Degenerex Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I started a thread similar to this about Mike Cooley and got a couple people to bite, so why not do the same for his touring buddy over the next month or so? What are your favorite Craig Finn lines? In my opinion this guy is the best lyricist in the world right now. "Every line he ever wrote is amazing," is a correct answer, but it won't be very helpful. I'll start with a simple but great one... "Tramps like us... and we like tramps" A simple line, but genius considering a critic can't get through writing 5 sentences about the band without bringing up Springsteen's name twice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
myboyblue Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 "raise a toast to st joe strummerthink he might've been our only decent teacher" "These kids at the shows will have kids of their ownAnd these sing-a-long songs will be our scriptures" "She's hard on the heart and she's soft to the touchshe gets migraine headaches when she does it too muchshe always does it too much" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mjpuczko Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 probably my fave craig lyric & one of my faves ever:'i've had kisses that make judas seem sincere' others:'hey whiskey, hey ginger, i come to you with rigid fingers' 'we walked across that grain belt bridge, into brand new minneapolis' there's so many more i can't even think of Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 "All you sniffling indies kids, Hold Steady!All you clustered up clever kids, Hold Steady!I got bored when I didn't have a bandSo I started a band, manWe gotta start it with a positive jam, man. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I've been listening to the latest one a lot so: In bar-light, she looked all right;In daylight, she looked desperateThat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Me and my friends are likeThe drums on lust for lifeWe pound it on on floor tomsOur psalms are sing-along songs I could do this all day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 First Cooley, and now Craig Finn. If you throw Brent Best out next, I'll think you crawled inside my brain. The priest just kinda laughed. The deacon caught a draft.She crashed into the Easter Mass with her hair done up in broken glass.She was limping left on broken heels.When she said Father can I tell your congregation how a resurrection really feels? He was drunk and exhausted, he was critically acclaimed and respected.He loved the Golden Gophers but he hated all the drawn out winters. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mjpuczko Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 i love how a resurrection really feels. close to my fave HS song 'she said i've lain beneath my lovers but i've never gotten laid' Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 i love how a resurrection really feels. close to my fave HS song 'she said i've lain beneath my lovers but i've never gotten laid' Definitely my favorite. I haven't heard it in concert yet, though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mjpuczko Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 i saw them once & cannot remember if they played it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Degenerex Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 Still get chills when I hear this - "In the park drinking dark bacardiThinking things are funny when they really ain't that funny. The kids on the corner they keep getting stung. The color of our teeth matches the color of our tongues. In the back bay fens getting gentle. Up against the fence with some guy who looks like mickey mantle. Dirty minds keep coming thru the mud. The color of their eyes matches the color of our blood." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uwmryan Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Let this be my annual reminder that we can all be something bigger My friend and I always talk about getting some hold steady lyrics tattooed - we're just to chicken to do it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I can't think of a lyricist that I like more than Craig Finn right now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CortezTheKiller Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Going to catch them Sunday with Drive-By Truckers, so this is perfect timing. A few favorites:She said it's good to see you back in a bar band, baby. I said it's great to see you're still in the bars. (Accented with a Finn chuckle) Holly can't speak. She don't feel all that sweet. About the places that she sometimes has to go to get some sleep. She said I'm sorry people think I'm pretty. I've been trying to get people to call me Freddy Knuckles. People keep calling me Right Said Fred. She was a really cool kisser and she wasn't all that strict of a Christian. We drink. We dry up. We crumble into dust. We get wet we corrode We get covered in rust. She said my name is Rick Danko but people call me one-hour photo. I've got some hazardous chemicals. Drive around to the window. She said my name is Steve Perry but people call me Circuit City. I'm so well connected. My UPC is dialed into the system. She said my name is Robbie Robertson but people call me Robo. I blew red white and blue right into a tissue. I came right over the counter just to kiss you. You came into the party with a long black shawl. And the guys from the front lawn were making jokes about the white swan. She said you remind me of Rod Stewart when he was young. You've got passion, you think that you're sexy. And all the punks think that you're dumb. The guys around the lockers got a story about the stomach pump. And the guys behind the theater found a body in the garbage dump. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Killer Whales Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I love so many Hold Steady lyrics, but this one in particular has stuck out for me lately: Working backwards from the doctor to the drugs.From the packie to the taxi to the cabbie to the club.A thousand kids will fall in love in all the clubs tonight.A thousand other kids will end up gushing blood tonight.Two thousand kids wont get too much sleep tonight.Two thousand kids they still feel pretty sweet tonight.I still feel pretty sweet. Seeing them on Sunday in Boston. Can't wait! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 i guess i heard about original sini heard the dude blamed the chicki heard the chick blamed the snakei heard they were naked when they got bustedi heard things ain't been the same since. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trevor Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 The priest just kinda laughed,the deacon caught a draft,she crashed into the Easter masswith her hair done up in broken glass.She was limping left on broken heelsand she said, "Father,can I tell your congregationhow a resurrection really feels?" for the win. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 The priest just kinda laughed. The deacon caught a draft.She crashed into the Easter Mass with her hair done up in broken glass.She was limping left on broken heels.When she said Father can I tell your congregation how a resurrection really feels? The priest just kinda laughed,the deacon caught a draft,she crashed into the Easter masswith her hair done up in broken glass.She was limping left on broken heelsand she said, "Father,can I tell your congregationhow a resurrection really feels?" for the win. The imagery in those lines is incredible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
myboyblue Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 "we gotta stay positive" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
explodo Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Alls 'em. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
markosis Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 lost in fog and love and faithless feari've had kisses that make judas seem sincere Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mrrice Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 The cars, the bars, the moonshine in mason jarsthe sex and the Dexitrim swung from the jungle gymand Jane, you're lame, the cocaine's for teenagersthe Bud and the Benzedrine, fucked with the fog machineon and on in the breaking dawn - Sangre de Stephanie Don't bother talking to the guyswith their hot soft eyesyou know they're already takenDon't even speak to all those sequin-surfed beach boyswhen they kiss they spit white noise -First Night Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Degenerex Posted November 9, 2008 Author Share Posted November 9, 2008 oh yeah - Lifter Puller stuff too... our teachers they call her Katrina, but reallywhen you're speeding towards sunrise, Katrina's a bit much to saynow we just call her K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tapmyglass Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 - Sangre de Stephanie yes. thats my favorite Craig Finn songI love the lyrics:"and early on in the breaking dawnwoke up to the sabbath songand her hair was let down but her dress was still onshe crossed herself and it turned me onsaid jesus i'm jumpy" also this from Viceburgh:"the callgirl stalls and lets her voicemail take itshe says hey i ain't here besides i quit that businessthe door was locked so we knocked on the next oneand here's this guy he's got a bullet-proof vest onsaid you guys look desparate,Ill give you an addresssaid you guys look gorgeous, dig all that blistexand headbanger let down your hair, pull me up into your blacklight lairtake me back around your secret stairs, sell me shares in your vacant stare" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 "I went to your schools, I did my detentionBut the walls are so gray, I couldn’t pay attentionI heard your gospel- it moved me to tears,But I couldn’t find the hate, and I couldn’t find the fearI met your Savior, I knelt at his feet,And he took my ten bucks, and he went down the streetI tried to believe all the things that you said,But my friends that aren’t dying are already dead." I'm about to go through a big Hold Steady kick. Can't believe I missed them doing a free show in Miami. How did I not hear about that? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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