So, a Japanese band takes to the stage in Tokyo on December 29, 2007 and what do they cover?
Can’t Hardly Wait, of course.
You can hear more from Saddles on MySpace.
The first time i heard Paul Westerberg’s “Crackle and Drag” I was sitting by myself in the Guthrie Theater wondering if he was ever gonna play “I Will Dare.”
You can tell just by listening to the MP3 that that audience was floored by the song. one, it was new, none of us had ever heard it before and two, it’s a fucking amazing song. It’s easily in the top three of my all-time favorite solo Westerberg songs.
I’m not sure at what point I realized the song was about Sylvia Plath, I knew it before the song was over. I think it might have been around the time he mentions her sleeping on the oven door. I know I didn’t recognize the title line from Sylvia’s poem. but the song just wrecked me from the very first time i heard it. I became a little obsessed, searching endlessly for the song on the Internet (later Paul would release two versions of the song on “Come Feel Me Tremble”).
I can say with pretty much no reservation that this is one of Paul’s most poetic songs. He’s the king of wordplay (can you stand me on my feet, anyone?), but this song is different because it’s filled with concrete imagery and these images he sings about are just beautiful in their stark exactness.
you could never fix her with a cold stare, she’s all broken inside
she made a good go for a weeping willow
her hair was dirty and she was 30
she stuffed some rags on the floor (this is my favorite one, it just slays me that she wanted to make sure her kids were gonna be okay)
she made a pillow on the oven door
now their zipping her up in a bag, can you hear her blacks crackle and drag
Stop rubbing your eyes. It’s only Sunday, but yes that is a video down there. As most of you know I am a big big fan of The Daily Mole, specifically Dude Weather. I watch Dude Weather first thing in the morning, before I have even rubbed the sleep from my eyes.
Recently, I was chastised for missing an obscure reference in this clip. Can you spot it?
Like lots of you out there in Westerbergia, I really wasn’t thrilled by Suicane the first time I heard it. Or the third.
But then something phunney happened on the way to Minnesota…
I love ‘Sunrise Always Listens.’ Love it. I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority here, seems a lot of folkers don’t like it. But to me it’s perfectly melancholy without being dirge-like. And when his voice cracks during ‘hear just what I said’? Gorgeous.
That’s all I got. Thanks for voting ‘PZP’ in New Hampshire yesterday!
So yeah, I don’t have an In the Blogs list this week. I’ve been busy trying to find a job and napping.
However, I just got this awesome story from Ari at Gibson. Yeah, that Gibson. They’ve worked up this excellent piece about the making of “Pleased to Meet Me.” You should go read it. Here’s a little excerpt:
There have been better bands, louder bands, and drunker bands, but there has never been a better, drunker, louder band than the Replacements, and the second two qualifiers wouldn’t matter one whit without the first. Gang Green never changed anybody’s life and you know why? Because they sucked. And on any given night, so did the Replacements—unforgivably. (As can be attested by anyone who ever waited a year and paid $20 to see the band only to find them falling down drunk, with Paul Westerberg inhaling helium before launching into unrecognizable versions of “Born in the USA” and “Whipping Post.”) But in a heartbeat (it’s a lovebeat), they could transform into the American Rolling Stones, but better—all heart, with none of the flamboyant rock royalty nonsense, just cranked guitars, hopeless desperation, and some of the best songs ever written. This was rock and roll as dropout high drama, entrenched in the moment, gut wrenching to witness, with stakes and brilliance only hinted at by the records they left behind.
Go read the rest: Torn and Frayed: The Story of the Replacements’ 1987 Classic Pleased to Meet Me
Whenever I write Craft, I want to write Kraft, like the mac and cheese. I thought you would like to know that. My sinuses are trying to escape my face and i still haven’t given away that damn book. Sorry.
I find Paul’s baseball fandom quite endearing.
On a related note, I could really use a hug.
Carrie Brownstein formerly of Sleater-Kinney says Paul Westerberg was her poet laureate for a long time.
The Denver Post lists bands that should never be covered again. Riddle me this, what Pixies song did Paul Westerberg cover?
Kirk at Loto Mojo has an aha! moment reading All Over But the Shouting.
This Book is For You chooses 10 of the Best Non-fiction books of 2007 and includes Jim Walsh, Laurie Lindeen and the phenomenal Rob Sheffield.
Ol’ Scott Hudson, one of our fave South Dakotans gives us a rundown of 2007 including some ‘Mats/Westerberg highlights.
This is a video of a band called Venison performing “Hard to Wave in Handcuffs” at the 7th Street Entry back in, I guess, 2001. First of all Venison was like the “it” local band back in my UW-Eau Claire days. They were the band all the other local bands wanted to be like because Venison played in The Cities all the time.
Second of all, you know who is in Venison? Rick Fuller — check it out, I am sure you’ll recognize a few of his projects.
That is all. Happy Tuesday Westernerds.
Oh and holy shit, Happy New Year! May 2008 bring us all some good health, good cheer, and good music.
Leapin’ Lizards, it’s been awhile. I’d apologize for the absence but I kind of hate when people do that. It implies that everyone is out there biting their fingernails, filled with anxiety wondering and wailing about the lack of posting here on Paul Westerberg.net.
Sheyeah.
Anyway, I’ve been really busy being a shut-in and forgetting what day of the week it is. I was at a party on Saturday night and at one point I turned to my friend and asked if it was New Year’s Eve. I would like to say it was because I was shit-faced drunk and trying to sober up. But really, it was only because I really had no idea what the date was.
But blah blah blah, you don’t care, do you?
So what am I rambling on about? Why today is one Mr. Paul Westerberg’s birthday. Seems the old goat is, hrm, 48? He is 48, I got out the calculator and did the math, carried the one, what have you.
So in honor of the old man’s birthday, I am going to make a list of 10 Things That Have Happened in My Life thanks to the music of Paul Westerberg:
- Got a tattoo
- Read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
- Became groupie-like and followed Westerberg and His Only Friends Band to Milwaukee and Chicago.
- Met some of the kindest, most generous, smartest, funniest, most thoughtful, goodlookingest, most talented people ever. This is not bullshit. At all. I am not involved in a lot of music “fan sites” or clubs or whatever the hell you call them, so I don’t know if this is sort of par for the course with the fans of all musicians or not. But let me tell you this, a majority of the people I call Westernerds will be there for you. They’ll help you find a job, listen to you whine about a broken heart, they will cheer you on, cheer you up, and get you drunk if you need it. I think I saw this the most during The Craft invite-only concert nonsense. Every Westernerd I met and all the ones I know were trying to get everyone they ever met or knew into the concert. It was kind of amazing and I am not doing it justice in this paragraph. Perhaps I will tell you about later. It’s one of those things that when I think about or write about, I start to cry.
- Saw my name in print
- Met one of my idols
- Spent a lot of money on books, CDs, bail, DVDs, concert tickets, alcohol, hotel rooms, Asian hookers, antibiotics, bribes. . .
- Developed an appreciation for the Meat Lover’s Special at Dennys
- Started this here web site
- Got laid (just kidding, I am hoping to add that to the list by next year’s birthday)
Okay, now your turn! In honor of Westerberg’s birthday, tell us some of the things that have happened in your life because of his music.
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