never been a bitch so I don't act bitchy

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

The Song I Would Have Eventually Written

Have you ever heard a song that didn't take a second listen, or even one complete one, for you to know it already? Songs you connect to instantly like this usually aren't then very good, once you take them apart -- when you look at the lyrics or consider the instrumentation or find out who they're actually by. But I heard a song the other day that is. But more than that, it is a song that encapsulates exactly what I like about words. It is a song that manages to do everything I strive for in my writing but rarely achive. It is the song that I should have, could have, and would have eventually written. Except I don't write songs. And I can't sing. Or play the guitar. But I do play the piano a little, so that's something.

The song is "Cotton" by The Mountain Goats. (I heard it first on an episode of the fantastic give-it-time, let-it-grow-on-you Showtime half-hour "Weeds".)

I have no idea what it's trying to say, but I know exactly what it means.

This song is for the rats
Who hurled themselves into the ocean
When they saw that the explosives in the cargo hold
Were just about to blow

This song is for the soil
That's toxic clear down to the bedrock
Where no thing of consequence can grow
Drop your seeds there
Let them go

Let them all go
Let 'em all go

This song is for the people
Who tell their families that they're sorry
For things they can't and won't feel sorry for

And once there was a desk
And now it's in a storage locker somewhere
And this song is for the stick pins and the cottons
I left in the top drawer

Let 'em all go
Let 'em all go

I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving
And something has got to give

I saw you waiting by the roadside
You didn't know that I was watching
Now you know
Let it all go

Let 'em all go
Let it all go

15 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Did you type it while listening to it? Or from memory?

6:21 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I found this page after watching that episode and googling the lyrics to find the song for all the same reasons, so that's something.

12:57 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with you completely. I love the soundtrack on Weeds. That show is fuckin addicting!

2:18 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

same as comment #2 :)

12:38 PM

 
Blogger Frances said...

I watched Weeds and heard the song too... thanks for posting the band's name!

11:24 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

same as all above ;)
Weeds is great... I'm just afraid it's too great and different to last many more seasons :(, but...
anyway, I also heard it and googled it right away...

12:00 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ditto,

What an awesome episode and song...... like minds.....

1:40 PM

 
Anonymous Kim said...

I love weeds. I feel like somehow there is a reality show that shows a side of life in a universe to which I can relate.

7:04 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanks so so much for posting the name/artist of the song, i heard it on that show and kept singing it and it was driving me crazy that i couldnt download it. u have good taste caus weeds is an awesome show, and good luck with ur songwriting.

3:20 PM

 
Anonymous John said...

Hi! I live in the UK and Sky are repeating the first series of Weeds on Sky Three. I saw an episode last week and heard this fantastic song, so I remembered some of the lyrics and typed them into Google, hit enter and found your blog.

Your comments epitomised exactly how I felt when first hearing the song - it's pure genius! I'm off to search for it on iTunes right now.

1:08 PM

 
Blogger David said...

googled it 2 and found the masses who are the fans with the same interest in this song

9:40 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

DITTO!

9:15 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

yep..googlin..

1:59 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

>> I found this page after watching that episode and googling the lyrics

Saem shit, nice work man. :D

1:36 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting.
Heard it first during the show and thought, "..cool song". After it came on again at the credits, I immediately googled "I wanna sing one for the cars..."

:p

lol and this is the episode where el Andy and El Doug becomes mates!

7:54 PM

 

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