Sunday, June 26, 2011

LYRIC DIVE: the world at large


Good News for People Who Love Bad News was the first cd I ever bought. I was a freshman in high school and it was around the time when the Modest Mouse videos "float on" and "ocean breathes salty" were televised on mtv, vh1, and fuse. It must have been the year 2005. I was deeply in love with those two songs, so I decided to purchase the album with my own money... well money that I earned for being born. And I've always been a frugal-spender so buying a cd was a monumental thing. I recall my friend telling me as we sat chatting on the gym bleachers, "wow! you must really love that band for spending ten whole dollars on their cd!" She knew my frugal ways. But in reality, I was clueless about who Modest Mouse was. I just new I loved "float on." Buying Good News was probably one of the best ways I've ever spent my money. This album instantly became one of my all-time favorites. I know I'm only twenty-something and still have a lot to live, but seriously, this album contains every ounce of musical pleasure needed to satisfy my hungry ears. The sound and lyrics are intriguing. The opening song "the world at large," has some honest lyrics basically about feeling out of place. It's a song that consoles me on my lonely days. And the bass drum that comes in around 1:01 seconds is as if your heart suddenly walked up from your chest to your brain. Simply amazing...

THE WORLD AT LARGE

Ice-age heat wave, can't complain.
If the world's at large, why should I remain?
Walked away to another plan.
Gonna find another place, maybe one I can stand.
I move on to another day, to a whole new town with a whole new way.
When to the porch to have a thought.
Got to the door and again, I couldn't stop.
You don't know where and you don't know when.
But you still got your words and you got your friends.
Walk along to another day.
Work a little harder, work another way.
Well uh-uh baby I ain't got no plan.
We'll float on maybe would you understand?
Gonna float on maybe would you understand?
Well float on maybe would you understand?
The days get shorter and the nights get cold.
I like the autumn but this place is getting old.
I pack up my belongings and I head for the coast.
It might not be a lot but I feel like I'm making the most.
The days get longer and the nights smell green.
I guess it's not surprising but it's spring and I should leave.
I like songs about drifters- books about the same.
They both seem to make me feel a little less insane.
Walked on off to another spot.
I still haven't got anywhere that I want.
Did I want love? Did I need to know?
Why does it always feel like I'm caught in an undertow?
The moths beat themselves to death against the lights.
Adding their breeze to the summer nights.
Outside, water like air was great.
I didn't know what I had that day.
Walk a little farther to another plan.
You said that you did, but you didn't understand.
I know that starting over is not what life's about.
But my thoughts were so loud I couldn't hear my mouth.
My thoughts were so loud I couldn't hear my mouth.
My thoughts were so loud.