High life
Tired like the beggar with the cold inside his bones
Looking for the pleasure that he knew was so far gone
So far gone
I took a turn to myself
And I was surprised, cause I saw everyone who ever I had loved
I felt a whole lot better after that
People look at us and they think were doing fine
People look at us cause they see us all the time
All the time
But they never take to us
We've been in this town so long we may as well be dead
So long as people turn their heads
And cross the street whenever we walk on by
Someone told the truth when it really mattered most
The beauty of the moment is the beauty sadly lost
Sadly lost
So I went around to your house
Over tea and gin we talked about the things we read
In Luke and John the things he said
And now it's morning we are the sleepyheads
Looking for the pleasure that he knew was so far gone
So far gone
I took a turn to myself
And I was surprised, cause I saw everyone who ever I had loved
I felt a whole lot better after that
People look at us and they think were doing fine
People look at us cause they see us all the time
All the time
But they never take to us
We've been in this town so long we may as well be dead
So long as people turn their heads
And cross the street whenever we walk on by
Someone told the truth when it really mattered most
The beauty of the moment is the beauty sadly lost
Sadly lost
So I went around to your house
Over tea and gin we talked about the things we read
In Luke and John the things he said
And now it's morning we are the sleepyheads
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Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
I think it's about some group of people other than beggars, since that first line says "Tired LIKE the beggar". I could see this song referring to any group which is marginalized and ignored by its community, a community that mistakenly thinks they're "doing fine".
Whatever the group, its members find solace in the words of Jesus - "In Luke and John, the things he said". After all, Jesus' teachings are wide and welcoming enough to appeal to radically different people: socialists, capitalists, conservatives, liberals, and so on. That particular line fits nicely with the album's larger theme of seeking answers in religion.
(Picked my favorite song off the new Belle & Sebastian album for my first comment. I love the guitar bits in this.)
I agree these are biblical references, but I wouldn't take them too seriously. Belle and Sebastian's (Murdoch's)treatment of religion has been more sarcastic than anything else - from the very first song in their catalogue, in fact ("The State That I Am In").