The greatness of The Weakerthans
barcoach
Posts: 413
I know some threads have been dedicated before to the great band from Winnipeg, The Weakerthans, but didn't find any when trying to search.
So I guess a new thread to praise the genius of John K. Samson and the boys won't hurt. Seriously if you haven't listened to them you're missing one of the most valuable groups of our time and one of the finest writers of our generation.
I'm hearing right now Left and Leaving (the song and the album), definitely one of the best records released on the 2k years, it's almost like if it has a healing quality, it may address issues that may seem sad (mainly, staying on the same place while everybody is getting far away), but does it in a way that comes to deliver the soul, just the beautiful way in which the words are put... and the work on those guitars is so intimate and powerful at the same time.
Everything Must Go!, Watermark, Pamphleteer, Left and Leaving, Elegy for Elsabet, Exiles Among You, My Favourite Chords, all of these are tunes that would easily compete with some of the finest rock tunes ever written.
And that's just to not talk about their other 2 albums. Search the web, borrow money, steal, ask for it as Xmas. present... but get yourself a copy of Left and Leaving by The Weakerthans.
Show some love!
So I guess a new thread to praise the genius of John K. Samson and the boys won't hurt. Seriously if you haven't listened to them you're missing one of the most valuable groups of our time and one of the finest writers of our generation.
I'm hearing right now Left and Leaving (the song and the album), definitely one of the best records released on the 2k years, it's almost like if it has a healing quality, it may address issues that may seem sad (mainly, staying on the same place while everybody is getting far away), but does it in a way that comes to deliver the soul, just the beautiful way in which the words are put... and the work on those guitars is so intimate and powerful at the same time.
Everything Must Go!, Watermark, Pamphleteer, Left and Leaving, Elegy for Elsabet, Exiles Among You, My Favourite Chords, all of these are tunes that would easily compete with some of the finest rock tunes ever written.
And that's just to not talk about their other 2 albums. Search the web, borrow money, steal, ask for it as Xmas. present... but get yourself a copy of Left and Leaving by The Weakerthans.
Show some love!
Stone: Thanks for the pick and the night of complicity, you rock!
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
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Left and Leaving was actually an SMC pick 'back in the day'. I enjoyed it then but much more so when I went back and revisited it. I have found this to be true on many of the picks.
Aside may be the catchiest song in the past 5 years. song just rolls along, great driving tune.
And I'm always glad to see your replies on my threads
Really, this album never fails to touch me deeply, just love the sound, but love even more those cleaver as heartfel lyrics... thing is, you remember my thread the other day about "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome..." from Blood on the Tracks, well I just gave that album away to a friend, thinking I'd easily replace it with the newly mastered copy... but didn't find it at the store. So I went back to home and thought, what album in hell can take the place of BOTT at least until I find it, and after many candidates I just spend the night listening to the Left and Leaving album... I've said it before: is amazing how a guy in Mexico City can connect so much to these songs about living in Winnipeg, but I guess anyone in my situation can realte with people going far from you, while you have to stay in the same place, sometimes with the same routine, thinking nothing's changing much, but also finding the beauty on it.
How can anyone not be shaken by lyrics like these:
"The Weakerthans Left And Leaving lyrics"
My city's still breathing (but barely it's true)
through buildings gone missing like teeth.
The sidewalks are watching me think about you,
all sparkled with broken glass.
I'm back with scars to show.
Back with the streets I know.
They never take me anywhere but here.
Those stains in the carpet, this drink in my hand,
these strangers whose faces I know.
We meet here for our dress-rehearsal to say " I wanted it this way"
and wait for the year to drown.
Spring forward, fall back down.
I'm trying not to wonder where you are.
All this time lingers, undefined.
Someone choose who's left and who's leaving.
Memory will rust and erode into lists of all that you gave me:
some matches, a blanket, this pain in my chest,
the best parts of Lonely, duct-tape and soldered wires,
new words for old desires,
and every birthday card I threw away.
I wait in 4/4 time.
Count yellow highway lines that you're relying on to lead you home.
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
from my window to yours
cool, trapped!
Sometimes I just wish more people would know about this awesome band... For example there's no way to find any of their albums here (I had to order it), not even expect to hear any of their stuff on the radio or that our "rock critics" know anything at all about them.
For me, this year was pretty good, but one of the best gifts it brought was to discover the weakerthan's music, I got this album around April and immediatly shocked me, now it has become one of my absolute favorite records... along with the other 2 that I quickly had to order as well. But Left & Leaving is definitely a masterpiece.
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
It is nice to know that you hold this CD in that high regard. Being a avid music collector for quite awhile, this year has been absolutely crazy. I have no clue how many CD's I have purchased this year, some probably still have wrapping on them. I'd say I have purchased more this year than any. Some get lost in the shuffle. Most I haven't had the time to really fully disect other than to say I like them a lot.
I am road-tripping back home for the holidays and I have started a slow process of what music I am bringing for the trip. I am looking forward to the long ass drive so I can catch up with music that has fallen by the wayside.
Left and Leaving will now be in there and more attention will be paid to it. Sometimes all it takes is a thread.
For me this is the 2nd. time I give away BOTT, first was when I bought the cd and gave my old cassette copy to a friend I knew would appreciate it (something I remembered last night, while trying to see if it still was around), the other was yesterday, when I gave it to a wonderful person going back home on the other side of the ocean.
I dunno, but in some way Left and Leaving shares some of that same mood for me.
We share the same addiction, huh? Music junky, right? Yeah, I'm just like you, haven't had enough time to listen all the music I've bought lately, sometimes I fear my record collection could swallow me alive.
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
from my window to yours
I couldn't get into The Weakerthans when Echoes picked this album for SMC. And Blood On The Tracks - while it has 2 of the greatest songs ever (Shelter From The Storm & Tangled up in blue) - it just doesn't figure amonst my favourite Dylan albums. Infact I usually skip "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" because its too long.
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www.stopglobalaids.com www.indymedia.org www.ecologyfund.com www.thehungersite.com www.amnesty.org www.pratham.org www.icbl.org www.care2.com/click2donate