10/14/13

It's probably not healthy to sit in your bedroom and listen to the same songs on repeat all evening, not when they're ones you've already heard a million times, and know all the words intimately, repeating them as as you could recite your first address and phone number.

The loneliness that comes with your favorite songs is a comforting one, albeit an arrogant one. No one can come between you and your favorite songs, no lover past, present or future, no songwriter yet-to-be-heard can interrupt. If anything, your experiences and influences make you grow closer to that you know, allowing you to value the familiarity and comfort this one song can give you the other new finds and sounds fail to deliver.

What a classic this song is. What a sad kiss-off, what a despondent, defeated narrative. It's the kind of song I don't always play, because it's so sad, but when I want to listen to "The '59 Sound" over and over again, you can bet I'll be stilled for this three minutes and 42 seconds, replaying all the failures and faults and regrets. Anyone who doesn't when they hear this song has never had their heart broken.



"You can tell Gail, if she calls
That I'm famous now for all of these rock and roll songs
And even if that's a lie
She shoulda given me a try

When we were kids on the field of the first day of school
I would've been her fool
And I would've sang out your name in those old high school halls
You tell that to Gail, if she calls

And you can tell Jane, if she writes
That I'm drunk off all these stars and all these crazy Hollywood nights
And that's total deceit
But she shoulda married me

And tell her I spent every night of my youth on the floor
Bleeding out from all these wounds
I would've gotten her right out of that town she despised
You tell that to Janie, if she writes

But boys will be boys and girls have those eyes
That'll cut you to ribbons sometimes
And all you can do is just wait by the moon
And bleed if it's what she says you oughta do

You remind Anna, if she asks why
That a thief stole my heart while she was making up her mind
I heard she lives in Brooklyn with the cool
And goes crazy over that New York scene on 7th Avenue

But I used to wait at the diner a million nights without her
Praying she won't cancel again tonight
And the waiter served my coffee with a consolation sigh
You remind Anna, if she asks why

Tell her it's alright
You know it's hard to tell you this

Oh it's hard to tell you this
Here's looking at you, kid"

~Here's Looking at You, Kid

The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound