The influence of gaslight or electric light on the growth of paraheliotropic trees

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoJNYppNlzU

Ted Leo, 2001

Had we never come across the vastness of pavement
The barrenness of waves and the grayness of the sea
Never lost or ne’er been misguided
We’d have ne’er reached seas so shining

Or come from out of a hansom in Camden
To a bar in the basement
While all the while it rained
Or come around to the friendliest of faces
Handsomest in ugly places

Or come from out of the tunnels we dig in
To see that tunneling’s not living
And working doesn’t work
Or come to find that loving is labor
Labor’s life and life’s forever

Or come to see that keeping’s not giving
You get what you’ve given
You get what you deserve
And in the midst of all of the action
Maybe only there found satisfaction

Chasing sea-foam dreams
Around another dirty old town
Parallel run streams
Toward the gray ocean from the green ground
‘Oed und leer, das meer¹
But look beneath the glassy surface
All the songs you hear
Down there they have a purpose

All in all we cannot stop singing
we cannot start sinking
We swim until it ends
They may kill and we may be parted
But we will ne’er be broken hearted

1. See, The Wasteland, T.S. Eliot, ln. 42. See, also, Songs in T.S. Eliot’s Wasteland, available at http://world.std.com/~raparker/exploring/thewasteland/exsongs.html#Tristan_und_Isolde

1. Biomusicology, the Tyranny of Distance, 2001

• “Had we never come across the vastness of pavement / The barrenness of waves and the grayness of the sea
  Never lost or ne’er been misguided / We’d have ne’er reached seas so shining”
• “You won’t be able to stop whistling the first song.” Pitchfork, http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4738-the-tyranny-of-distance-with-pharmacists/

2. The Sons of Cain, Living with the Living, 2007

• “The Sons of Cain” is one of the better examples of his skill here: Its driving cowpunk finds flashes of Chuck Berry in Leo’s licks, handclaps, and a sharp piano run tucked neatly in the mix, plus some ecstatic, throat-shredding whooping at the climax.” http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10018-living-with-the-living/

3. Who Do You Love, Living with the Living, 2007

• “Joe Strummer would appreciate the riffs on “Who Do You Love?”, which climaxes in a stirring outro straight out of “Safe European Home” and indulges Leo’s own mannerisms to great effect.” Id.
• “And so goes the most of our freedom of speech: We live for the city, we work for the beach
  And when the weekend seems to be just out of reach / Just make the most of what you’re paid, dear
  Your love’s a ghost, and that’s why we’re delayed here”

4. The Mighty Sparrow, The Brutalist Bricks, 2010