Last Days of Disco (Yo La Tengo)
Saw you at a party
You asked me to dance
Said music was great for dancing
I don't really dance much
But this time I did
And I was glad that I did this time
And the song said "Let's be happy"
I was happy
It never made me happy before
And the song said "Don't be lonely"
It makes me lonely
I hear it and I'm lonely more and more
Where I belong, where I belong
I wasn't dressed right, I rarely am
You told me that you didn't care
I laughed as you wobbled in your platform shoes
You laughed when I called Andrea true Anita Ward
And the song said "Let's be happy"
I was happy
It never made me happy before
And the song said "Don't be lonely"
It makes me lonely
I hear it and I'm lonely more and more
Where I belong, where I belong
And the song said "Let's be happy"
I was happy
It never made me happy before
It asked "Do you remember?"
And I remember, remember like it wasn't long ago
And the song said "Don't be lonely"
It makes me lonely
I hear it and I'm lonely more and more
Where I belong, where I belong
I just had to reprint these lyrics, from Yo La Tengo's previous album, "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out". You have to hear them sung in Ira Kaplan's soft voice over the eerie rythms that back him up. My most obssesed about song on this album so far, it pegs what I love about Yo La Tengo. They write songs that somehow capture memories of places I've never been and things I haven't done. But some how the memory is there. I have images of driving through the dark, in a town I don't know, strange suburbs slide by the window. It has that luster of the memory of a magic spot in time, the ones that seem to only happen late at night and when morning comes, the exact sensations and thoughts are erased. Leaving you with just the memory. I'll be in Seattle again this week, from Thursday to Sunday, and on Friday night I have the pleasure of seeing them perform live at the Showbox. I can't wait, they really are worth seeing live. I'll also be at the New Pornographers/Cinerama show on Saturday. You should check them out.
Spent the afternoon dismantling the old chain link fence that cuts the back yard in half. I'd finished the board fence and now the dog could have the entire back yard to roam. Thank god they didn't use too much concrete when they set those posts!
Then I took the dog for his walk up overlooking the lake. It was a beautiful sunset and I grabbed some pictures to share.
The view from our walk. My house is a little off to the left of the lake.
Typical Spokane sunset.
Well, it was another guerilla trip to Seattle. Get in, See band play, Get out. I left on Sunday morning right after getting off work, loaded up with caffein, and went non stop to Seattle. The cruise control built into my right foot kept me at 75 the whole way. In just under 4 hours I was pulling off I-5 onto Capital Hill. I headed to the back side of Queen Anne hill to stop and see my friends Jeff and Maia. They were having a lazy Sunday afternoon and we just hung out and talked. It was good to catch up. I'd been to Seattle 3 times in the last month and hadn't stopped by. Bad friend! After hanging for a couple hours I headed over to J.D and Ian's place. Ian had just gotten in and I was coming down hard from my coffee high. He said the word nap and that was all it took to make me get sleepy. After a brief nap we woke up and headed out to get Ian a ticket to Built to Spill that night at the Showbox. We got rock star parking right across the street and parked Ian's Mini in a seemingly giant parking space. The line for tickets stretched around the corner of the building. Bad sign. We went to the bar attached to the Showbox and ordered a beer. I asked the guy at the door if that line was for buying tickets. He said "that line's for everything" then lowering his voice he says, "but we open the door from the bar first". So we enjoyed our Bass ale and when they opened the door we entered ahead of the crowd to be the first in line. Ian got his ticket and we headed back to hook up with J.D. for dinner. We decided on Mexican and filled our bellies at Azteca. We got back to their place and after a while jumped into J.D.'s car so he could drop us at the Showbox. The show was, to me, a little on the short side. But made up for it in quality. They played some of my favorites from both "Keep It Like A Secret" and "Perfect From Now On". The final song was their signature 15 minute version of "Cortez The Killer".
The next day I lingered till afternoon. I was loading my computer up with mp3s from Ian's collection. So many bands and songs I don't know, I love it! I stopped by Steve's to say hi and return the key I had forgotten on my last visit. I ended up hanging around and chatting till rush hour, D'oh! I slogged my way across the bridges and out of town. It was another beautiful day to drive and the mountains flowed by. As I drifted down the Vantage grade and across the Columbia river the sun was hanging low and the stereo pulsed with the beat of John Digweed. It was magical. I stopped on the other side at the Wild Horses monument to take a few pictures.
The Wild Horses Monument.
The Columbia River Gorge.
My trusty VW, I call him Helmut. 152,000 miles without a complaint.