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The New Pornographers – The Spirit of Giving Lyrics 18 years ago
It is "cloud prayer," not "glad prayer" (listen closely and you'll hear the sharp K sound at the beginning as well as the ow, not ad, sound; also, "ground" and "outboard" are vowel-rhymes with "cloud" but not with "glad"), and Malmo is right, it's an intentional reference to the A.C. Newman song ("The Cloud Prayer," off "The Slow Wonder"); this song also quotes a few sounds from the Newman song.

Dan Bejar constantly refers to/quotes his own lyrics (and the habit rubs off on Spencer Krug in his new one-off band Swan Lake, where Krug quotes himself in "All Fires"), and mentions Carl in "Myriad Harbour." They're like furbies, put 'em together and they just talk up a storm to each other and make up their own little language. Clever brilliant furry things.

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The New Pornographers – Unguided Lyrics 18 years ago
says Carl Newman from the band's web site:

"My first true epic at over 6:30 in length. This is MY New York song, though no one can tell. It is all about August 2005, everything up in the air, it was very hot, and I was camping out in NY for a week. The big bridge at the end, 'why wait for the weakened state to lie next to the weaker sex?', has nothing to do with the rest of the song, just a good line/universal truth. Kathryn is embarrassed that she had to sing it, yet only she could nail it the way it had to be nailed."

note the correction 'why wait for the weakened state' to the line as written above.

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Jon Brion – Ruin My Day Lyrics 18 years ago
line 2 is actually "it's odd you should call me but then after all we were lovers."

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The National – The Geese of Beverly Road Lyrics 18 years ago
something worth noting is the choice of beverly road.

this street has something of an identity crisis. in some places it's spelled 'beverly,' in others it's spelled 'beverley.'

so, yes, things can look different depending on your perspective. and where you thought you were can suddenly change.

the lemon at the end - i suspect the character in the song doesn't realize what he's asking for.

in our best moments we make memories that are so painful they're almost impossible to live with when they're over.

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