The Gaslight Anthem Band • Page 270

Not that I want to be a hot take artist, but I’ve never understood the love affair with The Blues, Mary. It’s a good song to me, but not nearly as beloved by me as by others and I’ve never gotten the “what a mistake leaving this off the album.”

 

Yeah "Have Mercy" is an all timer.

 

hey dave not interested your The Blues Mary slander today or any day for that matter

 

It’s a good song! I’m not slandering anything haha. It would take a lot for me to actually slander a BF song haha.

I even like Mojo Hand haha

 

I love me some "Mojo Hand"! Great song.

"The Blues, Mary" is a phenomenal song. I don't fault him for leaving it off of Painkillers, even though that version of it is my favorite version of the song. I do wish it were a little easier to just pay for a high quality digital version of the song and not have to buy the big vinyl package to get the 7" that I have no way of playing, but that's neither here nor there.

I don't think he made a glaringly obvious bad call in the songs that didn't make Painkillers, I just think it was a very prolific period and I love all of those songs, so I'm very happy that the Georgia EP exists and is easy to find. From a songwriting standpoint, I think those songs are as good as what did make the cut for Painkillers - especially "Low Love" - but they noticeably don't sound quite as good.

 

Blue Dahlia is good but for whatever reason i never loved the chorus.
Desire is fine. Toward the bottom of handwritten for sure though.

 

Mojo Hand rules

 

Agreed but both of those decision pale in comparison to leaving She Loves You, an easy top-10 TGA song, off of Slang

 

1a. Have Mercy 1b. She Loves You 3. Blue Dahlia

 

Have Mercy is the b-side I'd go to bat for. Especially if I can sneak in the Chelsea Hotel ending too

 

I love watching the Have Mercy Reading and Leeds performance with the Chelsea Hotel ending

 

They've mentioned a few times that Get Hurt doesn't feel finished to them. I think that performance is the finished version of Have Mercy. It's so good.

 

Either way I'm thankful for all the bonus tracks and deluxe editions, every extra song we got, I'm glad to have.

 

interesting, i've never heard them say this. was GH just rushed out to fulfil a contract obligation?

 

I have been following the Get Hurt discourse online since the start, I personally love it, but I would say the overall (very general) commentary has shifted a little bit over the years from "this is a disappointment" to "if I can make my own 12 song version of these 16 songs, I would love it".

I'm sure the band would change the tracklist a bit if they were to redo it.

My 12 would be different from others, but I'm glad we have all 16 songs. It's fun to chat about but in the end I want MORE SONGS MORE SONGS. Can always skip those you dislike.

 

Interesting to discuss though - the bonus tracks are great but also I can see how they thought they didn't fit the album as well as some others and were better served to be released that way.

For instance, Stray Paper sound-wise fits the album more, but I like all 4 bonus tracks more than that song, individually.

My hill that I die on is that Stay Vicious is one of my 5 least favorite BF songs ever written.

 

I don't think tacking on a Leonard Cohen song to the end of Have Mercy would be the finished version, but I do agree, it rules

 

I don't mean the Chelsea Hotel bit making it finished, though it rules. But a lot of the instrumentation on the live version feels different along the way.

 

Oh for sure, agreed. I do love Natalie Prass' vocals in the album version, it'd be cool to mash the two together.

 

I like recorded version of have mercy more than the live performance

 

cop

 

I do as well. There's a strong chance "Have Mercy" is my favorite song Brian Fallon has ever written. It is definitely Top 3 for me for sure.

 

I just reread this old article and it's so great:

https://www.theringer.com/music/201...anthem-59-sound-oral-history-10th-anniversary

 

I've been meaning to re-read that

 

I'd never read this before, it's wonderful. Thanks for sharing.