cursed diamond

Cursed Diamond has recently made it into my list of the top five tbc songs. Off Amorica, I actually heard it first on Lost Crowes and immediately fell in love. I think of Cursed Diamond as the "Chris song" for me...maybe because, I now admit, I have such a crush on him or maybe just because I can't imagine this song not being personal. I honestly don't have a lot to say about this song because that would just mar the perfect lyrics...I won't even pick out a few lyrics to highlight because the entire song is so perfect and the lyrics are so true

I lose myself
I forget myself
Sometimes I fault myself
I might fight myself
But then I make amends

I freeze myself
Rain on myself
Ok, so I stone myself
And I might even find myself
But then again what happens if I do

So unzip my pride
Open me up wide
So I can show this to you

I want to shine for you
I want to sparkle too
Just like a diamond cursed
Well you know it don't get worse
You know that I'll save you time
Your trouble now is mine

Hold me baby
Hold me girl
And I will laugh with you
If you want me to
Roll me in your splendor
I'll envy your surrender
And show you victory

I hate myself
Doesn't everybody hate themselves
So what, I scare myself
Then I tell myself that it's all in my mind
So I let the poison go
'Cause baby I always know
It will be there for me

movin' on down the line

Movin' on Down the Line is off tbc's latest album, Warpaint, and it's already been played 54 times live! . . .and likely growing every day. . . However, there's good reason for this song to played on virtually every live show since tbc has started touring for Warpaint. According to Crowesbase, and as Chris recently detailed, “This is the spot on the record and our career that has a piece of our whole story. Every sort of musical theme we've touched on rears its pretty little head in that song. That was the first song we recorded and it set the tempo for the whole session.”

Movin' on Down the Line does set the tone for Warpaint...it's a one song revolution. It's full of soulful singing, guitar riffs and it sends a good message..."It's all right, sisters / It's all right, brothers / We all get down sometimes." Thus, I can see why Chris would pinpoint this song for the new, better, hungrier version of tbc-- the one that recorded Warpaint . . . Movin' on Down the Line is the start of something crucial because it pays homage to the past but it's still about going forward. And not losing yourself in the process, because, it's really, truly going to be okay.

It's all right, sisters
It's all right, brother

The wheel within the wheel
The water below the well
Keep the curtains drawn
Leave the record on
And be careful what you say
Bring that bottle near
Make the real unreal
And let's go out and play

It's all right, sisters
It's all right, brothers
We all get down sometimes

Starting to show me
Starting to know me
Starting to feel the shine
Starting to let go
Now that we know
It's time to move it on down the line

The x that marks the hex
That moves from next to next
Keep your head on tight
To make it through the night
You've got to make a friend along the way
So cover up your tracks
And avoid attacks
And live to love another day

Cause it's all right, sisters
It's all right, brothers
We all get down sometimes

Starting to show me
Starting to know me
Starting to feel the shine
Starting to let go
Now that we know
It's time to move it on down the line

It's all right, sisters
It's all right, brothers
We all get down sometimes

Starting to show me
Starting to know me
Starting to feel the shine
Starting to let go
Now that we know
It's time to move it on down the line

girl from a pawnshop

Girl From a Pawnshop is one of those storytelling songs on which Chris' voice just works magic. From Crowesbase, "Originally titled "Girl From The Pawnshop", it was first recorded at Kingsway Studios in New Orleans on 10/11/92. The original Kingsway take and live versions of this song from The High As The Moon Tour have some different lyrics from the final version." Girl From a Pawnshop is off Three Snakes and One Charm, and it's been played 106 times live which makes it moderate by tbc standards.

As I intimated earlier, what I love about this song is its storytelling quality-- it's an entire novel in just over six minutes. And of course, the outro is just stilling, "I said P.S. all my love / P.S. all my love / P.S. all my love," and then a perfect guitar riff. I am more and more beginning to understand Chris' love affair with Three Snakes and One Charm.

With pawnshop eyes and a second hand frown
She sat silent at the table
Her boots were brown, well should she leave town
To play the role of lover expatriate
A nod to the waiter, always her flirty behavior
You know she always gets one on the house
She pulls out a letter
From a bag under her sweater
And before she reads she straightens her blouse

There's a passion in being alone
A grace in a loveless time
There's no new cross, there's no new sign
Only the sun and the changing tide

And out of respect, well really must confess
I never lost your number
I never lost your address
And if we remain friends at best
Sometime later no, no not yet
We'll smile and remember it like this

She put back the letter
One tear falls like a feather
And disappears on the bar room floor
The gratuity included
You know the letter concluded
P.S. with all my love

There's a passion in being alone
A grace in a loveless time
There's no new cross, there's no new sign
Only the sun and the changing tide

I said P.S. all my love
P.S. all my love
P.S. all my love

you don't have to go

Another day, another tbc break-up song that I love. You Don't Have to Go is off the bonus disc of By Your Side. It's only been played live two times^[1], and one of those times was just last month!! Consequently, there's not much written on this song, but it's actually quite good. I really love the way Chris' voice vibrates when he sings "There's one thing that you ought to know
/ It's just got me got me feeling out of control," and the subsequent guitar riff after that. The other thing I love about You Don't Have to Go, and what I'm noticing more and more about By Your Side, is how romantic it truly is. It's about breaking up, ostensibly, but it's much more about telling someone to stay. I think the band means the lyrics, "And I promise you / Oh baby, when I am through / Of all of my crazy days / I will take you away." That is, when the crazy road life is over, if it could ever truly be over, they'll come back to you. I can't even imagine touring as much tbc did/does...and I'm sure it's hard on all of their families and loves...and this song just speaks to that. There are just so many good lines in this song, it's one my favourites.

Well you wrote to me
And you made me see
That love is real, and it's not make believe
And I promise you
Oh baby, when I am through
Of all of my crazy days, I will take you away

You know I've nothing
That I've got nothing to hide
See, I've been a little
A little messed up inside

And it's alright with me
And it's easy to see
There's one thing that you ought to know
It's just got me feeling out of control
Cause you touch me to my soul
And baby you don't have to go

You don't have to leave, no, no

When you speak to me
It's like a dream
And I feel every word
And I know just what each one means, yes I do
When you sleep with me
Oh girl, the safety that it brings
In my heart, in my mind
I will love you for all time, yes I will

You know I've nothing
That I've got nothing to hide
I've been a little
A little messed up inside

And it's alright with me
And it's easy to see
There's one thing that you ought to know
It's just got me got me feeling out of control
Well you touch me to my soul
And baby you don't have to go

Never go away
No, no, no, no

Don't ya know, don't ya know

Well if it's alright with me
And it's easy to see
The thing that you ought to know
It's just got me feeling out of control
Because you touch me to my soul
And baby you don't have to go

I said it's alright with me
And it's easy to see
The thing that you ought to know
You just got me feeling out of control
Because you took me to my soul
And baby, you don't have to go

[1] 4/1/98, New York, New York; 7/29/08, House of Blues, Cleveland, Ohio.

twice as hard

I've been hesitant to write about any songs from Shake Your Money Maker, because, honestly, it's the album with which I'm least familiar (aside from Lions which is a whole other entity). I've listened to it only a handful of times, whereas I've listened to most of the other albums more times than I can count. And I don't think it's because Shake Your Money Maker isn't as good. It's maybe that everyone knows it's good. But, unlike most, my favourite song off of this album isn't She Talks to Angels. If I can even surprise myself, I must say I don't love that song, and I don't cherish it above all tbc songs like most people do. Rather, I prefer something like Twice as Hard. Twice as Hard still engenders that early tbc sound, but without the polish or magnetism of She Talks to Angels and Hard to Handle (which I do love but it isn't a tbc orginal, and that's what I'm trying to focus on with these posts-- the beauty of tbc originals).

Regarding Twice as Hard, Crowesbase quotes Chris as saying, "There was a pain in my heart. Feeling lonely and knowing. I was losing touch with someone. Hoping that maybe the next time around it'll be different but it never is. A love song, plain and simple." And as you know, if there is a category of tbc songs I love that isn't about breaking up, it's that I feel so many of their songs are about love, in all its forms. So that's Twice as Hard, it's still kind of about breaking up, or, maybe, just about the hardship of love . . .never easy, but it makes for a great song. That is, "Love ain't funny / A crime in the wink of an eye."

Clean as a whistle
Smellin' like a rose
She got no dirty little fingers
Bloodshot eyes are gone
Tell me I'm wrong

Twice as Hard
As it was the first time
I said goodbye

And no one ever wanna' know
Love ain't funny
A crime in the wink of an eye

Your sister always singing
She play the step child
A broken little memory
Her heart was never kind
Tell me I'm blind

Yeah, bloodshot eyes are gone
Tell me I'm wrong

Twice as Hard
As it was the first time
I said goodbye

Twice as Hard
As it was the first time
I said goodbye

Twice as Hard
As it was the first time
I said goodbye

Twice as Hard
As it was the first time
I said goodbye

Twice as Hard
As it was the first time
I said goodbye

nonfiction

From Crowesbase, "[Nonfiction] was written a couple of months into The High As The Moon Tour in 1992. On the VH-1 Behind The Music episode, Chris described the song being about paranoia. It was originally written and recorded as an acoustic song, but took on a different character as a heavy electric number when played live. by the entire band."

Nonfiction is off Amorica, which is another great album. Before reading the description on Crowesbase, I wouldn't have said this song was about paranoia. To me, it's more like love. And how appropriate that it's called Nonfiction, in that instance. It's like real love...but the part that always gives me pause is "And if we had a child I'd like a son, not a daughter." How curious that Chris did have a son...even if this song was long before Kate, I always just think about that lyric. But again, this song embodies love to me...the oft kind of love tbc sings about, it's real and it's not perfect. And maybe real love does involve a moment of paranoia before you can ever let yourself really go, and accept it...but that's never easy. TBC captures that, again.

I don't know my telephone number
But you kiss good and I'd like to
See you tomorrow
And I don't beg, I pay, I don't barter
And if we had a child I'd like a son,
Not a daughter
'Cause she'd be just like you
You know that would not do

I'm no builder, I'm no gardener
I sing some songs, have a friend
Who's a photographer
There ain't no other language
I know how to speak
Some like their water shallow
And I like mine deep
Tied to the bottom
With a noose around my feet

The clouds conspire
Above my head
I overheard them
Say I wish he was dead
Today the sunset
Burned my eyes
And in the next room I hear someone cry

I like to dress up like the jury
To eat like a king, to poke fun at clergy
To talk like dirt
To love you like tar
But never fall in too fast
With my north star
While you pull your hair out
I buy the drinks at the bar

The clouds conspire
Above my head
I overheard them
Say I wish he was dead
Today the sunset
Burned my eyes
And in the next room I hear someone cry

hear an amazing studio version from the npr session!

good friday

Why do I love all of tbc's break up songs so much? I don't know, but I do. Good Friday was actually the first single from Three Snakes and One Charm. To me, Good Friday is as much a tbc staple as something like Thorn in My Pride. But yes, getting back to it, Good Friday is by all accounts a breaking up song. In the iTunes exclusive, Chris says that Good Friday is as "as good a song as any that represents that whole record." They call Three Snakes and One Charm a "dissent album," when all of them were going through a lot of personal stuff. Slower stuff than Amorica, a darker place. And as Chris describes, Good Friday is "a good bye song...and whether or not you can say it's easy to put a song in the perspective of a relationship."
I'm surprised to hear Chris say that Three Snakes is his favourite album, even after all the years (not including Warpaint). But I won't disagree because of songs like Good Friday. When he sings "I will not forgive you / Nor will I accept the blame," once again, it just reminds me why I love tbc-- the honesty. Who hasn't felt like that? And to be able to write and sing it with such tenderness....the iTunes exclusive live version is phenomenal, if you get a chance.

We've been avoiding this for so long
Luxury is temporary then it's gone
I thought that we would happen
I guess I'm wrong
We'll say "hi" on the street then
We'll move along
I know this will be awkward
But not for long
Cause soon you'll have a new boy
to sing you songs

I will not forgive you
Nor will I accept the blame
I will see you on Good Friday
On Good Friday

I'm sorry I couldn't do this yesterday
And tomorrow I am busy
And what it is I can't say
And Saturday is no good
We got a show
So it has to be Good Friday
Then it's so long

I will not forgive you
Nor will I accept the blame
I will see you on Good Friday
On Good Friday

You, you come and go when you please
I know unfulfilled needs
I know you do too
But I, you know I didn't see things through
I didn't pay attention to you
But honey I tried