submissions
| The Hold Steady – Hot Soft Light Lyrics
| 14 years ago
|
|
"I was cutting off all my hair." Craig Finn was involved in the Minneapolis hardcore scene in the late 80's/early 90's and a big part of that crew favored shaved heads. I'm not sure if he was involved in the antiracist skinhead scene at all at that time, but it was at it's height in the local hardcore scene at that time, so he clearly would have been aware of it. |
submissions
| The Hold Steady – Girls Like Status Lyrics
| 14 years ago
|
|
Oh, and Penetration Park is a Minneapolis slang for Loring Park. Loring Park holds the Minneapolis Pride Festival yearly and was in years past an area that was frequented by male prostitutes and their clients. |
submissions
| The Hold Steady – Girls Like Status Lyrics
| 14 years ago
|
OK. "It was song number three on John's last CD" refers to John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats and the song 'This Year' in which he sings "I am going to make it through this year if it kills me." This Year is song number three on the Mountain Goats album The Sunset Tree, which was the Mountain Goats album released shortly before this Hold Steady song was released.
"It was song number four on that first D4." D4 is Dillinger Four and 'Midwestern Songs of the Americas' was their first LP; song four on this album is 'Portrait of the Artist as a Fucking Asshole' and concludes with the lyric "Do you love telling your war stories while hiding your scars?"
Craig Finn has reported that some advice his father gave him as a teen was that "guys go for looks, girls go for status," and he has found it to be true throughout the years. |
submissions
| The Hold Steady – Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night Lyrics
| 14 years ago
|
The Dead End Alley was a basement punk club in Minneapolis in the 1990's. Paddy refers to Patrick Costello the bassist/singer for (most notably) Dillinger Four...D4 was band that played and hung out at the Dead End Alley regularly. The lyric "told him what to celebrate," refers to the D4 song DoubleWhiskyCokeNoIce off their first LP in which Patrick sings that "Nelson Algren came to me and said Celebrate the Ugly Things." The song DoubleWhiskyCokeNoIce is also mentioned in in THS song Constructive Summer.
First Avenue, a concert Venue in downtown Minneapolis, hosted Sunday Night Dance parties in the 80's and 90's.
At the time this song was released, I seem to remember Craig Finn reporting that it was the only song to date in which he referenced real people in his life (Patrick Costello). |
submissions
| The Hold Steady – Curves & Nerves Lyrics
| 14 years ago
|
|
It's a song on the Ladies and Gentlemen zine/comp (issue #1). Though this particular issue is obviously long sold out, you can still check it out at www.lagmag.com. |
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.
