08 crow on a lamppost - vampire deer

December 16, 2016 5:33 PM

del shannon went to my high school 12 years before i did - also hundreds of crows were run over by a train last year in my old hometown and no one understands why the crows let that happen - this is not homer simpson's springfield, it's stranger than that ...

there's a crow on the lamppost
just kind of wish the world away
(now here's what he's got to say about it, anyway)
saw a shiny dime, like my life you know, can't spend it on nothing
pick up and drop it, pick it up and drop it all damned day (hey hey hey)
local boy had this song, he called it runaway
now the voice he used to use and the bar he played it in all went away (oh man, oh man)
there's a crow on the lampost - ahh, just wish the world away
(now why can't i wish this hurtin world away)
oh, you got your chicken, you got your pork and beans
but i swear i ate more shit than any damn crow seen
saw a shiny time, just a yo yo life you know
pick it up and drop it fast, pick it up and drop it slow, ho ho
local boy he got drunk and then he killed a man for money
ran for arizona, they said he laughed like it was funny
there's a crow on the lamppost - ah, just watch this stupid life
(no, i don't mean tv or your phone, i mean your life)
don't go to no crossroads to sell that man your ass
you'll get cold and shiver and he won't show up at last
saw a shiny chain, just to tie me up forever
get picked up and get dropped, like god's a big old crow
local boy he got old, local boy he bought lots of beer
realized that no one's gonna, no one's gonna miss him here
well well - dirty old crow on a lamppost, well, well, well
crow on a lamppost, why don't you go to hell?
pick it up and drop it all damned day

posted by pyramid termite (2 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

Took me a while to realize this was in a normal time signature. This is like 70's Yacht Rock on a bad trip. A Frankenstein's monster made of pieces of Big Black, Steely Dan, Jethro Tull, and TV Theme songs.

I like the way it opens up in the last half into a relaxed jam. By this time in the song, I'm totally used to the rhythm combinations and notes that clash with each other, but it's a regular rhythm, and the notes are now foreseeable. By the end, it's like a dilapidated old shitty creepy town that happens to be familiar as your home town.
posted by not_on_display at 8:55 PM on December 17, 2016


Unhinged and rich with the ambiguity of random nerves firing. Love the tones of the keys vs. the flute. Vocal performance is so evocative, barely comprehending the why of anything around you. The Last (Barely) Sane Man. Love the fine wire structure of the fizzing drumkit.
posted by BlackPebble at 11:13 AM on December 18, 2016


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