Softer than dust and louder than bombs

[sovay]

A sort of communal meme, stolen from watermelontail:

The world ends, the credits roll. Which song plays?

By the original rules, R.E.M.'s "End of the World As We Know It" is out of bounds for obviousness. I have chosen Tom Waits' "A Good Man Is Hard To Find":

Well, I always play Russian roulette in my head
It's seventeen black or twenty-nine red
How far from the gutter? How far from the pew?
I will always remember to forget about you

A good man is hard to find
Only strangers sleep in my bed
And my favorite words are good-bye
And my favorite color is red

What about you?

Comments

[stsisyphus.livejournal.com]

Well, it depends if she's doing her solo stuff or working with the New Pornographers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Pornographers). I'm not a big fan of the NPs but her solo stuff is excellent and close to this kind of interpretation. I appreciate her later albums: the Canadian Amp EP, Blacklisted, and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. Wikipedia also calls her sound "country noir", which is a much better description, IMO. Her earlier albums, The Virginian & Furnace Room Lullabies are closer to country norms, having some influence from 1970-1980s Nashville sound. Most of the honky-tonk sound is leeched out of the later albums. The kinda gospel/spiritual sound on her Waits' cover does appear on some of her other songs, but divorced from any explicit religious method.

I know you two are probably old standards fans, so you could check out her cover of "Look for Me (I'll Be Around)". I don't know if she has a unique or innovative take on the song, but I normally hate standards & like this song. I'm finding it hard to suggest any one particular song, since the three albums I recommended are constantly running on my iPod.

As far as the quiz went, I answered back at WM's page & expanded on the idea (http://stsisyphus.livejournal.com/23728.html) in my own journal.

[sovay]

I know you two are probably old standards fans, so you could check out her cover of "Look for Me (I'll Be Around)". I don't know if she has a unique or innovative take on the song, but I normally hate standards & like this song.

I've never heard it, but I'll look for her version.