They’re a band more polarizing than Klosterman (name another with more extreme reactions!). And okay, we lied, one more post about The Hold Steady this week ?- so this OPTIONAL contest is for the fans; haters, scroll on. But despise ‘em or love ‘em, you gotta give Craig credit for penning some great lyrics about some down-home, Americana shit. And what’s more American than comics and bar coasters!
So we’re giving away Boys And Girls In America black-and-white comics, wherein each song from the album has a section, and the words to each section are the lyrics from the album.
For a sample, here is the section on “Stuck Between Stations.” Wouldn’t be a Hold Steady comic without a drawing of a beer bottle. They’re throwing in a coaster for your cold one, featuring the album cover art, so you don’t ruin the book with your Bud bottle.
To enter, post a comment with your favorite line(s) from the record. (Shouldn’t be too difficult to dig one up.) We’ll select 15 winners to the Comic And Coasters Sweepstakes at random on Thursday 10/19 at 6 PM EST. See, now you have an excuse to give the record another spin.
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“You don’t have to go to the right kind of school
Let your boyfriend go to the right kind of school
You can wear his old sweatshirt
You can cover yourself like a bruise”
you should have seen all the portals
that i powered up in
“You don’t have to go to the right kind of school
Let your boyfriend go to the right kind of school
You can wear his old sweatshirt
You can cover yourself like a bruise”
she put $900 on the 5th horse in the 6th race
i had my mouth on her nose when the chaperone told us we were dancing too close
“You don’t have to go to the right kind of school
Let your boyfriend go to the right kind of school
You can wear his old sweatshirt
You can cover yourself like a bruise”
sorry bout the triple post, shit aint working right
“How am I supposed to know that you’re high if you won’t let me touch you.”
“She was a damn good dancer, but she really wasn’t all that great of a girlfriend.”
I surrounded myself with doctors and deep thinkers
But big heads and soft bodies make for lousy lovers
“How am I supposed to know that you’re high if you won’t let me touch you.”
“She was a damn good dancer, but she really wasn’t all that great of a girlfriend.”
“I’ve been straight since the Cinco De Mayo, before that is was blotto. I was blacked out. I was cracked out. I was caved in.”
I got a girl and she don’t have to work
She can tell which horse is gonna finish in first
“I’ve been straight since the cinco de mayo
before that i was blotto
i was blacked out, i was cracked out, i was caved in
you should have seen all these portals that i’ve powered up in.”
honorable mention to: “I’ve had kisses that make judas seem sincere”
“I’ve been straight since the Cinco De Mayo, before that it was blotto. I was blacked out. I was cracked out. I was caved.”
“…gonna walk around and drink some more.”
“…gonna walk around and drink some more.”
“Don?t bother talking to the guys, with their hot, soft eyes–you know they’re already taken”
“I’ve been straight since the Cinco De Mayo, before that it was blotto. I was blacked out. I was cracked out. I was caved.”
…gonna walk around and drink some more.
“I’ve been straight since the Cinco De Mayo, before that it was blotto. I was blacked out. I was cracked out. I was caved.”
“I’ve been straight since the Cinco De Mayo, before that it was blotto. I was blacked out. I was cracked out. I was caved.”
“I’ve been straight since the Cinco De Mayo, before that it was blotto. I was blacked out. I was cracked out. I was caved.”
“I’ve been straight since the cinco de mayo
before that i was blotto
i was blacked out, i was cracked out, i was caved in
you should have seen all these portals that i’ve powered up in.”
honorable mention to: “I’ve had kisses that make judas seem sincere”
“I’ve been straight since the Cinco De Mayo, before that it was blotto. I was blacked out. I was cracked out. I was caved.”
ditto: “How am I supposed to know you’re high if you won’t let me touch you?”
also: “words so long could never save us”
when they kiss they spit white noise
ditto: “How am I supposed to know you’re high if you won’t let me touch you?”
also: “words so long never could save us”
“She was a really good kisser/
But she wasn’t all that strict of a Christian”
Aren’t those the best ?
Hook me up!!
“She was a really good kisser/
But she wasn’t all that strict of a Christian”
Aren’t those the best ?
Hook me up!!
“She was a really good kisser/
But she wasn’t all that strict of a Christian”
Aren’t those the best ?
Hook me up!!
i feel Jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward lovers
i feel Jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward lovers
“Don’t bother talkin’ to the guys with the hot, soft eyes…you know they’re already taken. Don’t even speed-dial or sequence those beach boys…when they kiss they spit white noise.”
“lost in fog and love and faithless fear
i’ve had kisses that make judas seem sincere”
“Don’t bother talkin’ to the guys with the hot, soft eyes…you know they’re already taken. Don’t even speed-dial or sequence those beach boys…when they kiss they spit white noise.”
“they started kissing when the nurses took off their IVs, it was kinda sexy but it was kinda creepy/ their mouths were fizzy with the cherry cola, they had the privacy of bedsheets, and all the other kids were mostly in comas.”
-Chillout Tent
only Craig Finn could find that situation romantic.
“Don’t bother talkin’ to the guys with the hot, soft eyes…you know they’re already taken. Don’t even speed-dial or sequence those beach boys…when they kiss they spit white noise.”
“they started kissing when the nurses took off their IVs, it was kinda sexy but it was kinda creepy/ their mouths were fizzy with the cherry cola, they had the privacy of bedsheets, and all the other kids were mostly in comas.”
-Chillout Tent
only Craig Finn could find that situation romantic.
He was drunk and exhausted but he was critically acclaimed and respected.
“it was song #3 on john’s last cd
‘gonna make it through this year, if it kills me’
and it almost killed me…”
-girls like status
she had a gun in her mouth
and she was shootin’ up at her dreams
when the chaperon said that we’d been crowned
the king and the queen
“they started kissing when the nurses took off their IVs, it was kinda sexy but it was kinda creepy/
their mouths were fizzy with the cherry cola, they had the privacy of bedsheets, and all the other kids were mostly in comas.”
-Chillout Tent
only Craig Finn could find that situation romantic.
“He was drunk and exhausted but he was critically acclaimed and respected.”
you’re pretty good with words
but words won’t save your life.
Southtown girls won’t blow you away, but you know that they’ll stay
These ones are fresh in my head:
“Guys go for looks
Girls go for status
There’s so many nights when this is just how it happens”
Hon mention:
“For Boston… Shamrock shakes and Oxycontin…
Bob Cousy… When they they’re lookin round for the OC they ain’t talkin bout the TV”
“She’s hard on the heart and she’s soft to the touch”
- Chips Ahoy!
“i’ve got a bad case of noisemaker blues.”
ditto:
“She was a really good kisser/
But she wasn’t all that strict of a Christian”
close second:
“She was a damn good dancer, but she really wasn’t all that great of a girlfriend.”
(those really are the best lines on the record.)
seein’ em tonight! woot! at http://www.myspace.com/bottletree
considering the Quarry is about 1/4 mile from where i work:
“Take Lowry East to the quarry. Meet me right in front of the Rainbow Foods?I got a brown, paper bag and black, buckled shoes. And if anything seems weird, then just cruise. Meet me right in front of the Party City. Yeah, the two-sided tape, it gets way too sticky. I got a bad case of noisemaker blues.”
“Charlemagne pulls street corner scams
Gideon’s got a pipe made from a Pringles can”
“Charlemagne pulls street corner scams
Gideon’s got a pipe made from a Pringles can”
“Charlemagne pulls street corner scams
Gideon’s got a pipe made from a Pringles can”
“Lost in fog and love and faithless fear
I’ve had kisses that make Judas seem sincere.”
(“Citrus”)
“We drink and we dry up and then we crumble in the dust/
We get wet and we corrode and now we’re covered up in rust”
“She’d been to school but never finished,
He’d been to jail but never prison.”
Shes hard on the heart and shes soft to the touch
I think I should get a comic because over the years I’ve had to pay import prices on all of their music (cd & vinyl versions and the 7″) at seperate times, I still haven’t received the latest album (hence the reason I’m unable to quote lyrics) due to importation and now I can’t even get the bonus tracks off iTunes or the live concert on iTunes because I’m not American. I’m upset that I didn’t get a comic but I can’t afford to spend $20 on yet another copy of the album just for the comic. It’d be much appreciated if I were to be considered for being able to win one of your copies of the comic, especially as I’m a regular stereogum reader and have been a Hold Steady fan since the start.
I got a bad case of noisemaker blues
When they say black and tans,
They mean the kinds in the cans.
I don’t have time to mix it all together…
I’m a very busy man, man!
or
She went straight to video..
“She looked just like a baby bird, all new and wet and trying to light a Parliament. He quoted her some poetry – he’s Tennyson in denim and sheepskin, he looked a lot like Izzy Stradlin”
she was a really good kisser-
but she wasn’t all that strict of a christian
“if you get tired of the music he likes
there’s always other boys
and you can make them like you”
Having said that…it is an incredible albums with so many fantastic lines. At first I thought that “all of the good ones had been taken” by the above comments, but there are so many more where they came from. Bravo The Hold Steady.
“We kissed in your car and we drank from your purse”
i feel Jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward lovers
Love this one:
‘Holly’s insatiable
She still looks incredible
But she don’t look like that same girl we met
On that first night
When she was golden with bar light and beer’
“There are nights where I think Sal Paradise was right…”
“She was a really good kisser/
But she wasn’t all that strict of a Christian”
She had the gun in her mouth and she was shootin’ up in a dream when the chaperone said that we were crowned the king and the queen
She was a damn good dancer, but she really wasn’t all that great of a girlfriend
she said “you’re pretty good with words but words won’t save your life.” and they didn’t so he died.
southtown girls won’t blow you away…
but you know that they’ll stay.
“The Dancefloor was crowded, the Bathrooms were worse”
She was a damn good dancer, but she really wasn’t all that great of a girlfriend
Fuck this. I’m not going to put the same goddamn thing as like 5 or 6 other people. Oh wait, yes I will, because I want free stuff. <3 free stuff. Soooo…
Southtown girls won’t blow you away,
but you know that they’ll stay.
the kids came from miles around to get messed up on the music.
“There are nights when I think Sal Paradise was right.”
The scratches on my back, they formed into a choir and belted out a chorus.
“some nights the painkillers make the pain even worse”
“there was that night we thought that john berryman could fly/ but he didn’t so he died
she said you’re pretty good with words, but words won’t save your life/ and they didn’t/so he died”
“I’ve had kisses that make Judas seem sincere”
“i surrounded myself with doctors and deep thinkers/ but big heads and soft bodies make for lousy lovers”
…I could go on, but I’ll stop there
“Take Lyndale to the horizon”
“Lost in fog and love and faith was fear, I’ve had kisses that make Judas seem sincere.”
it’s hard to slow down when you’re picking up speed
“She was a really good kisser/
But she wasn’t all that strict of a Christian”
“i had my mouth on her nose/ when the chaperone said we were dancing too close”
She gets migrane headaches when she does it too much. She always does it too much.
“Gonna walk around and drink some more”
“When they kiss they spit white noise”
“Southtown girls won’t blow you away, but you know that they’ll stay.”
Lifter Puller is my favorite band of all time. I love the Hold Steady, but dudes, ‘Chillout Tent’ is so stupid. I hate how this song is getting so much attention in reviews. Dave from Soul Asylum sounds terrible and the lyrics and just so trivial. However, every other song on this record is amazing. I really do love it. Though I bought it, maybe I’ll burn a copy skipping that song.
When they kiss, they spit white noise
“She was a damn good dancer, but she wasn’t that great of a girlfriend.”
I think we’ve all had one of those….
It started recreational, it ended kinda medical.
“He went to school but never finished. He’s been to jail but never prison. –Chillout Tent
We spent the whole next week getting high.
In a cool car crankin’ Krokus
He’s Tennyson in denim and sheepskin. He looked a lot like Izzy Stradlin.
“How am I supposed to know that you’re high if you won’t let me touch you?”
“hey citrus
hey liquor
i love it when you come together
hey whiskey
hey ginger
i come to you with rigid fingers”
“We had some massive highs. We had some crushing lows.”
Great band, great album, great lyrics. Those lines appealed specially to me though – fits good as the headline to me and my friends’ reminiscences.
“Chillout Tent” = Lollapalooza ’95 glories.
“He was Tennyson in denim and sheepskin / He looked a lot like Izzy Stradlin” is the new “Romeo in black jeans,” and is just awexxome.
“So I came back to start a band, of course…”
or this one:
“it was his first day off in forever, man. the festival seemed like a pretty good plan: cruise some chicks and get a suntan. And his friend offered him four and he said ‘nah, i’ll only take one’…but then he got bored and ended up takin’ all four.”
I Feel Judas in the Pistols and the Pagers that come with all the powders.
“She was a damn good dancer, but she really wasn’t all that great of a girlfriend.”
“We all kinda fumbled thru the jitterbug…”