I've decided to put up two mp3's.
Guided by Voices - Gold Star for Robot Boy
Jon Auer - Gold Star for Robot Boy
The song is, of course, written by Robert Pollard and is on the GBV 1994 masterpiece Bee Thousand. The cover, by Jon Auer of Posies fame, is from a 2002 acoustic show by him. It makes me think of a few things:
a) I really don't pay attention to the content of the lyrics in songs. Perhaps this can be blamed on being raised on hip-hop. Regardless, I treat the voice as just another instrument in the song. Pollard's voice re-inforces the low-fi but melodically brillant GBV version, which makes me want to scream the lyrics at the top of my lungs at 3am and smash plates over my head, while the tender, introspective Auer version just makes me want to cry. I don't know what the lyrics are supposed to mean (and frankly, Budwiser Bob probably doesn't know either), but it doesn't matter - the emotions are still there.
b) Thank god Mike got me into The Posies. What a fantastic band.
c) Chain Reaction time:
- The real beauty of GBV albums (Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes especially) is the way in which each short song runs into the next and creates a full album experience. The song after Gold Star for Robot Boy is Awful Bliss.
- Awful Bliss is one of two lovely acoustic numbers by Tobin Sprout on the album. The other is Esther's Day.
- The song before Esther's Day is (do do do do do do do) Kicker of Elves.
- Which brings us back to:
2 comments:
Why would anyone want to kick Michael Elves? He's one of the nicest guys on the planet.
elvez looks as though he is about to lay waste to Limerick, Gojira style.
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