These are getting so redundant. Hmm. Well since I’m on a bit of a Gaslight Anthem binge at the moment, here is my current top 10 favourite TGA songs. Not only do I find their bluesy garage punk completely infectious, they also have some brilliantly evocative imagery – I just need one amazing line to be suckered in. I'll provide my vague reasons for the first five, lyrics for all.
1. 1930
This is number one mostly because I read far too much into it. There is a melancholy in it, a deep truth about grief and healing, that just breaks my heart.
But Mary, I found the sound,
and if this heart keeps pouring it out,
The glory hasn't come,
and it's probably gonna fade,
like a tattoo that hides this shame.
But reasons always fade.
The pain gives out some day.
So I’m saying my goodbyes to your deep blue eyes,
cause I don’t know how say, to stay still in the pain.
"Stay still in the pain."
2. Say I won’t (recognize)
This is one of my favourite driving songs, I just like singing along to it with the windows open and the night settling around me.
Call up your girlfriends to come out tonight,
I'll call up my best friends to come out tonight
We'll put on our best shirts, our finest cologne
And we'll turn the Casanova on.
Come on out Maria and lose the tragic.
Come on out Maria and we'll show you some magic.
Meet on the warm sand and waltz out the twilight,
and watch the carnival lights explode.
3. Great Expectations
I'm obsessed with the imagery in this song. It's also got a great sing-a-long chorus. This, and the previous one, feature on almost all of my driving playlists.
And they burned up the diner
Where I always used to find her
Licking young boys blood from her claws.
And I learned about the Blues from this kitten that I knew,
Her hair was raven, and her heart was like a tomb
My heart’s like a wound.
4. I’da called you Woody, Joe
This one was written about Joe Strummer and The Clash. I relate to it on a complete visceral level.
And then I heard it like a shot through my skull to my brain,
I felt my fingertips tingle and it started to rain,
When the walls of my bedroom were tremblin' around me,
This ramshackle voice over attack of a bluesbeat,
Tellin' me he's only looking for fun.
This was the sound of the very last gang in town
5. Wooderson
I think initially I misunderstood this song, but it's stuck with me. Again it's a sentiment that I feel I can relate to - wanting to be where you are, but always wanting to be somewhere else.
You see this town pulls my heart strings,
I fell in love with the Shrewsbury stars
But you see there’s far too many diamonds,
In the back seats of borrowed cars
And I could never stop this burning, honey
I can’t tell no lies,
I could never stand no weather.
Darling, this heart is on fire
6. Film Noir
I'm all washed out by the side of the road.
Broken bones Matilda left a note and a rose.
Saying "Baby honey child, I loved you so long but you deserve much better than me"
So I'm just burning all around.
All the miles in the road.
And I'm never going back.
And I'm never going home.
I've been gone too long.
I've been less right than wrong.
I've lost so much blood in the falling out.
And I lit a fire that wouldn't go out.
Until it consumed the walls and roof of this house.
Until all I remember was burning away.
And all I remember, you're burnin' away.
7. The 59 Sound
Did you hear the '59 Sound coming through on grandmother's radio?
Did you hear the rattling chains in the hospital walls?
Did you hear the old gospel choir when they came to carry you over?
Did you hear your favorite song one last time?
8. The Naveskin Banks
I walked down by the shipyards
Near the place where I was born
Saying "Ah maria, if you woulda known me when..."
But she only smiles, by the light on the Navesink banks
Saying "Listen baby, I know you now"
And she steps into the river
And I just stand by the moon
Thinkin' 'bout a ghost I hear at night
And she says your first sin was a lie you told yourself
9. We’re getting a divorce, you keep the diner
On a Sunday morning the whole crowd assembled,
I've done some things that I'm not too proud of.
I've never left you, a deaf ear for longing.
Some hearts are gallows, I'm not here for hangin' around.
10. Red at Night
Was a blood red sky on the morning tide
Was a cold wind blowing when I left that night
And the morning bells rang, alright, alright
Shoulda stayed home with you that night
Ain't nobody played the fool like I
Ain't nobody played the fool like I
Music: Great Expectations - The Gaslight Anthem
Mood: Bored
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