Sep 16, 2011

5 Years Ago Today: The Verdant Dude Archives

A buddy of mine who smells like a wet dog recently asked me to re-post some of my older stuff from this here old blog of mine.  Back from when it was known as the Bug-Eyed Blog. And I thought it was a great idea. Mostly because I'm lazy, and this is easy blog fodder.  So let's start a new semi-regular post here on the Verdant Dude.  X Years Ago Today. With X being equal to whatever I happen to feel like at the time. And by semi-regular, I mean whenever the fuck I feel like it.

Here's one from 5 years ago, with added commentary in blue italics. Enjoy!
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Cat Power
One of the reasons I went to NYC earlier this week was to see the talented Chan (pronounced "Shawn", I believe) Marshall aka Cat Power play an early show at Irving Plaza.

Recent convert to the church of Cat Power, but damn is this one fine performer. Trying to describe her is like trying to describe your favorite bourbon. Husky, wood-smoked voice with trailer-trash beginnings aged into smooth honey-coated lyrics. She is an angel in blue jeans with a cigarette smoke halo. (I must have copied that from someone else. There is no way I really wrote that last line.)

Wow! New lady love (shiny!)* might have to watch her back! Not like me to wax poetic like that.

*For a while back there in 2007, I always referred to Gia as my shiny new lady love. Awww.

One complaint that I have is the crowd at the show. Besides scattered pockets of fun people, everyone else seemed to be watching as if zombie-fied. I know her music is a bit somber and smart, but she was having fun on stage. Smoking cigs and dancing around...having fun! The rest of the crowd treated each song as a dirge and acted accordingly. Not us! We danced and drank Rolling Rock out of cans! Yezzir!

Anyway, here is one of my favorite songs she performed the other night. If you ever get a chance to hear it, enjoy the tempo change towards the end of the song.


Lived in Bars
by Cat Power

We've lived in bars
And danced on tables
Hotel trains and ships that sail
We swim with sharks
And fly with aeroplanes in the air

Send in the trumpets
The marching wheelchairs
Open the blankets and give them some air
Swords and arches bones and cement
The light and the dark of the innocent of men

We know your house so very well
And we will wake you once we've walked up
All your stairs

There's nothing like living in a bottle
And nothing like ending it all for the world
We're so glad you will come back
Every living lion will lay in your lap
The kid has a homecoming the champion the horse
Who's going to play drums, guitar or organ with chorus
As far as we've walked from both of ends of the sand
Never have we caught a glimpse of this man

We know your house so very well
And we will bust down your door if you're not there

We've lived in bars
And danced on tables
Hotel trains and ships that sail
We swim with sharks
And fly with aeroplanes out of here


Bonus: Apparently I didn't know how to embed videos back then. Here ya go:

9 comments:

Kate said...

I remember this post. Have I really been reading your blog this long? I still like CP, too.. Great song.

Verdant Earl said...

Kate - Wow! I had no idea you were reading my blog way back then. I thought it was just Slyde and a couple of ladies from Canada. Or maybe Slyde WAS those two ladies from Canada? I'll have to think about that.

sybil law said...

Aaaahhh - Cat Power! Good to say your tastes have been consistently good all these years.
But really, I think my favorite part was you talking about your new, shiny lady love!

Verdant Earl said...

Sybil - Yeah, that was before I outed her name. Hehehe.

Slyde said...

now you KNOW i always bust your chops for phoning it in with a lazy post about song lyrics, but NOW you've resorted to RE-POSTING old song lyrics that youve ALREADY posted?

You, sir, are killing me.

Verdant Earl said...

Slyde - Because you've never reposted a blog post? How about earlier this very week? Hello kettle, you're black.

Slyde said...

i reposted a STORY...

you might as well have reposted your grocery list...

Verdant Earl said...

Douche - The first half of the post IS a story. Went to NYC to see Cat Power. Described her, the crowd, etc... Then punctuated it with the song. You are such an angry, misguided little elf.

Bruce Johnson said...

I can read the adolescence in your voice.