The Weakerthans Band • Page 14

~**Their *****literary posturing***** lacks captivating hooks**~

“I know you might roll your eyes at this
But I’m so glad you exist”

COME ON. Some people don’t have a soul I guess

 

A person favourite:

Where a little boy under a table with cake in his hair
Stared at the grown-up feet as they danced and swayed

 

IMO Reconstruction Site and Reunion Tour are flawless records. I was speechless when I saw these reviews today.

 

i'm revisiting these gems

 

Willing to bet all of those records would get at least 8s if they came out now

 

“Read it to yourself again
The stories always end the same
She can’t stay and he won’t run
Fear is where they’re calling from”

It’s like they didn’t even listen to the album lol. Yes he’s literary and wordy sometimes, also plenty of moments like that that are a gut punch of emotion.

 

Yeah his lyrics are probably the last thing I’d take issue with about this band lol

 

I think “wordy” is the absolute worst way to describe his lyricism.

John is a master of concisely conveying incredibly complex human emotions in as few words as possible.

 

Since we're sharing lyrics today, this one particularly synced with me this afternoon.

Hold on to the corners of today
And we'll fold it up to save until it's needed
Stand still, let me scrub that brackish line
That you got when something rose and then receded

 

The sidewalks are watching me think about you :’(

 

I guess our wishes don't do dishes or brake repairs
Make them something somebody can use.

 

I love how that song expresses its message. Depicting the first time he can remember feeling depressed in a happy setting and being plagued by existential thoughts, as a child, is a very strong way to suggest that depression has been a constant obstacle his whole life.

 

John might legitimately be the best lyricist I know

"you said somewhere there's a box full of replacement parts

to all the tenderness we've broken or let rust away

somewhere sympathy is more than just a way of leaving

somewhere someone says I'm sorry, someone's making plans to stay"

 

My first and only up close interaction with John was at the venue before his show. I was about to walk in the door when someone came out. It was John and he held the door open for me and smiled.

I said "Thanks" and walked in.

 

Think for me it’s:

And I love this place, the enormous sky
And the faces, hands that I'm haunted by
So why can't I forgive these buildings
These frameworks labeled home?

 

yeah, I adore how that song shifts from a relationship/argument song into that portrait of himself and how it relates to his city. not many writers could get away with that so effortlessly

 

If I had to pick one verse this would at least be a finalist if not the one

 

Every line of "Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call" and "Plea from a Cat Named Virtue" is literally perfect.

"Pamphleteer", too.

 

My sister has never listened to The Weakerthans and one of the three songs I showed her was Elks Lodge Last Call, and she said everything about that song was perfect on the first listen.

That was my good deed for yesterday lol

 

Yeah it's just an entire short story in under 3 minutes with incredibly compact language. It's a fucking marvel.

 

They have my favorite lyrics... maybe ever?

 

It's here in the smallest bones, the feet and the inner ear
It's such an enormous thing to walk and to listen

 

Same tbh

 

John has a new song out!

Fantasy Baseball at the End of the World

 

I’ve thought about this song so much since I saw him play it live last year. It’s perfect.