Particularly, the Peel Session version. I listen to this most days before work, Mark E. Smith was always able to create this bleak atmosphere, pulling all the annoying things from the mundane. All punk seems like a charade in comparison to this, this is the only song that matters sometimes, all that anger.
i didn’t quite appreciate this song as much as i do now until seeing it performed as the closer to his live show… such a great encapsulation of the feeling of years of life under very late capitalism weighing on you
how hard can you go,
and for how long can you sustain it?
when the force that fights back
doesn’t ever relax
it’s so relentless,
oh how long can you defend
against a cheat code?
at a furious pace,
with a smile on your face
jeff does have some lyrics that TEND towards the depressing… but he also writes with a good amount of hope on some tracks. most importantly, i think the ska punk version of this album embraces a playfulness and an energy that is a lot of fun. (answering this was hard bc i realized my taste in music is also overwhelmingly depressing)
Miserabilia - Los Campesinos!, undisputed king of bands; gut-punchiest Anglo-emo songwriting; a deep catalogue of albums that can be enjoyed anytime anywhere
The first two lines of the chorus:
'You can never be strong,
You can only be free' Sums up everything great about Robert Pollard's songwriting. Drama, hope and disappointment.
