Parallel or Together?

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Parallel or Together?

We're caught in a landslide
The minutes come tumbling down
And into an hour's time
Within which a day's worth of work
Must be planned out and pan out
For every week to be worth
The weekends of downtime
And months of ennui that kills
And years of resentment
Of everyone's contentment, and you
Can't justify it, still

I tell you my reasons
You don't tell me your inside jokes
Until I've gone bitter on
Every word that you've spoken
And all of your kind words
Amounting to naught but a token
And all their inaction
Will tumble away with the days
And nights of together
As we're really not together at all
But parallel

Now I'm walking on downtown
In a town that is not my home
And shopping for breakfast
To be eaten all alone
And dreaming of houses
None of them that I own
But that's not my province
That's not for what I am known
So I gather around me
All the little pieces of a song
And fit them where they belong

So go to your downtown
And bring what you've brought back home
And you never should worry
Your hours will now be as long
As the days that you hurried
And months when it all seemed wrong
And all of the action
Will tumble away with the years
And parallel evenings
And parallel tracks of our tears
And nights of together are where?
So I gather around me
All the little pieces of a song
And fit them where they belong


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A great song about the troubles of a couple falling out of it. A gripping description, and probably hits home for a lot of us. On one of the many times I've seen Ted Leo/Rx they played a faster heavier rendition of this song that was great, but nothing compares to the original.

The Rake's Song

The Decemberists
The Rake's Song

I had entered into a marriage
In the summer of my twenty-first year
And the bells rang for our wedding
Only now do I remember it clear
Alright, alright, alright

No more a rake and no more a bachelor
I was wedded and it whetted my thirst
Until her womb start spilling out babies
Only then did I reckon my curse
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright

First came Isaiah with his crinkled little fingers
Then came Charlotte and that wretched girl Dawn
Ugly Myfanwy died on delivery
Mercifully taking her mother along
Alright, alright, alright

What can one do when one is widower
Shamefully saddled with three little pests
All that I wanted was the freedom of a new life
So my burden I began to divest
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright

Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxglove
Dawn was easy, she was drowned in the bath
Isaiah fought but was easily bested
Burned his body for incurring my wrath
Alright, alright, alright

And that's how I came your humble narrator
To be living so easy and free
Expect you think that I should be haunted
But it never really bothers me
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright


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Not only is that a super weird song, but the album as a whole is weird. Hazards of Love (the album) is a long story about love between "star-crossed" lovers, one being a faun, the other a girl. Then the faun goes crazy and this happens. Hah...

As a related sidenote, they are amazing live. This song in particular.

Month of May

Arcade Fire
Month of May

Gonna make a record in the month of May
In the month of May, in the month of May
Gonna make a record in the month of May
When the violent wind blows the wires away

Month of May, it's a violent thing
In the city, their hearts to sing
Well, some people sing, it sounds like they're screaming
Used to doubt it but now I believe it

Month of May, everybody's in love
Then the city was hit from above
And just when I knew what I wanted to say
The violent wind blew the wires away

We were shocked in the suburbs

Now the kids are all standing with their arms folded tight
Kids are all standing with their arms folded tight
Well, some things are pure and some things are right
But the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight
I said some things are pure, and some things are right
But the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight

So young, so young
So much pain for someone so young
Well, I know it's heavy, I know it ain't light
But how you gonna lift it with your arms folded tight?

First they built the road
Then they built the town
That's why we're still driving around
And around and around and around and around
And around and around and around...
2009, 2010
Wanna make a record how I felt then
When we stood outside in the month of may
And watched the violent wind blow the wires away

If I die in the month of may
Let the wind take my body away, yeah
Wish I may, I wish I might
But meet me down there with my arms folded tight

Start again in the month of May
Start again in the month of May
Come on and blow the wires away
Come on and blow the wires away

Start again in the month of May
Start again in the month of May
Come on and blow the wires away
Come on and blow the wires away

Gonna start again in the month of May
Start again in the month of May
Come on and blow the wires away
Come on and blow the wires
The wires away

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I just saw Arcade Fire last night and they were absolutely amazing. Quite possibly the best show I've ever seen (I've seen a LOT of bands). When they played this song they rocked it--hard. It's a great song about passive dissent.

Antichrist Television Blues

Arcade Fire
Antichrist Television Blues



Don't want to work in a building downtown
No, I don't want to work in a building downtown
I don't know what I'm going to do
Because the planes keep crashing always two by two
Don't want to work in a building downtown
No, I don't want to see it when the planes hit the ground

Don't want to work in a building downtown
Don't want to work in a building downtown
Parking the cars in the underground
The voices when they scream, well, they make no sound
Want to see the cities rust
And the troublemakers riding on the back of the bus

Dear God, I'm a good Christian man
I'm your boy, I know you understand
That you got to work hard and you got to get paid
The girl's thirteen, but she don't act her age
She can sing like a bird in cage
Oh Lord, if you could see her when she's up on that stage

You know that I'm a God-fearing man
You know that I'm a God-fearing man
I just got to know if it's part of your plan
To see my darling stand by your right hand
I know that you'll do what's right, Lord
For they are the lanterns and you are the light

Now I'm overcome
By the light of day
My lips are near
But my heart is far away
Tell me what to say
I'll be your mouthpiece

Into the light of a bridge that burns
As I drive through the city with the money that I earn
To the dark of a starless sky
I won't stare into nothing and I'm asking you why
Lord, let me make her a star
So the world can see who you really are

Little girl, you're old enough to understand
You'll always be a stranger in a strange, strange land
Men are going to come while you're fast asleep
So you better just stay close and hold onto me
If mama's mockingbird don't sing well,
Then daddy won't buy her no diamond ring

Dear God, would you send me a child?
Oh God, would you send me a child?
Because I want to put it up on the TV screen
So the world can see what your true word means
Lord, won't you send me a sign?
Because I just got to know if I'm wasting my time

Now I'm overcome
By the light of day
My lips are near
But my heart is far away
But now the war is won
How come nothing tastes good?

Oh you're such a sensitive child
You know you're such a sensitive child
I know you're tired, but it's all right
I just needed you to sing for me tonight
You're going to have your day in the sun
You know God loves the sensitive ones

Oh, my little bird in a cage
Oh, my little bird in a cage
I need you to get up for me up on that stage
Show all the men that you're old for your age
Now in the times of fear
But if you don't take it, it'll disappear

Oh, my little mockingbird, sing
Oh, my little mockingbird, sing
I need you to get up on the stage for me, honey
Show the men it's not about the money
Want to hold a mirror up to the world
So that they can see themselves inside my little girl

Do you know where I was at your age?
Any idea where I was at your age?
I was working downtown for the minimum wage!
And I couldn't let you just throw it all away
Throw me a kid, God, throw me a knife
So tell me Lord, am I the Antichrist?


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Song is about a child molester and his reflections on himself. Haunting at the least.

Somebody I Used to Know

Elliott Smith
Somebody I Used to Know

I had tender feelings that you made hard
But it's your heart, not mine, that's scarred
So when I go home, I'll be happy to go
You're just somebody that I used to know

You don't need my help anymore
It's all now to you, there ain't no before
Now that you're big enough to run your own show
You're just somebody that I used to know

I watched you deal in a dying day
And throw a living past away
So you can be sure that you're in control
You're just somebody that I used to know

I know you don't think you did me wrong
And I can't stay this mad for long
Keeping a hold of what you just let go
You're just somebody that I used to know

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A song about bitter feelings and regret. Awesome x2

You Could Be Happy

Snow Patrol
You Could Be Happy

You could be happy and I won't know
But you weren't happy the day I watched you go

And all the things that I wish I had not said
Are played on lips 'til it's madness in my head

Is it too late to remind you how we were?
But not our last days of silent, screaming blur

Most of what I remember makes me sure
I should have stopped you from walking out the door

You could be happy, I hope you are
You made me happier than I'd been by far

Somehow everything I own smells of you
And for the tiniest moment it's all not true

Do the things that you always wanted to
Without me there to hold you back, don't think, just do

More than anything I want to see you go
Take a glorious bite out of the whole world

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God Damn that is a good song for a recent break up.