vignettes of the nite LVV: “come on down to the store”

janeharr — Sun, 18 May 2014 05:15:01 +0000

Tonite I listened to Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation, 1988, for the first time in years, and I was reminded of how much I like the song, The Sprawl. Kim Gordon wrote the lyrics, and while there’s been much speculation as to what they mean, according to the band’s biography, Goodbye 20th Century, 2009, they were based on “various mumblings of hookers and junkies on Eldridge Street” that she overheard and compiled. Having lived on Eldridge Street in the late 90s, I found that anecdote especially interesting. She probably lived further north than I did as my loft was in Chinatown just north of Grand St where there were no junkies or hookers (except in nearby Roosevelt Park). Although 10 years earlier who knows…

Anyway, as is my habit I found myself looking for live versions and came across this 1989 performance in Leeds. While the recording is shitty, there’s something extra vivid about the delivery, conveying who the band was then, still raw – witness the audience members freely stage-diving – if already critically acclaimed. Another vid from 2007, shot in HD, obviously offers much better sound quality (for the audience members as well, I’m sure), and is, by contrast, a study in fame and time. Watch them back to back and you’ll see what I mean.

“The Sprawl”

[Kim]
To the extent that I wear skirts
And cheap nylon slips
I’ve gone native
I wanted to know the exact dimension of hell
Does this sound simple?
Fuck you! Are you for sale?
Does ‘Fuck you’ sound simple enough?
This was the only part that turned me on
But he was candy all over Come on down to the store
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and moreI grew up in a shotgun row
Sliding down the hill
Out front were the big machines
Steel and rusty now I guess
Outback was the river
And that big sign down the road
That’s where it all startedCome on down to the store
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
Come on down to the store
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
Come on down to the store
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
You can buy some more, more, more, more