Inderdaad zeg. Een plaat om een flink potje bij te janken. Da's wel andere koek dan de laatste Jan Smit, die zo'n beetje hetzelfde thema heeft.

Nooit gedacht dat ik Slint en Jan Smit ooit in eenzelfde zin zou zien staan...

Waiting for a Superman van The Flaming Lips; zo eenvoudig, maar ik haal er zoveel steun uit.

I asked you a question
I didn't need you to reply
Is it getting heavy?
But then I realize

Is it getting heavy?
Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be

Is it overwhelming
to use a crane to crush a fly?
It's a good time for Superman
to lift the sun into the sky

Cause it's getting heavy
Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be

Tell everybody waiting for Superman
That they should try to hold on as best they can
He hasn't dropped them, forgot them, or anything
It's just too heavy for Superman to lift

Cause it's getting heavy
Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be

Tell everybody waiting for Superman
That they should try to hold on as best they can
He hasn't dropped them, forgot them, or anything
It's just too heavy for Superman to lift

En dan wordt het nummer ook nog eens afgesloten met de mooiste zucht in record(ed) history...

Everything Should Try Again-Jason Molina

You don't forgive the silence for not speaking up
No matter how hard we're trying it's not hard enough
Your eyes before the lightning to meet it by yourself
You've been tired and a little sick
You've been trying to work with it
You drew your grave on every single map
You don't plan on staying long
You plan on burning it
No matter how wrong it went
You don't have much more room to forget, You don't have much more room to forget
You don't forgive even the lightning
For leaving you
But everything should try again
Even you
You followed the train through every prarie dawn
Said I'd like to see Ohio one more time before it's gone
You had your hands up high in a prayer to crush your heart
And every single heart
Was that eight point star
Ever been tired
Ever been a little sick
Ever tried working through it

Ik vind Isn't It A Pity vanwege de tekst (en zeker ook vanwege de schitterende melodie) één van de mooiste songs allertijden, en helaas is de tekst actueler dan ooit.
Tekst en muziek van wijlen George Harrison, het nummer staat op zijn meesterwerk All Things Must Pass:

Isn't It A Pity;

Isn't it a pity
Now, isn't it a shame
How we break each other's hearts
And cause each other pain
How we take each other's love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity

Some things take so long
But how do I explain
When not too many people
Can see we're all the same
And because of all their tears
Their eyes can't hope to see
The beauty that surrounds them
Isn't it a pity

Isn't it a pity
Isn't is a shame
How we break each other's hearts
And cause each other pain
How we take each other's love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity

Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity
Forgetting to give back
Now, isn't it a pity

(6 times, fade the 6th:)
What a pity
What a pity, pity, pity
What a pity
What a pity, pity, pity

Ah, één van de nummers die George over/voor Pattie Boyd schreef. Geen erg optimistische blik over z'n relatie...

George kon bij vlagen zéér sterke teksten schrijven. Deze bijvoorbeeld:

We were talking
About the space between us all
And the people
Who hide themselves behind a wall
Of illusion
Never glimpse the truth
Then it's far too late
When they pass away

We were talking
About the love we all could share
When we find it
To try our best to hold it there
With our love, with our love
We could save the world, if they only knew

Try to realize it's all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you

We were talking
About the love that's gone so cold
And the people
Who gain the world and lose their soul
They don't know
They can't see
Are you one of them

When you've seen beyond yourself
Then you may find, peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see we're all one
And life flows on within you and without you

Ook al heb ik de plaat pas ontdekt toen ik eenmaal in een goede relatie zat, bevat Grace van Jeff Buckley toch wel een paar lyrics die me bij de strot grijpen:
'Maybe I'm too young to keep god love from going wrong' (Lover You Should've Come Over).

En het zinnetje 'Did she wake you up to tell you that it was only a change of plan' van Neil Young's Harvest bezorgt me ook altijd kippenvel.

Inderdaad, 'Harvest' heeft een schitterende tekst.

Of uit After The Goldrush:

There was a band playing in my head
And I felt like getting high
I was thinking about what a friend had said
I was hoping it was a lie

Neil Young is geweldig in het schrijven van teksten waar, zonder dat het ooit precies duidelijk wordt waar hij aan refereert, een hele belevingswereld achter verscholen lijkt te zitten.
Nog zo'n momentje:

You can really learn a lot that way
It will change you in the middle of the day
'Though your confidence may be shattered
It doesn't matter

(For The Turnstiles)

Sage Francis - The Best of Times (feat Yann Tiersen)

Its been a long and lonely trip but I'm glad I took it cause it was well worth it.
Got to read a couple books and do some research before I reached my verdict.
Never thought that I was perfect. Always thought that I had a purpose.
And I use to wonder if I'd live to see my first kiss.

The most difficult thing that I did was recite my own words at a service.
Realizing the person I was addressing probably wasn't looking down from heaven or cooking up something in hell's kitchen, trying to listen in or ease drop from some other dimension. It was self serving just like this is.

Conveniently religious on Easter Sunday and on Christmas.
The television went from being a babysitter to a mistress.
Technology made it easy for us to stay in touch while keeping a distance, till we just stay distant and never touch. Now all we do is text too much.

I don't remember much from my youth. Maybe my memories repressed
or I just spend too much time wondering if I'll ever live to have sex.
Fell in love for the first time in 4th grade but I didn't have the courage to talk to her.
In 8th grade, I wrote the note and slipped it in somebody else's locker.
Considered killing myself cause of that, it was a big deal, it was a blown cover, it was over for me, my goose was cooked, stick a fork in me, the jig is up, what were my chances?

The rest is history. Our future is torn to sunder. It became abundantly clear; I was only brought here to suffer. At least I didn't include my name. Thankfully I wrote the whole note in code and it had 10 layers of scotch tape. Safety seal, making it impossible to open. Plus, it was set to self destruct. Whoever read it probably died laughing. I wonder if they lived long enough to realize what happened.

A year later, I came to understand that wasn't love that I was feeling for her.
I had someone else to obsess over. I was older. I was very mature.
I forged my time signature while practicing my parents autograph because I was failing math. Disconnected the phone when I thought the teacher would call my home.
Check the mail box twice a day. The end of a long dirt road steamed open a couple envelopes like I was in private detective mode.

If you snoop around long enough for something in particular, you're guaranteed to find it for better or worse. That's how I learned it's best to keep some things private

It was the best of times it was the end of times.
The best of times. The end of times.

I was always on deck. I was next in line.
An only child with a pen and pad, writing a list of things I could never have.
Walls in my house were paper thin. The squabbles seemed to get defying.
My memories serve me correctly, I made it a point to avoid and forget some things.
Probably to keep from being embarrassed. Never meant to upset or give grief to my parents.

Kept my secrets hide. My talents in my head. Never run to the mattress.
Therapy couldn't break me. Never learn a word that could ensure safety.
So, I spoke softly then I tip toed off into the door to my room, was like a big old coffin the way that it creaked when I closed it shut. Anxieties peaked when it opened up.
As if everything that I was thinking would be exposed. I still sleep fully clothed.

It was the best of times.

It was beautiful.
It was brutal.
It was cruel.
It was business as usual.

Heaven. It was hell.
Use to wonder if I'd live to see twelve.

When I did, I figured that I was immortal.
Loved to dance but couldn't make it to the formal.
Couldn't bare watching my imaginary girlfriend bust a move with any other dudes.
Tone Loc was talking about some "Wild Thang" but I was still caught up with some child things. Scared of a God who couldn't spare the rod.
It was clearly a brimstone and fire thing.
Pyromaniac, kleptomaniac, couldn't explain my desire to steal that fire.
Now I add it to my rider like please don't, please don't throw me in that patch of fire.

It was the best of times it was the end of times.

The school councilor was the coolest cause I never skipped classes.
Perfect attendance, imperfect accent.
Speech impediment that could never really fix and I faked that so I could wear glasses.
Considered doing something that would cripple me.
Wanted a wheelchair. Wanted the sympathy. Wanted straight teeth.
Then came braces, four years of head gear helped me change faces.

It was the best of times it was the end of times.

Now I wonder if I'll live to see marriage.
Wonder if I'll live long enough to have kids.
Wonder if I'll live to see my kids have kids if I do I'm gonna tell em how it is.
But don't listen when they tell you that these are your best years.
Don't let anyone protect your ears. It's best to hear what they don't want you to hear.
Better to have pressure from peer then to not have peers.
Beer won't give you chest hair. Spicy food won't make it curl.
When you think you got it all figured out, then everything collapses.
Trust me kids... it's not the end of the world.

Given to fly - Pearl Jam

He could've tuned in, tuned in
But he tuned out
A bad time, nothing could save him
Alone in a corridor, waiting, locked out
He got up outta there, ran for hundreds of miles
He made it to the ocean, had a smoke in a tree
The wind rose up, set him down on his knee

A wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw
Delivered him wings, "Hey, look at me now"
Arms wide open with the sea as his floor
Oh, power, oh

He's.. flying
Whole
High.. wide, oh

He floated back down 'cause he wanted to share
His key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere
But first he was stripped and then he was stabbed
By faceless men, well, fuckers
He still stands

And he still gives his love, he just gives it away
The love he receives is the love that is saved
And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky
A human being that was given to fly

High.. flying
Oh, oh
High.. flying
Oh, oh
He's flying
Oh, oh

=> jank jank

Nog een blijtmoment:

Man of golden words - Mother Love Bone

i want to show you something, like joy inside my heart
seems I been living in the temple of the dog
where would i live if I were a man of golden words
or would I live at all
words and music - my only tools
communication
so on her arrival I will set free the birds
its a pretty time of year, the mountains sing aloud
tell me Mr golden words hows bout the world
tell me, can you tell me at all
words and music - my only tools
communication
lets fall in love with music
the driving force in our living
the only international language
divine glory, the expression
the knees bow the tongue
confesses
the lord of lords, the king of kings
words and music - my only tools
communication
etc

en ten laatste

4th of July - Soundgarden

Shower in the dark day
Clean sparks diving down
Cool in the waterway
Where the baptized drown
Naked in the cold sun
Breathing life like fire
Thought I was the only one
But that was just a lie

Cause I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July

Pale in the flare light
The scared light cracks & disappears
And leads the scorched ones here
And everywhere no one cares
The fire is spreading
And no one wants to speak about it
Down in the hole
Jesus tries to crack a smile
Beneath another shovel load

And I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July

Now I'm in control
Now I'm in the fall out
Once asleep but now I stand
And I still remember
Your sweet everything
Light a Roman candle
And hold it in your hand

Cause I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July

en nog ééntje om het af te leren:

Say Hello 2 Heaven - Temple of the Dog

Please, mother mercy
Take me from this place
And the long winded curses
I keep hearing in my head
Words never listen
And teachers never learn
Now I'm warm from the candle
But I feel too cold to burn
He came from an island
And he died from the street
He hurt so bad like a soul breaking
But he never said nothing to me
So say hello to heaven
New like a baby
Lost like a prayer
The sky was your playground
But the cold ground was your bed
Poor stargazer
She's got no tears in her eyes
Smooth like whisper
She knows that love heals all wounds with time
Now it seems like too much love
Is never enough, you better seek out
Another road 'cause this one has
Ended abrupt, say hello to heaven
I never wanted
To write these words down for you
With the pages of phrases
Of things we'll never do
So I blow out the candle, and
I put you to bed
Since you can't say to me
Now how the dogs broke your bone
There's just one thing left to be said
Say hello to heaven

Ik zou nog een heel boek vol mooie teksten kunnen plaatsen, maar ik zal het jullie besparen

"Never for money, always for love"
- Talking Heads, This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)

Simpel maar helemaal raak.

En als ik in een van m'n sentimentele of depressieve buien zit, zet ik gewoon wat van The Smiths of The Cure op. Elk stukje tekst doet me dan dieper zwelgen in m'n zelfmedelijden, maar biedt ook ergens troost. Morrissey en Robert Smith hebben het allemaal al eens meegemaakt, en nog een stuk erger ook .

Dinosaur

Forget the swan
The dreams are gone
The pain goes on
They fly at dawn


Krijg ik altijd een brok van in mn keel.
Lou Barlow, ik voel je man... (hoewel het gewoon geschreven schijnt te zijn door J.)