Track of the Week: The Hold Steady

Today's post will be one of the many "Track of the Week" posts courtesy of someone named Ben.

The Hold Steady - "Stuck Between Stations"

--- "When John Berryman, prominent American poet and suicidal alcoholic, released 77 Songs in 1964, poet Robert Lowell wrote in a review: "At first the brain aches and freezes at so much darkness, disorder and oddness. After a while, the repeated situations and their racy jabber become more and more enjoyable, although even now I wouldn't trust myself to paraphrase accurately at least half of the sections." Lovely enough, the Hold Steady's frontman/poet Craig Finn writes lyrics that create the same feeling. Finn's racy banter wanders and stumbles, weaving an elaborate net of shady characters and after-parties and Midwestern cities that draws us into the shadowy edges of some great drug-splattered suburban drama.

"Stuck Between Stations" is a nod to Berryman himself, with more of Finn's clever intruiging lyrics and literary allusions, stuff like "He likes the warm feeling but he's tired of all the dehydration – most nights are crystal clear but tonight it's like he's stuck between stations". Also present, of course, is the Hold Steady's fantastic, swaggering bar/arena (barena?) rock that will probably make any PBR within 30 feet magically leap into your throat. BandGinA is definitely the Hold Steady's most accessible album, almost to a fault at times, but it's hard for a Separation Sunday fan to not get goosebumps the first time you hear Finn's first reference to the Mississippi river, a common locale in the last album – which, by no coincidence whatsoever, is the same river that flows under the Washington Ave bridge, where John Berryman jumped to his death in '72. Unfortunately, he missed the water altogether and died in the mud of suffocation. Finn sums it up best: "There was that night that we thought John Berryman could fly. But he didn't. So he died." The perfect hero for the perfect bar band – who would most definitely be disappointed if you haven't started drinking yet." ---

The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations (mp3) from HwHW

Expect myself at one of these:
Nov 25 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat Buy Tickets
Nov 26 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle Buy Tickets
More Dates

posted by RyanSpartan @ 11:14 AM 2 comments