{"id":157,"date":"2005-09-19T19:59:13","date_gmt":"2005-09-20T02:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2005\/09\/19\/something-fine\/"},"modified":"2005-09-19T19:59:13","modified_gmt":"2005-09-20T02:59:13","slug":"something-fine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2005\/09\/19\/something-fine\/","title":{"rendered":"Something Fine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world outside is tugging like a beggar at my sleeve
Oh, that’s much too old a story to believe<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve been meaning to write about this song for the past month.<\/p>\n

No, that sounds like It was at the end of a list, that I never worked myself to the bottom of.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just that "Something Fine" is a mood.\u00c2\u00a0 And the more I listened to the lyrics the less I was convinced I knew what they meant.<\/p>\n

As I write this the sun is setting over the Pacific Ocean.\u00c2\u00a0 Not that I can see the yellow\/orange orb.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just its reflection is appearing on the rooftops and light-colored buildings I can see from my window facing east here in Santa Monica.\u00c2\u00a0 The day is dying.\u00c2\u00a0 Workers are returning to their domiciles.\u00c2\u00a0 Integral participants in a world I’ve opted out of.\u00c2\u00a0 Long ago.<\/p>\n

At some point you know you’re different.\u00c2\u00a0 When you don’t want to leave the gig early.\u00c2\u00a0 When you stay to watch the credits at the end of the movie.\u00c2\u00a0 Suddenly, what’s happening around you is secondary to the art.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s some "Alice In Wonderland" metaphor lurking here somewhere, but I never read that book.\u00c2\u00a0 I was too busy listening to music.<\/p>\n

When you’re a teenager, your world is dictated for you.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re supposed to go to school.\u00c2\u00a0 Make something of yourself.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s always an agenda that you must adhere to.\u00c2\u00a0 Then you graduate, and nobody gives a shit what you do anymore.<\/p>\n

Actually, happened for me first in college.\u00c2\u00a0 When the students surrounding me were getting good grades to get in a good graduate school.\u00c2\u00a0 I could no longer play that grade-grubbing game.\u00c2\u00a0 I stopped at getting into a good college.\u00c2\u00a0 There had to be more meaning than jumping through the delineated hoops of life.<\/p>\n

With each record I bought I was looking for fulfillment.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only fulfillment, but insight.\u00c2\u00a0 As good as the Crosby, Stills & Nash albums were, they afforded little insight.\u00c2\u00a0 Even Neil Young.\u00c2\u00a0 The songs were too minimalist.\u00c2\u00a0 But when I heard those Jackson Browne songs, whole stories played in my head.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a 3-D vision.\u00c2\u00a0 These were people starring in a play that I could relate to but was distant from.\u00c2\u00a0 These records play anywhere, but they’re made in California.\u00c2\u00a0 You can really understand them only if you’re in California.\u00c2\u00a0 When the fall doesn’t represent death, when you’re not hunkering down, but you’re just experiencing a subtle mind shift.\u00c2\u00a0 From being outside, having fun, to thinking.<\/p>\n

Oh, we think in California.\u00c2\u00a0 Not the same way you do on the east coast.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re not changing the world, we’re just trying to figure out our experience of it.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re not looking to dominate, we’re looking for context.\u00c2\u00a0 As I sit here on a dying almost fall day I wonder what the future holds.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, that would imply that the future is going to happen to me.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not old or accomplished enough to just kick back and enjoy the ride.\u00c2\u00a0 I want to steer.\u00c2\u00a0 At least a little bit.<\/p>\n

But I’m not exactly sure where I want to go.\u00c2\u00a0 Alternately everywhere, and nowhere.<\/p>\n

My favorite records don’t feature hooks, they feature mood.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re as alive as touch.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re another person by the fire.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re not background, but foreground.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re my best friends.<\/p>\n

"Something Fine" sounds like a conversation after breakfast.\u00c2\u00a0 A late night talk on the east coast, but seemingly everybody in California has no 9 to 5 job.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re home.\u00c2\u00a0 Our lives are more question than answer.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s the way "Something Fine" sounds.<\/p>\n

The papers lie there helplessly
In a pile outside the door
I’ve tried and tried, but I just can’t remember what they’re for<\/em><\/p>\n

Exhaustion.\u00c2\u00a0 Exasperation.\u00c2\u00a0 Neither of those words accurately describe the mood of the song when these lines are sung.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s almost like there’s been a death.\u00c2\u00a0 Or maybe it’s that point of diversion.\u00c2\u00a0 When you leave what you know and make your own way.\u00c2\u00a0 Is "Something Fine" a reminiscence?\u00c2\u00a0 Or is it a breakup?\u00c2\u00a0 Is it a dope song?\u00c2\u00a0 Or should one read the lyrics straightforwardly?<\/p>\n

The future hides and the past just slides
England lies between<\/em><\/p>\n

And there you have it.\u00c2\u00a0 Stuck in the middle with you.\u00c2\u00a0 Or maybe alone.\u00c2\u00a0 Isn’t that always the question.\u00c2\u00a0 Are we integrated, or is life really a solo trip?<\/p>\n

I’m going to have to write about "Something Fine" again.\u00c2\u00a0 Get deeper into the lyrics.\u00c2\u00a0 Now I’m thinking of sitting in my dorm room in college.\u00c2\u00a0 Before iPods, staring out the window just like I am right now.\u00c2\u00a0 On a dying gray day.\u00c2\u00a0 Feeling like it was yesterday, knowing it was a long time ago.\u00c2\u00a0 The memories are vivid, but I’m not sure I’ll ever return.\u00c2\u00a0 And I know it won’t be the same.\u00c2\u00a0 Because the people will be gone.<\/p>\n

I meet new people every day.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s the old ones that matter.\u00c2\u00a0 The memories.<\/p>\n

I wish everything didn’t change.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s good to have a touchstone.\u00c2\u00a0 Records are my touchstone.<\/p>\n

(Listen to a live version of "Something Fine" at: http:\/\/www.archive.org\/audio\/etree-details-db.php?id=24407<\/a>
It’s under "Audio Files".\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the tenth track down.\u00c2\u00a0 Click on the blue number 5.7M in the column all the way to the right, under the heading "VBR MP3".)<\/p>\n

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The world outside is tugging like a beggar at my sleeveOh, that’s much too old a story to believe I’ve been meaning to write about this song for the past month. No, that sounds like It was at the end of a list, that I never worked myself to the bottom of.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-2x","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}