The Band - Stage Fright


Who's ready to talk shit about a pretty sunset? No, i don't have any more Modest Mouse records, but i do have The Band's third album, Stage Fright. Critics were confused by the contradiction between the jaunty, not at all nostalgic roots rock, and the not particularly jaunty, borderline cynical lyrical content. Good.

I'll fully admit, i didn't like it much the first 5 or 6 listens, but that's because it wasn't relevant until now. Tonight it's perfect. When it's all said and done i'm going to have more than one write in vote for several offices in Calhoun County, IA, because it's unelect everybody season. They should just change the county slogan to "we're tired of people living here and wasting valuable pig farm acreage." I'd probably get assassinated 3 hours into my political career. You don't know the shape i'm in.

I think i like The Band better than the Grateful Dead. Like i said, it took me a while to like it. The sticking point for everyone seems to be the hard to conceptualize "confessional" quality. There's a lot of heroin, they're burning out, most of the songs are Randy Newman-esque here's literally what i see type things, and that's not what anyone was ready to swallow from the imagineers of the reinvented American Myth. And we end with probably the most pessimistic song i never wrote. Some of your neighbors would so muchly prefer any lie or rumor over having to care about and/or embrace each other. All you can do is hang your head and hope it will get better soon. And vote against the incumbent, even if you have to write in my name. I don't mind, as long as i don't win. That wouldn't help anybody.

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