Mix Tape for July 16, 2008: "At the end of the day"
This is a weird one. I started out trying for a more cohesive theme (whose identity doesn't matter any more), but it sort of expanded into an amorphous glob of a theme, with recurring ideas being the insular nature of the ego and the importance therefore of being at ease in your own head, sunsets and thoughts at sunset, insomnia (or hypnagogic consciousness of emotions specifically), and others. So it didn't end up that cohesive, but I really love and am proud of what came out. The lyrics on all songs are particularly good in this one, and mesh well with each other (for example, the first song talks about "your ghost" being your "one sympathetic companion" and then the second song has this great line, saying "How much did we give the ghost up/When we learned how to get where we're going"). So, since I think the lyrics are really important for grokking this mix tape, I'm going to reproduce them here. Link.
Track listing and lyrics:
1. The Mekons - "Only You and Your Ghost Will Know"
The friends you have found
It's like they've all gone to ground
The company you're keeping's
The same as when you're sleeping
The same as when you're dreaming
You've got just one sympathetic companion
First the chill and then the stupor
Then the letting go
If you found one thing out on that road
Only you and your ghost will know
Was there a place to leave or a place to go?
A mouth to kiss or a hand to hold?
Only you and your ghost will know
2. Game Theory - "Wyoming"
Used to run all night on mood swings
And spill our gasoline
And play the violin behind the scenes
Felt so right to leave you losers
Why do I miss you now?
How much did we give the ghost up
When we learned how to get where we're going?
Come on home, Wyoming
I know that every night you lie
And stare at the ceiling
Till you start believing it's the sky
Never knowing why
High on any sheer will measure
We run the on-time train
But we could call just one off due to rain
Sable frenzy, drunks and addicts
Do it all the time
We could always let one fall behind what we do
And pay what we're owing
Come on home, Wyoming
3. Stars - "Counting Stars on the Ceiling"
Les soleils couchants
Revêtent les champs
Les canaux, la ville entière
D'hyacinthe et d'or
Le monde s'endort
Dans une chaude lumière
Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté
Luxe, calme et volupté
(Translation:
The setting suns
Adorn the fields
The canals, the whole city
With hyacinth and gold
The world falls asleep
In a warm glow of light
There all is order and beauty
Luxury, peace, and pleasure
-- A poem by Charles Baudelaire, "L'Invitation au Voyage")
Took a taxi with Jean last night
It was late and it was raining
We live far away from each other
And there was no desire
I think it was more the dark night
Or some lonely feeling
When we got home, we were alone
We fell in love with that feeling
When we got home, we were alone
We fell in love with that feeling
Rain since Tuesday
Barely found my way to the shop
For the milk in the morning
And the news of the world had turned around
Then I heard you calling
Saw you turn the darkened corner
Then you were gone
When I've got home, I was alone
I fell in love with that feeling
When I've got home, I was alone
And I counted stars on the ceiling
4. Nick Drake - "Day is Done"
When the day is done
Down to earth then sinks the sun
Along with everything that was lost and won
When the day is done
When the day is done
Hope so much your race will be all run
Then you find you jumped the gun
Have to go back where you begun
When the day is done
When the night is cold
Some get by but some get old
Just to show life’s not made of gold
When the night is cold
When the bird has flown
Got no-one to call your own
Got no place to call your home
When the bird has flown
When the game’s been fought
Newspaper blown accross the court
Lost much sooner than you would have thought
Now the game’s been fought
When the party’s through
Seems so very sad for you
Didn’t do the things you meant to do
Now there’s no time to start anew
Now the party’s through
When the day is done
Down to earth then sinks the sun
Along with everything that was lost and won
When the day is done
5. M. Ward - "Involuntary"
Have you ever been alone in the night time
And you're thinking that you just don't know
And that feeling grows
Without control
And you're thinking about a place to go
But your body tells you
"Stay at home"
It's involuntary
And when the phone has lost it's bell
And the doorbell has lost it's sound
You're only hearing your heart pound
It's involuntary
And have you ever tried to leave at the right time
But the right time seems to come so slow
And that feeling grows
Without control
And you're thinking about a place to go
But your body tells you
"Stay at home"
It's involuntary
And when the phone has lost it's bell
And the doorbell has lost it's sound
You're only hearing your heart pound
It's involuntary
6. The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
Dirty old river, must you keep rolling
Flowing into the night
People so busy, makes me feel dizzy
Taxi light shines so bright
But I don't need no friends
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise
Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunset's fine
Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station
Every Friday night
But I am so lazy, don't want to wander
I stay at home at night
But I don't feel afraid
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise
Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunset's fine
Millions of people swarming like flies 'round Waterloo underground
But Terry and Julie cross over the river
Where they feel safe and sound
And they don't need no friends
As long as they gaze on Waterloo sunset
They are in paradise
Waterloo sunset's fine
Track listing and lyrics:
1. The Mekons - "Only You and Your Ghost Will Know"
The friends you have found
It's like they've all gone to ground
The company you're keeping's
The same as when you're sleeping
The same as when you're dreaming
You've got just one sympathetic companion
First the chill and then the stupor
Then the letting go
If you found one thing out on that road
Only you and your ghost will know
Was there a place to leave or a place to go?
A mouth to kiss or a hand to hold?
Only you and your ghost will know
2. Game Theory - "Wyoming"
Used to run all night on mood swings
And spill our gasoline
And play the violin behind the scenes
Felt so right to leave you losers
Why do I miss you now?
How much did we give the ghost up
When we learned how to get where we're going?
Come on home, Wyoming
I know that every night you lie
And stare at the ceiling
Till you start believing it's the sky
Never knowing why
High on any sheer will measure
We run the on-time train
But we could call just one off due to rain
Sable frenzy, drunks and addicts
Do it all the time
We could always let one fall behind what we do
And pay what we're owing
Come on home, Wyoming
3. Stars - "Counting Stars on the Ceiling"
Les soleils couchants
Revêtent les champs
Les canaux, la ville entière
D'hyacinthe et d'or
Le monde s'endort
Dans une chaude lumière
Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté
Luxe, calme et volupté
(Translation:
The setting suns
Adorn the fields
The canals, the whole city
With hyacinth and gold
The world falls asleep
In a warm glow of light
There all is order and beauty
Luxury, peace, and pleasure
-- A poem by Charles Baudelaire, "L'Invitation au Voyage")
Took a taxi with Jean last night
It was late and it was raining
We live far away from each other
And there was no desire
I think it was more the dark night
Or some lonely feeling
When we got home, we were alone
We fell in love with that feeling
When we got home, we were alone
We fell in love with that feeling
Rain since Tuesday
Barely found my way to the shop
For the milk in the morning
And the news of the world had turned around
Then I heard you calling
Saw you turn the darkened corner
Then you were gone
When I've got home, I was alone
I fell in love with that feeling
When I've got home, I was alone
And I counted stars on the ceiling
4. Nick Drake - "Day is Done"
When the day is done
Down to earth then sinks the sun
Along with everything that was lost and won
When the day is done
When the day is done
Hope so much your race will be all run
Then you find you jumped the gun
Have to go back where you begun
When the day is done
When the night is cold
Some get by but some get old
Just to show life’s not made of gold
When the night is cold
When the bird has flown
Got no-one to call your own
Got no place to call your home
When the bird has flown
When the game’s been fought
Newspaper blown accross the court
Lost much sooner than you would have thought
Now the game’s been fought
When the party’s through
Seems so very sad for you
Didn’t do the things you meant to do
Now there’s no time to start anew
Now the party’s through
When the day is done
Down to earth then sinks the sun
Along with everything that was lost and won
When the day is done
5. M. Ward - "Involuntary"
Have you ever been alone in the night time
And you're thinking that you just don't know
And that feeling grows
Without control
And you're thinking about a place to go
But your body tells you
"Stay at home"
It's involuntary
And when the phone has lost it's bell
And the doorbell has lost it's sound
You're only hearing your heart pound
It's involuntary
And have you ever tried to leave at the right time
But the right time seems to come so slow
And that feeling grows
Without control
And you're thinking about a place to go
But your body tells you
"Stay at home"
It's involuntary
And when the phone has lost it's bell
And the doorbell has lost it's sound
You're only hearing your heart pound
It's involuntary
6. The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
Dirty old river, must you keep rolling
Flowing into the night
People so busy, makes me feel dizzy
Taxi light shines so bright
But I don't need no friends
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise
Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunset's fine
Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station
Every Friday night
But I am so lazy, don't want to wander
I stay at home at night
But I don't feel afraid
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise
Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunset's fine
Millions of people swarming like flies 'round Waterloo underground
But Terry and Julie cross over the river
Where they feel safe and sound
And they don't need no friends
As long as they gaze on Waterloo sunset
They are in paradise
Waterloo sunset's fine