Something Sweeter To The Tongue (Pt. ! of 6)

Following up, finally, to something I promised to do a while ago. When we went to the beach the other week, it was a funny thing, as far as music went. Her car only had a tape deck, so we rummaged through a pile of tapes her ex/my friend had given her and put one in. Hers were near identical to the ones he had given me, with a few notable exceptions, but as a whole it meant that we could sing along together on our way out to the coast. He was just mad about the Weakerthans back in that day, so the mix was seasoned with John K. Samson rhyming cleverly about somthing or the other. And I had forgotten about the Weakerthans, forgotten about how much I loved letting their lyrics roll off of my tongue. We sang with gusto, we sang happily, and with much enunciation. When I got back, over the next couple of days I put them in nonstop, finding that I still remembered huge portions of songs and adored them still. Of course, when revisting old cds, you realize that there was this one song that didn't strike you as great before but now, now that you hear it again for the first time, it's the greatest thing ever. Which is why my first nomination for the six current favorite songs is THE WEAKERTHANS: CONFESSIONS OF A FUTON-REVOLUTIONIST "Held like water in your shaking hands, are all the small defeats a day demands, Ten to six and nine to five, trying dying to survive, never knowing what survival means." The great part is, once you let that first line leave your lips, the rest of the song flows as naturally as anything, which means it gets a lot of play on the do-it-myself soundtrack for the big white van I'm driving (which lacks a radio or music producing device of any sort outside of myself). Before I know it, I'm singing the last stretch of lines, which ends with this beautiful roll-call of future possibilities, things to believe in. "Talk the night away, You call in sick, I'll quit the word-games that I play, I swear I way more than half believe it, When I say that: Somewhere love and justice shine Cynicism falls asleep Tyranny talks to itself Sappy slogans all come true We forget to feed our fears" And how gorgeous are those, really? I sing the song over and over, it being one of the few that I can sing straight through without realizing the gaps in my knowledge. You have to hear it, really. That opening bit, so good. There's like a half-second's beat or somthing where you know what's coming, and you smile and wait for it in the breath he takes before launching into the song.