Thursday, October 25, 2007

Sucker

From The Vegetable Kingdom EP & the Japanese release of In the New Old-Fashioned Way

Relationships are funny things. It’s funny how people can overlook so much because of what they call “love.” The fear of being alone again, that dreaded condition in the unknown, will push too many people into terrible places. In this song, our poor speaker is in such a relationship, willing to put up with his lover’s extra-curricular activities because, as he says,
“I’ve been around before;
I’ve seen the good and the bad.
I’ve been around before,
And this is the best I’ve had.”

This song stands out among the rest as it has the most outright jazz feel to it of any Fluid Ounces song. The vocal melody is as poppy as the rest, but the sparse piano against the rest of the instruments playing like an all-out jazz combo (including an upright bass) make for a fresh feel to the song. Add Brian Rogers’ lovely harmonies to the top on the final chorus, and I might even go so far as to call this song a masterpiece.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Absolutely a masterpiece....
"Love can wait the length of days/
for what may never fall in place"

some of your best lines, Timbsey.

-J

Jakob Dorof said...

the third-highest charting entry for seth in my top 100 songs of all time list. without a doubt a masterpiece, and one of the best songs i've ever heard.

i read the lyrics differently than you do -- for my money, this is about an affair. "wearing my coat and hat, i'm leaving, i'm leaving" sounds like something secretive, and just listen to the music itself -- this eerie tune is hiding something for sure. it just sounds so desperate -- it's the best he's ever had, but it's tainted, it's wrong. he doesn't wanna know "what goes on beyond these four walls," everything within them are a secret and whatever's on the outside (other lovers, past or present) is irrelevant.

my copy of the VegKing EP arrived on my doorstep the morning after a fateful night with a certain girl and this song summed up everything about our relationship so perfectly that the timing felt like something divinely ordained. i told her i'd have to stop seeing her that same night.

Anonymous said...

well, "soymilk" got this one exactly right. it is , in fact about a relationship which was, shall we say, inconvenient at the time and was somewhat uncomfortable in the most appealing way.
...oh and in this case the backgrounds are not brian rogers but yours truely.

Juan Horsetown said...

Interesting that I've been listening to this song for over seven years and never picked up on that. I thought it was pretty cut and dry, and the lyrics completely support my interpretation as well.

Jakob Dorof said...

speaking of which, mr. opus...how on EARTH was this song relegated to b-side status? again, the consensus seems to be that it's one of your best.

Juan Horsetown said...

I guess I could have mentioned it in the blog, but even as much as I like this song, it would have disrupted the flow of INOFW. Even tacked on the end, it hurts the record.

Anonymous said...

i was nev er really into this song at first, but its recent surfacing at the Half-Ounce show in January gave me a whole new appreciation for it.

i agree with the "inconvenience" factor of the song. Timing is always key when dealing with love and relationships. sometimes you just have to ask the question "do we have something going on here or am I just hitting it?"

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