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I wanna see you Especially you You don't know how much I miss you I may be high, I may hide and run out at you You don't know how much I miss you I won't stop I'll run you down I won't stop I will run you down I'm all nerve I'm all nerve I hit the hall (oh God) Oh god, I hit them all You don't know how far I'd go I may hide and jump out at you You don't know how far I'd go I won't stop I won't stop I will run you down I'm all nerve I'm all nerve
Where the first two tracks on the album are excellent takes on standard Breeders fair, the third track sees the band exploring new thematic territory. The lyrics are vague enough that the subjects of the song are open to interpretation: Is it a song about unrequited love? Or maybe it's about a pet that lies in wait for its human companion? Or perhaps it's about something less tangible, like an addiction that refuses to go away completely.
Regardless of the exact subject a listener may project onto the song, the tentative fragility of the opening verse sets the stage for a chorus that bleeds with a clear-eyed passion, one I'm not sure Kim Deal has ever attempted before. When she sings "I will run you down / I'm all nerve," the subject of the song acknowledges her unyielding passion for her object of affection.
It's a big, bold hook that would sit comfortably in an episode of Friday Night Lights. But again, we return to the awkward delicacy of the verses. I'm reminded of my senior year in high school, when my locker happened to be positioned right next to my big crush. I made it a point to get there after the last class every day, so that we may have an awkward interaction before we went home. I was so unconfident at that age, all lanky and pimples and crackly voice, yet my physicality did nothing to illustrate the depths of emotion I felt for this girl. This song captures that feeling perfectly.
Apart from the excellent chorus, there's another ear nugget that deserves your specific attention: When the second verse starts, Kim sings "I hit the hall / Oh god, I hit them all," while a backing vocal does this tender "Oh Gooooood" that found its way into my brain after the second listen, and hasn't left since.
By this point in the album, we've heard three songs in under seven minutes. That in itself is pretty typical for a Breeders record. But what's unique is that every second has felt vital, sober, and completely intentional in the band's apparent attempt to strike a balance between quirky indie charm and really muscular songwriting.
Can't come closer Might fall and drown Can't come closer Might fall ninety-million miles
No one's here, no one's here to stay No one's here, no one's here to stay No one No one's here, no one's here to stay No one, no one, no one Ninety-million miles away
I am the silence I am the sound I am the silver (When silver bleeds)(???) I am a shadow, a shadow Ninety-million miles
The fourth cut sees bassist Josephine Wiggs taking over on vocal duties, and it doesn't disrupt the flow of the album even a little bit. There's not much to say about the lyrics, as they are quite vague and wholly derivative of the entire goth genre; the song's title is an obvious acknowledgment of that fact.
But while the track is just the sort of off-the-cuff experiment The Breeders have been doing for years, this time around the entire concept is elevated by the production and the commitment to the idea. Had this song been on Mountain Battles or Title TK, it likely would have sounded like a charming, half-baked concept that was deemed "complete" in a semi-complete state. But here, we get not only a thick, churning repetitive bassline that locks in with the stripped-down drums to create a really fun, dark groove, but are treated to all manner of backing vocal effects and guitars-as-space, to yield a track that actually lives up to its title: This song is meta-goth, in that it sounds like so many goth songs from the 1980s, but also sounds like an authentic emotion rather than, say, any of the more recent Nine Inch Nails albums (which to me sound like "affected sadness" by someone who actually isn't very sad at all).
This track is sexy, dark, and lush. It's simplicity and apparent lack of any real meaning do nothing to diminish how undeniably great it is to listen to.
5/5
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Fri March 30, 2018 5:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Spacewoman, spacewoman How lonely does it feel? You're spinning round and round I look up I'm down here, rolling around too I look up Look up Look up There's a beachball in the stadium Playing baseball out there, havin' fun Hitting home runs and line drives With the sun in their eyes I look up Look up I'm lonely too I watch you disappear You have no gravity How long? When you look out at your big light show Do you ever wanna turn around and go? Hitting every green light on the long way home We got a beachball in the stadium Everybody's havin' fun When you close your eyes You spin in peace (Spacewoman, spacewoman How lonely does it feel?) I look up Look up Look up There's a beachball in the stadium Playing baseball out there, havin' fun Hitting home runs and line drives With the sun in your eyes See all the oceans Hear us on the radio Do you ever wanna turn around and go You're hitting every green light on the long way home
The album's highlight track is also the one with the most to unpack, both lyrically and production-wise.
On the surface, we have a song about alienation: the subject of the song looks up at the sky and considers how her world must look to a "space woman" floating above the atmosphere. She tries to sell the cosmonaut on the terrestrial experience, extolling the virtues of communal activity, in this case that of a large-scale sporting event.
Taken at face value, it's a good concept for a song, one obviously used to great effect by David Bowie many years prior. But consider the history of the Deal sisters, each struggling with various addictions at different times in their lives, finding sobriety separately before reuniting with unified clarity, and suddenly the song takes on a completely different meaning, one in which a clear-eyed sibling who is functioning well in society reaches out to help her untethered kin. With the lyrics "I'm lonely too / I watch you disappear / You have no gravity," the grounded sibling seems to be sympathizing with her sister who is struggling with very strong feelings of disconnect.
The baseball imagery is magnificent, and is utilized as the song's quirky chorus: "There's a beachball in the stadium / Playing baseball out there, havin' fun / Hitting home runs and line drives / With the sun in their eyes." Having failed to sway her sister's opinion with the first sell of the communal sporting experience, she makes a stronger push on the second chorus, ending with the heart-wrenching "See all the oceans / Hear us on the radio." She seems to be saying "Look at how great this world is, and look at our unique opportunities for interacting with it."
The pièce de résistance comes in the lines "When you look out at your big light show / Do you ever wanna turn around and go / Hitting every green light on the long way home?" It's beautiful poetry, this bit. I love that image of "hitting every green light on the long way home" It makes me think of my own experiences in trying to find connection with a world that doesn't always feel like it has a place for me. I'm sure you can relate to that feeling of trying to enjoy something that everyone else seems to enjoy, like maybe the Superbowl, or an office party. The choice of words here is important. If "home" is a feeling of connection with others, or even just oneself, then the idea that the space woman might feel compelled to "hit every green light on the long way home" reads to me me as the subject saying "Don't you want to abandon your self-imposed exile and hightail it to a place of sober, peaceful connection?"
The song also marks what is perhaps The Breeders' best use of studio production to date. Spacey guitars and little synth interludes float in and out of the stereo spread, creating a vast space for which the core band can deliver their composition. The overall effect is a track that brings an autobiographical view, and an earned (and well-documented) wisdom, to an instrumental bed that supports every single lyric imparting an immediate visual. This is a very visual song, with lyrical imagery and some simple studio trickery creating not just a whole story, but a world in which that story exists. The chug-chug-chugging of the guitars on the chorus serve to support the sell of the baseball game, complete with beachballs and bright lights, while the less-tethered verse instrumentation allows for the sort of disconnected contemplation the lyrics are aiming for.
This song is a masterpiece of genre-mashup, marrying perfectly the lyrical concepts of Ziggy Stardust, the instrumentation of the best alt-rock (Hum, Pixies, etc), with the unique experience of the Deal sisters.
I'd give it a 6/5 if possible, but 5/5 is the limit and I don't think any of the other tracks deserve a demerit just because they're not this particular song. But it is the highlight of the album, and the sequencing thus far sets it up perfectly.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Fri March 30, 2018 6:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Spacewoman is such a compelling and wonderful song. Its Kim´s at her finest but at the same time i cant believe how good the band sounds. For a project thats mostly the twins, this lineup is what fuels The Breeders´s music.
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Have you been listening to All Nerve?