Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Coupland-esque Lyric

From classfellow K.N.

These are the lyrics to a song by The Weakerthans that I think has total relevance to Coupland's message in Life After God....

"Sounds Familiar"

We emerged from youth all wide-eyed like the rest.
Shedding skin faster than skin can grow, and armed with hammers,
feathers, blunt knives:
words, to meet and to define and to...
but you must know the same games that we played in dirt,
in dusty school yards has found a higher pitch and broader scale than we
feared possible,
and someone must be picked last,
and one must bruise and one must fail.
And that still twitching bird was so deceived by a window,
so we eulogized fondly,
we dug deep and threw its elegant plumage and frantic black eyes in a hole,
and rushed out to kill something new,
so we could bury that too.
The first chapters of lives almost made us give up altogether.
Pushed towards tired forms of self immolation that seemed so original.
I must, we must never stop watching the sky with our hands in our pockets,
stop peering in windows when we know doors are shut.
Stop yelling small stories and bad jokes and sorrows,
and my voice will scratch to yell many more,
but before I spill the things I mean to hide away,
or gouge my eyes with platitudes of sentiment,
I'll drown the urge for permanence and certainty;
crouch down and scrawl my name with yours in wet cement.

6 comments:

Adam Nowek said...

The Weakerthans might be the greatest band this country has ever produced. Nearly every song Samson has written for the band has some sort of nostalgic tinge. "Everything Must Go!" also had a little bit of relevance for me, as well..

Whoever you are, K.N., I applaud you for having amazing taste in music.

Dr. Stephen Ogden said...

Well, I'll certainly uhm ... buy a CD ... ahem, over the weekend. Thanks both.

Adam Nowek said...

I can take a hint! Not only is punk not dead, neither is the mixtape culture. :-P

Unknown said...

hey adam, kudos to YOUR taste in music as well. after your smashing pumpkins post i dusted off mellon collie and i've been listening to it non-stop since!
what i love about the weakerthans is how real they are because of the relevence they have to growing up and living in our time and country...much like douglas coupland for that matter...

Unknown said...

"Leave the apartment to buy alcohol, hang our diplomas on the bathroom wall. Ten to six or nine to five, trying, dying to survive, never knowing what survival is"

more Couplandesque Weakerthans for anyone who is interested. Can't remember the song it's from though.

Adam Nowek said...

Confessions of a Futon-Revolutionist!