4/19/10

Been feelin this tune a lot lately. Now I know it's not Dylan at his most poetic, but these words feel great when you think of the ones you're mad at. Someone must've really pissed him off. And hell, isn't that what music is for? Expressing what you, for whatever reason, can't?

"You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning

You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that’s winning

You say I let you down
You know it’s not like that
If you’re so hurt
Why then don’t you show it

You say you lost your faith
But that’s not where it’s at
You had no faith to lose
And you know it

I know the reason
That you talk behind my back
I used to be among the crowd
You’re in with

Do you take me for such a fool
To think I’d make contact
With the one who tries to hide
What he don’t know to begin with

You see me on the street
You always act surprised
You say, “How are you?” “Good luck”
But you don’t mean it

When you know as well as me
You’d rather see me paralyzed
Why don’t you just come out once
And scream it

No, I do not feel that good
When I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief
Perhaps I’d rob them

And now I know you’re dissatisfied
With your position and your place
Don’t you understand
It’s not my problem

I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you

Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is
To see you"
~Positively 4th Street,
Bob Dylan

Because copyright sucks I can't find a Dylan version anywhere to post -- but I like this cover just fine.

4/19/10

The fourth full-length from Minus the Bear is as deep and sexy and awesome as I wanted it to be. Stream here. It's bright, it's focused, it's real, it's inspired....have yet to be disappointed by this band. Great song-to-song transitions, too, like the synth line in "Into the Mirror" to "Animal Backwards"...very cohesive. "Summer Angel" and "Excuses" are well-disguised pop songs...."my summer angel keeps me on the run." I love, love, LOVE "Secret Country."

I love this band. They were amazing live, killer set list, so tight, so on point -- bassist was either sick/injured/fucked up, and he couldn't stand, so played on a stool the whole time and still managed to sound perfect. Bad ass. They played this:

"They got a mirror full of caine in the bathroom
because nobody here knows when to stop
for now we're just making out with the door unlocked
back in the atrium the music's slowing down
the party's thinning out for the late crowd
fixes her lipstick, fixes his belt
the coast is clear as he walks out

she whispers, you get what you pay for
we could cost a lot.
you get what you pay for
and we do it for the taste of a good high
we do it for the sake of a hot night"
-Into the Mirror
Minus the Bear, Omni