Friday, June 26, 2009

Standing at the punch table swallowing punch

The first time I listened to The National's "Boxer," I wasn’t too excited about it. I thought it was good, but none of the songs really grabbed me. Just kinda boring. I gave it a few more listens, and resigned it to my background writing music.

But then…obsession hit. I’m baffled. How did I not immediately love this album?

I think I’ve listened to “Slow Show” four times today.


Love these lyrics. (Is it a little 8th grade that I’m copying them here? Too bad! “My leg is sparkles, my leg is pins/I better get my shit together, better gather my shit in.” Yeah, that's right.)

Standing at the punch table swallowing punch
can’t pay attention to the sound of anyone
a little more stupid, a little more scared
every minute more unprepared

I made a mistake in my life today
everything I love gets lost in drawers
I want to start over, I want to be winning
way out of sync from the beginning

I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I’m very, very frightening
I’ll overdo it

Looking for somewhere to stand and stay
I leaned on the wall and the wall leaned away
Can I get a minute of not being nervous
and not thinking of my dick
My leg is sparkles, my leg is pins
I better get my shit together, better gather my shit in
You could drive a car through my head in five minutes
from one side of it to the other

I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I’m very, very frightening
I’ll overdo it

You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years

On that note, I think I better put on some Of Montreal. It's getting a little emo-gloomy in here.


4 comments:

  1. Did you just call The National emo? For shame. You should just be lucky you know people to introduce you to acquired taste bands. If you love Boxer, you should definitely add the one before it, Alligator, to your collection.

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  2. I knew I was going to get some slack for that description. Not calling The National emo--just trying to describe the mood that song evoked.

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  3. You know, if we still lived in the same city, I would have harassed you into liking "Boxer" even sooner.

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  4. Wow, I've never seen that video before. Just got tickets to see them at The Royal Albert Hall in London, soooo excited! The greatest band in the world, in the greatest venue in the world...

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