The Gaslight Anthem – Get Hurt • Page 2

Really good point about moving Get Hurt further down the track order and opening with Have Mercy. They really shot themselves in the foot making that an Apple-exclusive B-Side

 

wait what?

do fans not like “stray paper”???

 

I can only speak for myself, but no, I do not like a single thing about "Stray Paper."

 

I don't like those first 2 verses or the outro, but I like a few things about it:

1. The instrumental intro, the interplay of the guitar and the drums just works for me

2. I'm always a fan when Brian channels a bit of Chris Cornell in his vocals

3. This verse:
And underneath the tyranny of August and her sons
Who set fire from their fingertips
In the holy vow of a teenage kiss
Now we're much too old for this
I don't feel those kinds of things
So don't you cry for me
I used to feel everything

 

I really don't like the lyrics on that song. Feels very "overwrought teenage poetry" to me. Sorry Brian! Sonically and vocally, I find the whole thing very overwrought in a way the rest of the album isn't, and I just don't think it fits. Everything people complain about "Too Much Blood" being on Handwritten, I think "Stay Paper" is that for Get Hurt.

 

It's definitely connected to "Too Much Blood" but I always liked that song too. I do see how it doesn't fit with the rest of the album, I just enjoy it on its own. Something about that "August and her sons" line just works for me.

As for "Helter Skeleton", I think that one is fine, but to me it sounds like a re-tread of an American Slang-style song with diminishing returns.

 

I don't mind "Too Much Blood," even though I think it kind of crashes the momentum that album builds up so well over the first five tracks. I could make my peace with "Helter Skeleton," but I think it's just very clearly b-side level Gaslight. I actually like the chorus on that one, but the verses just don't work for me.

 

You actually have to like that song because it’s August. Those are the rules.