How I Would Hate To be A Bother (Perfect Songs #1)

Soooooooooo...

Decided to actually go for a recurring element on this thing, now. Not every post, certainly, but every once in a while, when I feel the urge to shout from the mountaintops that YES, it has HAPPENED, I have been reminded why people make music in the first place because THIS song, this one among the great huddled masses, is utterly perfect. Or at least nearly. Or at least really, really good.

Today's tune, a great one to kick off with, is Trembling Blue Stars' "Sometimes I Still Feel The Bruise."
Trembling Blue Stars aren't a band I have a lot of music by, actually. Just a couple songs. But they earn major credit from me for a handful of reasons:

1. John Darnielle is a fan, and has recorded his own wonderful version of today's song, and what Darnielle loves, be it rap, metal, country, indie-rock, or whatever, is generally a good indicator of quality. (The next Perfect Song may be one of his, or one he's recommended, since Last Plane to Jakarta is one of the best music blahgs on the net.
2. They have a great name. Not only great in its own right, it's taken from a line from The Story of O: "Her eyes were like stars, trembling blue stars."
3. They don't look like every other melancholy indie-pop band, and this counts for worlds and worlds of love.

So, today's song. It's unspeakably melancholy, one of the most painful songs of lost love I've ever heard. It's not one of passion, it's one of trying not to feel passionate, trying to not want someone back, feeling someone drift away and feeling glad it hurts less but still cringing when you remember them. It acknowledges the futility of still wanting that person, but admits that you're never getting them out of your head. Bobby Wratten's soft, pained voice, that guitar that sounds like it's sick and has the chills and has spent the last few days under a blanket watching it rain, that gentle, quivering organ in the back, Beth Arzy's almost-not-there harmony on the choruses, all of it works together musically to a degree of, well, perfection. This song is the best it can be (although, God bless 'im, Darnielle does wonderful things to his version). And, of course, the absolutely incredible lyrics:

"Now and then I stumble on
What I've misplaced but never lost
An ache I first felt long ago
Though you've appeared and disappeared
Throughout these past few years
I'd be surprised if you now showed

Making contact gets harder
As the silence grows longer
And why would you think of me
When you were not the one in love?
When you were not the dreamer?
When you were just the dream?"

Download (Courtesy of Lost In Your Inbox)
Listen to The Mountain Goats version over at NPR