Wednesday, October 4, 2006

F Posterity, issue 20: "Upstart Casualties"

Last night I saw Regina Spektor at the 9:30 Club. She was amazingly good, full of energy, and the audience adored her all night long. You can really hear the antifolk in her old stuff, all kinds of stutters and jokes and ramblings that make your ears double-take. The new stuff is more polished but retains the spirit of madness. If MySpace doesn't censor it, I'll probably post a video of her singing a song with the refrain, "Someone in the next room is fucking to one of my songs."

So when you see inspiration live like Regina Spektor, you can't help but want to go write, or paint, or create or whatever you do. I wanted to post a whole new song today, but I got fixated on one I've had around since 2002. This is one of the few songs I actually wrote, played out, decided it wasn't at all right, and re-wrote a whole new song to. And unfortunately, it's now again newly topical.

In Boston, I lived across the street from a low bell-tower. My third-story window looked right over to the bells, which hammered every quarter-hour, sounding like you were curled up inside them. Strangely enough though, my ears learned to filter them out. I'd pass three hours without hearing one bell, and then suddenly one would grab my attention.

The guitar riff in this song sounds to me something like bells, in the way Blind Lemon Jefferson or others have imitated on a guitar. But the bell-tower, for Americans, is the best place to go when you've loaded up on guns and need to make a statement. Some drive their tractor into the reflecting pond on the National Mall, some take a classroom of Amish hostage, others customize their hooptie so they can aim a rifle out of the trunk. But let's be serious, the bell-tower is the moral high ground, with time on your side. It's the only way to terrorize your countrymen when you feel unjustified. Choosy maniacs choose the belltower.

Whatever way we do it, though, Americans have a thing for ritualistic hostage homicide-suicides. These things, while horrific, don't really shock anymore do they? We're a nation obsessed with guns, cinematically fantastic violence, and really fun first-person shooters in which you can change the radio station in the vehicle you just carjacked. To say nothing of the divides between rich/poor, white/black/ red/blue.

I kinda feel like these things are actually the failure of everybody. The failure of the sum total of America. And as such, it's all our problem to deal with - not because it can happen to us, but because when it does, it's our fault.

This thing needs a little more sonically, but I don't have the time to put much more on it.


Upstart Casualties

Put down the weapon, step away from the window and we'll all be good
Everybody here has got a gripe to compare and we probably could
What say we split a milkshake, just you and me
Before we're just another couple upstart casualties

We could sit around and watch the system break down all afternoon
Don't change the station til the righteous indignation is full in bloom
Take that scowl to the bell-tower, sure as can be
Set your sights on some upstart casualties

The bell-tower is taking reservations tonight
That's one sour dissertation on arcade games and infamous lives

What say we split a milkshake, just you and me?
Before we're just another couple upstart casualties


Download mp3s below by right-clicking on the links.

F Posterity, 2006
52. F Posterity (Getzschman) - May 16, 2007
51. Crazy (Burton/Callaway/Reverberi/Reverberi) - May 9, 2007
50. Persistence of Regret (Getzschman/Ryan/Sahm) - May 2, 2007
49. Breakin' Plates (Getzschman/Ruthsatz) - April 26, 2007
48. Trio for Vocal, Metronome, Wurlitzer (Getzschman) - April 18, 2007
47. She Hates It When I'm Right (Getzschman) - April 11, 2007
46. Beat It (Jackson) - April 4, 2007
45. Mass Ave Strut (Getzschman) - March 28, 2007
44. Let's Fall Asleep Like This (Getzschman) - March 21, 2007
43. 2010 Ain't What They Said It Would Be (Getzschman) - March 14, 2007
42. Three Red Stars (Getzschman) - March 7, 2007
41. Birdhouse In Your Soul (Flansburgh/Linnell) - February 28, 2007
40. Everybody Thinks They're Self-Aware (Getzschman) - February 21, 2007
39. Hysterical Woman (Getzschman) - February 14, 2007
38. Hollaback Savior (Getzschman) - February 7, 2007
37. White Collar (old Philly dollar) (Getzschman) - January 31, 2007
36. Bottle of Blues (B. Hansen) - January 24, 2007
35. Ask Somebody (Getzschman) - January 17, 2007
34. All Time High Score (Getzschman) - January 10, 2007
33. Bury Me In My Jetpack (Getzschman) - January 3, 2007
32. Eggnogg Is The Liquor Of This Household (Getzschman) - December 27, 2006
31. Like Spinning Plates (T.Yorke/J.Greenwood) - December 20, 2006
30. Jack or Jesus (Getzschman/Peterson) - December 13, 2006
29. Runes (Getzschman) - December 6, 2006
28. We Leave Just Like We Come (Getzschman) - November 29, 2006
27. Shampoo! (Getzschman) - November 22, 2006
26. Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Dylan) - November 15, 2006
25. Was That Seriously Your Plan? (Getzschman) - November 8, 2006
24. Understated Explosions (Getzschman) - November 1, 2006
23. Everything Sounds Better On Vinyl (Getzschman) - October 25, 2006
22. Take Heart (Getzschman) - October 18, 2006
21. Pigs (L. Freese, S. Reyes, L. Muggerud) - October 11, 2006
20. Upstart Casualties (Getzschman) - October 4, 2006
19. Troubling (Getzschman) - Sept 27, 2006
18. Tales of Woe (Getzschman/Getzschman/Booth) - Sept 20, 2006
17. Manual Labor Pains (Getzschman) - Sept 13, 2006
16. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Gibbard/Tamborello) - September 6, 2006
15. Postmodern Burlesque Review (Getzschman) - August 30, 2006
14. Neverending Love Affair (Getzschman) - August 23, 2006
13. Living On Credit (Getzschman) - August 16, 2006
12. Broke As A Muhfuh (Getzschman) - August 9, 20006
11. Josie (Becker/Fagan) - August 2, 2006
10. Cold Day at the Races (Getzschman) - July 26, 2006
9. Calaveras (Getzschman) - July 19, 2006
8. Narcissist Blues (Getzschman) - July 12, 2006
7. Advice to a Young Jedi (Getzschman) - July 5, 2006
6. God Only Knows (Wilson/Asher) - June 28, 2006
5. Miracle Hubcap (Getzschman) - June 21, 2006
4. A Paycheck Is All I Ask (Getzschman) - June 14, 2006
3. Halfway (Getzschman) - June 7, 2006
2. Summer Crazy (Getzschman) - May 31, 2006
1. Sunday Street (Van Ronk) - May 26, 2006

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