album really did get away from Rich and Chris' original dreams in making music. And, luckily, Warpaint is a return to those dreams. But I will keep Lay it All of Me. Along with the way Chris sings that exact line.
Come on down crooked man Step on up broken man Well its ok to cry troubled man Just ease your worried mind and rest awhile
Do you remember when it started You had a dream Now you never talk about it Your fame and riches were everything No matter what the cost Now you wish you hadn't blown it
Well lay it all on me Lay it all on me
Come on down crooked man Step on up broken man Its ok to cry troubled man Just ease your worried mind and rest awhile
I came to see how you were doing Its been a while Looking back over your shoulder You were restless and you were wild Always running away Once was young now is older
Lay it all on me Lay it all on me
So come on down crooked man Step on up broken man Well its ok to cry troubled man Just ease your worried mind and rest awhile
Come on down baby Ease your worried mind Lay it on me
For me, the most seminal track on Warpaint is Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution. It is, quite seriously, perfect. This song was recorded in July, 2007 at Allaire Studios, Shokan, NY. It's already been played 88 times live, so likely at every show on the Warpaint tour. This song, this album, took three years and it was well worth the wait.
As Chris said in the iTunes exclusive interview, "I think Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution, again, is like the-- it's the calling card of what Warpaint could kind of be, you know?" About the song, he also said, "[a]ll the weirdos and all the freaks, we want our freedom, too. . . . So when people run their mouths about what freedom is, it goes both ways. . . .People forget that. And I think Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution is . . . it's like a rock 'n roll song, it's very simple in that way, but it's representative of that, what we feel is an independent person. That what's in your mind. Because it's not just about rock 'n roll. It's about the books you read and it's about the food you eat. And the people you're with. And how you live. It's about your commune. It's about your people. And although there are the worst of times, they are the best of times. And you make that happen. It really starts with turning off your tv-- that's the first step to finding your way out of fear-hole."
I wish I could write as articulately about the song, or any TBC song, as Chris said above, but I guess that's the mark of the artist, of the writer. Chris has talked about Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution a lot on the promo tours for Warpaint because it was a single off that album and, again, it's as Chris said according to Crowesbase, "If people are wondering if this is a rock & roll record, this is a good example of where our hearts and minds are." This statement is true of the entire theme of the record, as well. If you listen to all of Chris and Rich's promo and discussion about this album and song, they always come back to this.
It's hard to pick out any particular lyrics from this song because there are so many good ones, but if forced, I would cite my favourite line as "I'll come to you hungry / I'll come to you sore." Chris and Rich are so amazing-- and this album is just wow. Still. Months later-- it was well worth the wait and the "new" band is a really good fit. And Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution is a wonderful introduction to it.
Caught a rusty engine out of sawdust town Made a deal with the man who shook 'em all down So put a little grease on my axle now I've been from Antioch to Alcatraz I can roll you one from an empty bag So let's take it easy to avoid any snags
CHORUS: Goodbye daughters of the revolution Open your eyes and see the solution Hallelujah come join the jubilee So let's keep on runnin' Through the gates of the city To give up now would be such a pity And don't you want to see the ship Go down with me
I'll come to you hungry I'll come to you sore I'll come round midnight to your back door I'll drag my tail across your floor Gonna run you ragged til you act your age Gonna circle the wagons gonna storm your stage If we all plead guilty will the charges be the same
Chorus
I've been restless, baby I'm feeling wild Caught up in a fever dream Save me child Save me child
Chorus
Said don't you wanna the ship go down with me? Said don't you wanna the ship go down with me? Said don't you wanna the ship go down?
Life Vest is probably my second favourite song from Lost Crowes. It's so happy, for lack of a better word. Unfortunately, the version I'm talking about here has never been played live. Rather, as Crowesbase details, it evolved into Life Vest Jam during the 3 Snakes Fall tour. Life Vest Jam is instrumental, and TBC typically played it after Black Moon Jam on tour in '96.
But, going back to the song I'm talking about here, Life Vest-- it's kind of dark in its lyrics but the tempo is so catchy. And, of course, coupled with the sort of storytelling lyrics one expects from Chris and Rich. The chorus is really one of the most prophetic they've ever written, "How can I make somethin' so wrong somethin' so right." I'm beginning to think that Lost Crowes is a miracle.
Headaches, heartaches windfalls and pitfalls They pay what they pay
Car crash, talk trash Bloodbaths and witchcraft If that's what you see
How can I make somethin' so wrong somethin' so right How can I make somethin' so wrong somethin' so right
Shipwreck, lifevest You swim to shore Or you sink away Mistake, bad taste Just spit it out And it goes away
How can I make somethin' so wrong somethin' so right How can I make somethin' so wrong somethin' so right
How can I make somethin' so wrong somethin' so right How can I make somethin' so wrong somethin' so right
Okay, guys, sorry for the long absence but I am revitalized. And I want to try and make at least 3 posts a week from now on!
So Under a Mountain is off Chris's favourite album, Three Snakes and One Charm, although Crowesbase reports that "this song was worked on during the sessions for Amorica, however, no studio recording from those sessions has been confirmed." I'm not quite sure what to make of this nugget but I guess I could see Under a Mountain on Amorica . . . it fits with the feeling of that album, in a way. The song's been play 95 times live-- which is on the lower end of average for a TBC song.
My favourite part of Under a Mountain is the building (but on down beats) crescendo of the chorus. It's quite catchy. But I'm entirely puzzled by the lyric "Lay down with number 13" . . . any ideas, readers? It's so perfectly Chris sounding and his voice is so melodic when he sings it but it seems out of place in the song. Regardless...another great song! The best lyric being so apropos for today "What makes a Sunday different from Monday / Could be a look in her eyes."
Never a heaven an age old question Written from a cold place I feel sour I need a shower Or just a slap in the face Circumstance has left romance And a puzzle in front of me Who knows the ending, if the truth need bending A lie is the tool that you'll need
So I'm under a mountain Stuck to this mattress Perfume and valium
What makes a Sunday different from Monday Could be a look in her eyes In need of flattery she changes batteries So that her light will still shine The words she utters either flow or they stutter They're either silly or wise Anger with concern But never to yearn Only to be by your side
