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In Love With That Song

pssst… sunrise…

By 09.Jan.084 Comments

Like lots of you out there in Westerbergia, I really wasn’t thrilled by Suicane the first time I heard it. Or the third.

 But then something phunney happened on the way to Minnesota…

 

I love ‘Sunrise Always Listens.’ Love it. I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority here, seems a lot of folkers don’t like it. But to me it’s perfectly melancholy without being dirge-like. And when his voice cracks during ‘hear just what I said’? Gorgeous.

 That’s all I got. Thanks for voting ‘PZP’ in New Hampshire yesterday!

pzp

4 Comments

  • blasty says:

    I like the line “Your world is a balloon to me….I’ll poke a hole and see…what’s inside…”

    meaning that,(to me, anyway) as much as he wants her, he knows that he will ruin it by getting too close. or something like that.

  • Placemat says:

    Maybe someone with a better memory can help…

    I seem to remember an interview were Paul is saying something “deep” about songwriting & makes a crack, “yaddah, yaddah, blah, blah, blah… then I’d end up writing songs about lampshades. The context of the quote implied that such a song would be shit.

    Then Suicaine came out, & the fucker went & wrote a song about a lampshade.

    It’s hard for me to weigh Suicaine. My years between the 2nd & 3rd solo releases were full of change. My personal life got complicated, as they tend to do, & I lost touch with lots of interests, music included.

    Suicaine came out around the same time I started hooking back up with my record collection. Kinda my “Welcome Back” album. The problem was, the record fit my mood like a glove. I listened to it, & then sorta forgot to take it out of the player.

    After 1 die 20 weeks later, I decided it wasn’t healthy & put it away. Listening to it now all these years later, I’m torn…

    Wonderful Lie – The best opening track on a solo record? Not the rocker one would expect. My only issue with this song: It’s sets the bar so high, I’m not sure the rest measures up.

    Self Defense – “Cheekbones and hormones” &…Skip.

    Best Thing… – Classic Paul turn-of-phrase.

    Lookin’ Out Forever – Another Bizarro World Top 40 hit single. When he rips into this song at the Guthrie, yer like, “YEAAAHHH”.

    Born for Me – This song draws blood. I think it’s beautiful.

    Tears Rolling Up Our Sleeves – Too fancy, shmancy for my taste. “Pregnant for minutes & bored for hours”, the lyrics strike me as too Krafty.

    Fugitive Kind – Love the song. Cringe during the opening.

    Sunrise Always Listens – Really, Jodi? How sappy. 😉
    Paul “bores a sunset, a lamp shade, & the TV then bed”…& then me.

    Whatever Makes You Happy – Makes me happy. Cheeriest thing on the record, then you really listen.

    Actor in the Street – Skip

    Bookmark – I can’t like this song. Too specific, maybe. Too personal? An outtake for me.

    Not sure how that all adds up.

    I can say, I like it when Paul plays the pia…guitar.

  • pauly says:

    suicaine is like don’t tell a soul to me. at first i was like what the fuck has our boy gone soft? after a few spins i realized that this was easily some of Pauls best songwriting and his mediocre piano playing is brilliant. i’ll admit when i heard Don Was was involved i expected another “Walk the Dinosaur”. this is a c.d. that every time i play i find a different favorite and i’ll never change my mind(until i play it again).

  • jay says:

    Bar was set to high with Wonderful Lie. Everything else just feels lost to me…
    But the album is worth it for that one song.