a notion deep inside: Damn You

Damn you, Joel McHale. Damn you, Conan O'Brien. Damn you, Hulu.

I went to Hulu this AM to check out last night's Daily Show, as is my usual MO (it's on too late for these 45 year-old eyes). Then I saw that last night Conan had McHale (of The Soup) on as a guest. So I listened to it as I coded. And he introduced a new (at least to me) band: The Gaslight Anthem from Jersey...

Cool damn driving beat. Then the voice came out. At first, it felt like the guy from the Alarm, and I had to look. And they rocked. And so I check out their website. Then Napster. Liked the snippets I heard. Bought the CDs, listening to them now... I'll know more later if they are as cool as I hope they are (on half a listen). But for now, it's all good: that driving mix of Social D, a little Explosions in the Sky, and that booming voice... and now it hits me: THE REPLACEMENTS... yeah, that's it.

Gotta go... gotta code and rock out.

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UPDATE: oh, yeah, it was worth it... they rock... and they will rock at the Key Club in LA for a benefit show on Sunday... hmmmmmm, if I wasn't such a geezer, I'd head on down...

Oh, yeah, and lots of Bruce references throughout the albums... that ol' Jersey connection, I guess (they're playing at the Stone Pony on the 28th... If I could take Lisa to Jersey for our anniversary, it would be... different).

In the meantime, I'll search out some samples for your perusal...

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UPDATE AGAIN:

OK, founds some vids... mostly of that same song "The '59 Sound" they did on Conan.

A live club date from LA just after they finished recording the album... rocking hard...

And I checked for the lyrics. Holy Crap.

Well, I wonder which song they're gonna play when we go.
I hope it's something quiet and minor and peaceful and slow.
When we float out into the ether, into the Everlasting Arms,
I hope we don't hear Marley's chains we forged in life.
'Cause the chains I been hearing now for most of my life.

Did you hear the '59 Sound coming through on Grandmama's radio?
Did you hear the rattling chains in the hospital walls?
Did you hear the old gospel choir when they came to carry you over?
Did you hear your favorite song one last time?

And I wonder were you scared when the metal hit the glass?
See, I was playing a show down the road
When your spirit left your body.
And they told me on the front lawn.
I'm sorry I couldn't go,
But I still know the song and the words and her name and the reasons.
And I know 'cause we were kids and we used to hang.

[Chorus]

Young boys, young girls, ain't supposed to die on a Saturday night.

[Chorus]

While coding, I heard some of the references, but listening and reading at the same time, the sense of loss and guilt and loneliness just became overwhelming. I'm still crying. In 11 days, it'll be two years. Last night, Pa dreamt that his cell phone wasn't working as he tried to call Ma; he woke to fix his phone only to realize.

The reference to old Marley is so timely with Christmas around the corner... and the spirits...

The video drives the imagery home.

I'm starting to dry up now. Back to work, I guess.

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OK... so I went to the chiro, and now I'm back with absolutely NO motivation to work.

So here's some more vids of Gaslight Anthem... these might prove interesting to some of you who share my musical tastes...