In El Somnambulo’s roundup of his favorite tunes from April, he wondered if Craig Finn was the Raymond Carver of songwriters. I’m not sure about that. I might go with John Samson of the Weakerthans for that sobriquet. He’s an actual professor of English Lit and writes the kind of lyrics that come from slightly depressive introspection.
I’d consider Craig Finn, better known for his work with the Hold Steady, more the T. Corraghessan Boyle of songwriters — cinematic and showy with a violent undercurrent. The lyrics for this ironically rollicking number, for example, consist of a man’s answers to an interrogation by police or a lawyer we don’t know, about a woman he met in a bar. We don’t know anything except what the narrator tells us, but we can fill in so many of the blanks about the rest. I couldn’t find an official video for the song, though it was a modest adult-contemporary hit when it was released in 2008. With Finn’s ear for dialogue it doesn’t need one.
It started when we were dancin’
It got heavy when we got to the bathroom.
We didn’t go back to her place,
We went some place where she cat-sits.
She said, “I know I look tired, but everything’s fried here in Memphis.”
Man, they want to know exactly which bathroom
Dude, does it make any difference? It can’t be important
Yeah, sure, I’ll tell my story again
In bar-light, she looked all right,
In daylight, she looked desperate
That’s all right, I was desperate, too
I’m getting pretty sick of this interview.
Subpoenaed in Texas, sequestered in Memphis
Subpoenaed in Texas, sequestered in Memphis
I think she drove a new Mustang
I guess it might be a rental
I remember she had satellite radio
I guess she seemed a bit nervous,
Do you think I’m that stupid?
Well, what the hell,
I’ll tell my story again
In bar-light, she looked all right,
In daylight, she looked desperate
That’s all right, I was desperate, too
I’m getting pretty sick of this interview
Subpoenaed in Texas, sequestered in Memphis
I went there on business, subpoenaed in Texas, sequestered in Memphis