mewithoutYou - [untitled] e.p. & [Untitled] LP (2018) Album • Page 148

Never thought it was cringy. It's a very vulnerable lyric. To me the song seems to be about temptation and him trying to convince himself he's still pure in the eyes of god.

 

I wouldn't say the song is him convincing himself he's pure as much as he desperately wants to be pure. The "(ehh, technically)" clarification to the virgin line implies he's really not pure after all. He just hasn't acted out what's already in his mind. Brilliant song. I still resonate with a lot of it. And if I turn 27 and remain unmarried, I'm going to really resonate with it! Ha.

 

I think I understand what you mean by "wall of sound" in Julia but Paper Hanger reminds me of it in that the song structure is similar (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, etc...) and that it ends on a good buildup and explosive sound. Mexican War Streets is another that has similar song structure that builds and gets louder and louder.

As far as restraint, harmonies, and atmosphere, I immediately think of the spider songs on Brother, Sister and I love them individually, but I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice of listening to them on their own instead of in the order on the album because it's a very creative choice in song sequencing and the lyrics and themes within them and throughout the album really brings the songs to life. Some other restrained and purposeful, beautiful songs are Son of a Widow, East Enders Wives, Aubergine, Dorothy, and Chapelcross Towns.

I've said it a million times in this thread, but I of course highly recommend Brother, Sister all the way through.

Magic Lantern Days is probably the closest thing to the untitled era overall and one of my all time favorite of theirs, so check that one out in particular.

Edit: Oh yeah, if you like Michael on the new album, check out Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt. Musically, it's essentially a sequel to that song and I think they could have called it Everything Was Hurt and Nothing Beautiful, haha

 

@Your Milkshake @Dog with a Blog @SpyKi @Tyler @Lucas27

I became a fan when they were touring for [A->B] Life and I love that album, but until I heard and read those lyrics you're discussing, and some others below, is when they really became something special.

Tie Me Up! Untie Me!

...I was looking at the leaves
Climbing to the tops of the trees
But you were nowhere to be found...

...All this wishing I was dead is getting old
It's gettin' old!
it goes on, but it's old...

...You, my hidden pearl of pure and perfect love
And I'm the living example
Of 100% the opposite of this...

...But you untied me... didn't You untie me, Lord?
And now I haven't even thought about killing myself
In almost five months...

The Soviet

...Besides, how else could I confess?
When I looked down like if to pray
Well, I was looking down her dress...

Carousels

...On a bus ride into town
I wondered out loud
"Why am I going to town?"
As I looked around
At the billboards and the stores
And I thought, "Why do I look around?...

...If there was no way into G-d
I would never have laid in this grave of a body for so long...

All of this screams insecurities, vulnerabilities, and in general, feeling utterly lost. It hit me as an 18 year old who thought they had a decent grasp on things that I obviously had no clue and a lot of the issues he was describing were something I could relate to on every level: religion, existentialism, sexuality, sin, and suicide. A lot of the things that have been said in those conversations are taboo, especially being raised in the south like @Your Milkshake and for me, in a devout Christian household, so when I hear someone being so utterly open and confessional, it hit me that it's okay to have those feelings and that I wasn't alone.

It reminds me of these lyrics as well:

The Sun and The Moon

...find a friend and stay close and with a melting heart
tell them whatever you're most ashamed of - our parents have made so many mistakes, but may we forgive them and forgive ourselves...

I think that small part is a natural progression of those previous lyrics and their ideas in that even though some of those thoughts and actions are devious or wrong or whatever you want to call them, that you have to be able to forgive and love yourself, and that's a hard thing to do. I still struggle with it every day.

I can totally understand why those lyrics can turn some people off or would be weird to show others who aren't as open-minded about stuff like this, but it's those lyrics in particular that I love to show people first because they're so dynamic and powerful that if someone does relate to them or understand them, I know they're in for a ride with the rest of the ideas and imagery throughout their discography.

 

So yeah, this band is pretty decent, I guess.

 

I'm reading through more lyrics and I think I found something interesting. This last stanza isn't in the recorded version of Chapelcross Towns, but is only in the Audiotree version and when they do it live:

...And what there shall we yield
In our own poor devotions?
That pearl from the field
Cast back home to the ocean
Would you cast out my fears
Or at least fix some tea
In our cabbage white kingdoms
Of kings of no history
You can pack up your things
I would still wear your ring...

I bolded those last two lines because, to me, this is a prequel song to 2,459 Miles. I'm guessing that they had the recorded version done and afterward he started having those feelings (or at least was okay to be open about them) added them after everything was done on Pale Horses and then he continued those thoughts on [Untitled].

 

I grew up a Christian but am not anymore, but I'm curious what people think of these kind of these emphatically Christian-based lyrics:

A Stick, A Carrot & String

...And the night was cool and clear as glass with the sneaking Snake in the garden grass, as Deep cried out to Deep, the Disciples fast asleep.
And the snake perked up when he heard You ask: if You're willing that this cup might pass we could find our way back home, maybe start a family all our own...but does not the Father guide the Son?
Not my will but Yours be done!
What else here to do?
What else me but You?
And the snake who'd held the world, a stick, a carrot and a string, was crushed beneath the Foot of Your not wanting anything...

Timothy Hay

...broke the news to Mom, we found a better Mom we call 'God,' which she took quite well, singing:
What a beautiful God, what a beautiful God, what a beautiful God there must be!...

The King Beetle On A Coconut Estate

...And the father explained: You've been somewhat deceived...
We've all called me your dad, but your True Dad's not me.
I lay next to your mom and your forms were conceived, your Father is the Life within all that you see.
He fills up the ponds as He empties the clouds, holds without hands and He speaks without sounds, provides us with the Cow's waste and coconuts to eat, giving one that nice salt-taste and the other a sweet.
Sends the black carriage the day Death shows its face, thinning our numbers with Kindness and Grace.
And just as a Flower and its Fragrance are one so must each of you and your Father become.
Now distribute my scepter, my crown and my throne and all we've known as 'wealth' to the poor and alone...
Without further hesitation, without looking back home, the King flew headlong into the blazing unknown!
And as the Smoke King curled higher and higher, the troops, flying loops 'round the telephone wires, they said: Our Beloved's not dead, but His Highness instead has been utterly changed into Fire!...

I'm not expecting detailed responses to any of this really, but I'll always hold these kind of lyrics close even though I don't believe in any of that stuff anymore, but I really wonder what people think of ones like this if they were never raised in a Christian household or whatever.

 

Love them. They’re absolutely brilliant to a degree that I cannot overstate how much I love them.

 

And I'm super stoked to hear that! Could you expound on that though, since you weren't raised that way, I'm guessing?

 

For clarification, I wasn’t raised in a Christian household, but was more of a nihilist until I became a Christian in my late teens. For more clarification, I’m a Youth Pastor now. Haha.

 

Oh, haha, I wasn't expecting that!

 

What a twist!

 

Love all the lyrics you quoted, but man this section is one of my favorites in mwY’s discography.

 

I grew up a Christian. Consider myself atheist/agnostic if I absolutely had to apply a label. “What a beautiful God there must be” is one of my favorite moments in It’s All Crazy. It has nothing to do with religion or Christianity for me. It’s just so passionate and jovial that I can’t help but love it.

 

You have to apply a label. How will we know whether or not we can interact with each other if not for labels?

But all seriousness, that "Timothy Hay" moment is indelible.

 

Good point my deceased friend. I prolly shouldn’t even talk to you since you label yourself as dead and such

 

And such, indeed.

 

Can't wait for the SLC show on the 4th, only 9 days left!

 

hell yeah! ill be there too!

 

had this pop up in my recommended YouTube videos, so here, have this from 2012, bad audio mix and all:

 

increasingly convinced new wines new skins is one of the best songs they've ever written and the best song on the album.

"if you fail first some warm bright day" is the pinnacle of the album for me heh

 

can confirm

 

have they played New Wine live yet? Did not catch all set lists from leg 1 of this tour.

 

I might have to agree. That’s one of two songs that’s an ear worm for me.

 

they played it in Pawtucket and on the opening night of the tour in Brooklyn - hasn't entered regular rotation yet.