Saturday, April 22, 2006

How do you make an insanely catchy song depressing?

Easy - just add Holocaust imagery. I recently bought ...Is a Real Boy (excellent album) by Say Anything and there's one great song - "Alive With the Glory of Love" - that is really catchy yet a bit of a downer:

When I watch you, wanna do you, right where you're standing yeah
Right on the foyer on this dark day right in plain view oh yeah
Of the whole ghetto, the boot-stomped meadows, but we ignore that yeah
You're lovely baby, this war is crazy, I won't let you down oh no say no
I won't let them take you, won't let them take you hell no no
I won't let them take you, won't let them take you hell no no
No no no no no
And when our city vast and shitty falls to the Axis
They'll search the buildings collect gold fillings wallets and rings
But Miss Black Eyeliner you look finer with each day in hiding oh yeah
You're lovely baby this war is crazy, I won't let you die oh no no
No I won't let them take you, won't let them take you hell no no
Oh no I won't let them take you, won't let them take you
Treblinka is alive with the glory of love
Treblinka, alive with the glory of love yea
When they catch us and dispatch us to separate work camps yeah
I'll think about you I will not doubt you with the passing of time
And when they kill me your love will fill me with every bullet
I'll know my purpose this all was worth this I won't let you down
I won't let them take you, won't let them take you hell no no
No I won't let them take you, won't let them take you hell no no


It's as if Oskar Schindler made an indie record. I'd post an mp3, but you can download it directly from the band's site (under the "media" section).

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've got a predilection for sad joints (catchy or otherwise). so thanks for the heads up, micah.

Micah said...

You're most welcome. I'd recommend the entire album, actually. Great stuff.

Anonymous said...

So I just got the whole CD; fcuk, it's good!

Anonymous said...

I'll bet they won a bet....$20 if you could use the word "Treblinka" in a love song. I only regret I missed the Nazi rally in downtown Lansing today.

Anonymous said...

Nazis seem roll deep in MI,IL,OH and all of those weird "northern middle states." What's up with that?

Anonymous said...

Don't ask me...I'm from VA. I prefer to think of Michigan as the home of Grand Funk Railroad, Ted Nugent, MC5, Motown, Kid Rock, Eminem, etc.

jasdye said...

yuck.

that song is depressing in its utter lack of writing quality.

"When they catch us and dispatch us to separate work camps yeah
I'll think about you I will not doubt you with the passing of time
And when they kill me your love will fill me with every bullet"

Puh-lease!

and i thought Outkast made a bad enough 'hiding in the attic' reference.

if you wanna hear good, sad pop, listen to sam phillips.

Anonymous said...

samantha fox is the only sam that matters in the pop world.

jasdye said...

"samantha... samantha fox."

more so than sam & dave or sam cooke? sorry, again, mid-eighties nostalgia has given ground to reality. fox was a hooters gal with a computerized song. (not that that hasn't changed at all...)

hey, you GOTTA add Indiana to that list of 'weird northern middle states.'

short possible explanation for the KKK and neo-nazi rallies so prevalent in my neck-of-the-woods: outside of the large cities, there's a lot of rural and township area that's almost exclusively white and there's a lot of people that are fearful of encroaching 'urban-ness.'

people fear the unknown.

Anonymous said...

Jas,

Good-looking out! Consider the Hoosier state added to the list of north central states that are "Hate Group Friendly."

Back to music; you're gonna have to pull another Sam out of the hat. I consider Sam & Dave, Sam Cooke, to be true soul/R&B acts.

jasdye said...

heartbreak that shall endure,

sam cooke transcends genres, though. his stuff not only legitimately fits w/in the afro-american musical context, but also is extremely accessible to many different listeners.

his catalogue is pop. but in a good way. not like in a cher way. like a ramones way. or sinatra way.

Micah said...

Ah, Sam Phillips. I have her Fan Dance and A Boot and a Shoe albums (to which I give the latter the edge (if only for the inclusion of "Reflecting Light"). She played with a string quartet in Columbus last year and I regret not going to that show.

Some other great Nazi love songs...
"I Left My Heart in Mauthausen-Gusen"
"Chelmno (My Kind of Town)"
"Flossenbürg Freedom"
"Neuengamme, Neuengamme"

...among many others

There's a rumored white supremecist group in Columbus (yep, the Midwest again) and they are supposedly headquartered on a street called Africa Drive (or Lane or something like that). Funny.

Micah said...

BTW, I found this Wikipedia entry invaluable in coming up with those no doubt tasteless song titles.