#hiddentracks

I realised I had talked about their bonus tracks, so I’ll quickly wrap up by mentioning two in particular. I haven’t gone too into their lyricism so much; in general their lyrics are quite simple, I think deliberately designed to be open to interpretation.

Paradise, the bonus track for the album it titles, is a simple lifting chorus, voices repeating in unison a simple refrain with a powerful address to oneself contained within it. I’ll play you that to close.

However the bonus track for Yeah So is Boys On Their Birthdays. Check out a very young Charles and Rebecca bedecking in Topman/Shop-esque garb above. The lyrics deserve individual comment; Considering this comes from the first album and was probably written while they were still teenagers they are astoundingly dense.

If dreams come true then you and I would make a two And if I had one more, I'd dream that I stayed on your floor And while my parents were alive They'd say Rebecca knows the time to play the next card to your chest Instantly confessional with the throwaway line of ‘when my parents were alive’ and carrying on to tell a breakneck tale of doomed love. 

You thought about me and you said go I thought about that and I said no You couldn't understand why a girl like me thinks the way I do But I can't stand a boy who thinks things through like you Lets go back to the beginning of the nights that I've been regretting Lets go back to the beginning of the nights I've been regretting

There are tight-knit references to ‘that new Tim Burton movie’ layering it in pop culture as much as poetic references to ‘my beating heart belongs to my drum’ made physical by a steady pound from then until the close.

Rebecca’s voice softly spits out all the consonants of ‘you couldn’t understand’ staccato before slowing down with a major cadence close. In the chorus she shoots up through ‘back’ and floats down and repeats on ‘nights’ and ‘regretting’ with such supple control and delicacy. It’s glorious.

Now with you I always thought we lived behind a front door Right now you don't think that you can live any more And I'll call and call and call and call and call and call and call Anyone on the phone, so tonight I'm not alone Lets go back to the beginning of the nights that I've been regretting Lets go back to the beginning of the nights that I've been regretting

The whole thing is evocative, a kitchen sink drama, a stylistic clash nudged along by soft guitar, the lines full of whimsy and ennui and a sense of entropy, reflexive, sardonic, happy, sad. 

It spoke to 16 year old me in a profound way and i still hear the raw passion, cynicism but sense of humour in it anew when I make it all the way through Yeah So, as periodically happens. I hope you like it now, whenever and wherever you are.

I met a boy who grew up in the mountains He really loved God and got me thinking about things Like appreciating everyone that I can call a friend Seeing life as a group of tests to see through to the end But I'm a quitter, I don't think he knew That I'm still thinking about you I'm a quitter and I'm ashamed He said he'd come back for my brain