Things I Used to Know (demo)

"Our minds are permeable to forgetfulness; I myself am distorting and losing, through the tragic erosion of the years, the features of Beatriz." -- Jorge Luis Borges

The old wooden swingset where we used to play
the scent of the autumn in eastern PA
the taste of your skin at the end of the day
oh, I hate to seem them go

The play of the moon on the skin of the lake
the song of the birds that would nudge us awake
the lay of your hair and the curve of your face
oh, the things I used to know

why can't I keep them here with me?
I see them still like last night's dreams
and what becomes of the memories
when we stop remembering?

Wind in the leaves on the first day of school
the sting of chlorine in the Willowdale pool
they're fading according to time's awful rules
oh, I wish that it weren't so

Save my house and save my room!
save the lake and save the moon!

why can't I keep them here with me?
I see them still like last night's dreams
and what becomes of the memories
when we stop remembering?

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by ludwig_van (6 comments total)

This track is by Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies, whom you can see on 6/15 in Brooklyn as part of NYCPopfest, and at the North Star Bar in Philly on 6/17.
posted by ludwig_van at 7:02 PM on May 16, 2008

The second half is pretty cool.
posted by Corduroy at 9:48 PM on May 16, 2008

Wow, super-poppy. I have to say, this is a curious marriage of a very peppy and hyper-youthful pop music spirit with lyrics that are extremely melancholy... I'm having a bit of a hard time connecting the sentiment of the lyrics to the bubbly and energetic music that accompanies them. That's just me though. I feel that way about songs sometimes, like, say, the Beatle's "Fixing a Hole". Somehow those lyrics, introspective and deeply philosophical, seemed to cry out for a less *light* musical arrangement.

They are beautiful lyrics, by the way, and I'm also enjoying some of the tunes on your MySpace page. You really do have a pop heart, and you're really very good at what you're doing. Kudos!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:39 PM on May 16, 2008

Lovely, though the only reason I gave it a go was the Borges quote, a surprising epigraph to a pop song's lyrics. As one of Borges's many sons, I feel compelled to share the original with Mefi posters. Its the final sentence from his short story "El Aleph".
Nuestra mente es porosa para el olvido; yo mismo estoy falseando y perdiendo, bajo la trágica erosión de los años, los rasgos de Beatriz.

And here's a link to an acceptable English translation of "El Aleph"
http://www.phinnweb.org/links/literature/borges/aleph.html
posted by abakua at 3:51 PM on May 22, 2008

Thanks. This is actually part of a series of Borges-inspired songs I've been writing. I'll probably record "The Garden of Forking Paths" soon.
posted by ludwig_van at 5:13 PM on May 22, 2008

Fantastic. I hope your shows go well.
posted by Pallas Athena at 1:43 PM on May 27, 2008