Pink Drink

Taken from "Suitcase 1" 2003

"I saw you yesterday
Looked like you were running away
You seemed so uneasy
That's not the way to please me
We gotta go to the harm tonight
We gotta get our minds alright

Doesn't hurt to have a taste
Haven't got a life to waste
With pink drink
We bear witness to the sound
Gotta lotta points to sell
Closer up than anyone can tell
With pink drink it's much better
And so much more fun

Who's gonna pull the magic string
Sitting on the throne of the lonely king
And it's not who we blow
But who we blow off
That smooths our heads in a pink cloud
The world's so stiff in its usual form
But our spin shakes like a tube in a storm, yeah"

A jolly strumathon from the aborted classic "The Power Suck" (aborted because it was turning out to be too good if Im not mistaken). I wonder what interesting drink this Pink Drink is? Sounds like a wonderful cocktail to me. Could drink one now.

Cold War Water Sports

Taken from "Selective Service" 2001

"Grand filled father fake maneuver
It chills the bones in most mothers
But who's choosing
Latter day saint's are bruising
Expectations great
Still they make a moon pie
Nice and high like bottle rocket
But I'm not begging
I'm asking rather politely
Wealthy minglers
Cold War Water Sports
Johnny come never
He's increasing the frankenstein
loosing the the free association
Cold sensations"

A sluggish downbeat number from the split Airport 5 and Guided By Voices "Selective Service" EP. A very basic song with what sounds like a simple drum machine and a bass loop. Some interesting lyrics going on and the refrain of "Cold War War Water Sports" sort of reminds me of my little trip to Czech Republic. Love the "Cold Sensations" ending and sung in a very different way by Mr Pollard.

Spring Tiger

Take from "Get Out Of My Stations" 1994

"In the evening
She calls for time
A beckoning
Upon each cozy corner
Talking ones a cocking hit
Oh oh
In the morning
She crosses lines
Of cocking pitch
A fatting moment
A child in chime
A locking hitch
Oh oh
If you chance to break your neck
Upon the slippery what the heck
Your older will stand in line
And break their necks all the time
Oh oh
And so take another drink
Everybody please stand back
And pray godspeed and dare to move
La la la lo lo lo
Oh oh
Gurgling, gurgling all the way home"

A softer track from Pollards canon with a lovely guitar sound and a crackly warm feeling to the sound with almost whispered vocals. A nice song. Its really hard blogging from Czech Replublic as the keyboards have the keys in the wrong places. lol.

The Terrible Two

Taken from "Suitcase 1" 2003.

"We're gonna drive your Thunderbird through Canada
I'm not supposed to tell you
Up to the tundra, I'm focused in my development
I'm not supposed to tell you
Don't leave any notes for Birgit
She don't have to know
One foolish life in the snow

I've got tickets to the circus of delirium
I'm not supposed to tell you
Complements of the fabulous freebird
I'm not supposed to tell you
Don't leave any clues for Betsy
She don't have to look
One silly page in the book

Take the time to stumble
Show them faith in something larger in your life

Don't leave any clouds(?) for Carol
She shouldn't have to cry
Where is the spark in your eye?
This is the day that we fly
Don't waste your time on goodbye"

My first "Pollard A Day" from the Czech Replublic. A crunchy lo-fi affair that reminds me of another song and Im sure Ive heard these lines elsewhere. Good song, in a throwawy type way.
*UPDATE* Was hard blogging from a small computer with a wonky keyboard in the middle of Prague so have updates the blog with lyrics etc. Tried to keep on top of it as much as possible but tough when your sight seeing.

50 -Year-Old Baby

Taken from "From A Compound Eye" 2006

Lyrics Unknown.

An industrial repetivie beat plays in the background to distorted Pollard vocals and fuzzy guitar in a song that more groove than melodic song. Its amazing how he can change styles at the drop of a hat yet remain quintinsentially Pollard in his sound. Hey, on October 31st Pollard will be a 50 Year Old Baby won't he? We share the same Birthday BTW. How cool is that?

Trashed Aircraft (Demo)

Taken from "Delicious Pie And Thank You For Calling" 2003

A Demo version of a song that was due to appear on "Do The Collapse" if Im not mistaken and also crops up in another version on one of the Suitcase collections. A choppy guitar led track with a nice hook and an almost Bluesy feel. Lots of reaccuring images of Aircraft appear in Pollard songs and titles. Is he a secret Plane spotter?

Look At Your Life

Taken from "Lightning Head To Coffeepot" 2005

"SEND PICTURES OF THE SLIDES IN YOUR LIFE
YEAH LOOK AT YOUR LIFE
YEAH LOOK AT YOUR LIFE
AT LEAST YOU TAKE THE TIME TO WRITE
I SAID LET YOU DECIDE
YEAH I LET YOU DECIDE
EACH DAY A LITTLE BETTER
I LIE AWAKE
WHERE MANY A GOOD FRIENDS DIES AWAY
MAYBE SOMEDAY THEY’LL STAY..."

Another good song from the Moping Swans with a fantastic guitar solo. As Ive said before the live band feel of these recordings if very very good. I love the soft "yeah, look at your life" refrain and the way the song changes from soft to rocking in an instant. A good song indeed.

She's Around

Taken from "All That Is Holy" 2006

Lyrics Unknown.

Mr Pollard mumbles over a staccato country sounding hoe down. And that about it really. I must admit Im not a fan of the Psycho and The Birds material, theres the odd hint at a good song but most of it is throwaway studio outtakes and is a bit messy and chaotic. Give me a proper tune anyday.

A Minute Before Evil Street

Taken from "Suitcase 2" 2005

Lyrics Unknown.

An odd minute of lo-fi madness. Starts like its going to be an instrumental before the drum pounds away and Bob sings some strange lyrics about "tongues" and "evil street". Im sure its doesnt mean anything. Sounds like a part from another song or an idea for something bigger. The last couple of songs have been a bit "obscure" cant wait to hit some classic stuff.

Do The Ball

Taken from "Suitcase 2" 2005

Lyrics Unknown

Is this just Pollard and some of the boys messing around? A screechy minute and a half of what sounds like jamming under the influence. Love the bit where you hear bob say "Hey! Record it." at the end but the rest of it is just a shambles of wailing and a bass and guitar. Not a song really.

She Goes Off At Night

Taken from "Earthquake Glue" 2003

"she goes off at night,
never in the day,
to jesus knows where,
and seek vibrations,
???,
in grand teacups,
for she is the queen,
where has she been.
step out from the shield,
hiding from the dreams,
where she has to bear,
the realization of never being,
the moon spinning,
with messages burned,
what has she heard."

Its the classic Who crashing drums and guitar at the start of this song and we even get the quick drum rolls and then some lovely soft choruses. Bobs vocals seem a little low in the mix at time but this is a very uplifting song and a great example of an "Earthquake Glue" era song. Some great psychedelic lyrics in there also. You cant beat a teacup reference in a song.

The Drinking Jim Crow

Taken from "Sandbox" 1987.

"Ahhhhhhh, I have emotional scars
Ahhhhhhh, I don't understand what your saying
Ahhhhhhh, It's an accomplice of mine (Drowning in the commerce of life)
Feeeeling somethings going to blow
and watch where you go
I'm the drinking Jim Crow"

Lets take a step back in time right to the beginnings of Guided By Voices with the "Drinking Jim Crow". A good song that really showed the potential of Guided By Voices and what they would turn into. The melody and feel is all there. The earlier recordings to me are always a curiosity, as whole albums they sometimes feel a bit lost but take the songs out individually and each stands on its own merits.

Unleashed! The Large Hearted Boy

Taken from "Demons & Painkillers" 2003

"In a world you think you understand
stay put and tune to another planet
It’s up to you to stay put
the shoe is on the other foot
Driven to the fields
whipped like a slave
ready for out.
Ready for the .beast unleashed
large hearted boy"

A Rocking version of an old "Propeller" song that can be found on the "Hardcore UFOs" Box set, co-written by Mitch Mitchell if I recall this song is a simple blast through semi-punk territory and seems to reference "Another Girl Another Planet" in both melody and lyrics. A live favourite in the GBV years if Im not mistaken.

7th Level Shutdown

Taken from "Choreographed Man Of War" 2001.

"Another day gone
Another chance rolling over
Another day gone
Another night I cannot remember
I'm trying but it's just another blackout
Another day gone

I should have come over
I couldn't break the shining chain
Of all the things that you wrote me
You wanted to be alone
And I don't want you to be alone

Another day gone
Another night, seventh level shutdown
Another day gone

I should have come over
I couldn't break the shining chain
Of all the things that you wrote me
You wanted to be alone
And I don't want you to be alone
And I don't want you to be alone
And I don't want you to be alone"

I love the production on the Guitar at the start of this song and then the drum and bass kick in and its a lovely rolling melody and a classic vocal where Pollard rolls the words around his mouth and wraps the feelings around your heart. A wonderful song and one of my favourites which mixes all the best bits of Pollard songwriting.

A Trophy Mule In Particular

Taken from "Earthquake Glue" 2003.

"I wince when you map out,
how to get it together,
and collect my troubles,
and brave the weather.
unlocking a freak bag,
of stolen images,
an organized zoo,
and earthquake glue,
a challenge,
what to go for,
and celebrate.
with the stock market tumbling,
and the rock market crumbling,
so where am i now,
for i am a soldier,
a trophy mule.
i went when you map out,
how to get it together,
and collect my troubles,
and brave the weather. "

Almost the title track from "Earthquake Glue" one of the final albums recorded under the Guided By Voices name is a mini-epic of changing tempos and melodies. A love the bit where the song expoldes and the main riff begins. Good song for a good album.

Hold On Hope

Taken from "Do The Collapse" 1999

"Every street is dark
And folding out mysteriously
Where lies the chance we take to be
Always working
Reaching out for a hand that we
can't see
Everybody's got a hold on hope
It's the last thing that's holding me

Invitation to the last dance
Then it's time to leave
But that's the price we pay
when we deceive
One another/animal mother
She opens up for free
Everybody's got a hold on hope
It's the last thing that's
holding me

Look at the talkbox in mute
frustration
At the station
There hides the cowboy
His campfire flickering
on the landscape

That nothing grows on
But time still goes on
And through each life of misery
Everybody's got a hold on hope
It's the last thing that's holding me"

I love this song. I know of lot of "true-fans" dont like this period of Guided By Voices but this song is just lovely and just shows you another side to Pollards music when given a big scale production and a few strings. Its an immensley uplifting song and every chord and word just lights up the soul. This is the sort of song Oasis and the Gallagers wish they could write and its the sort of song Pollard can write whilst sat on the toilet. Quality.

Punk Rock Gods

Taken from "Not In My Airforce" 1996

"Punk rock gods
Your product is now available
Your wishes are not coming true
But you have quite fabulous stamina
So smear it around
Vrrrooom it around"

Another acoustic track. If your expecting snarly Punk you aint going to get it here. Is it a tribue to Punk bands who keep in going long past their sell out date? Who can say. Not a bad little ditty.

Delayed Reaction Brats

Taken from "Tigerbomb" 1995

"Innocent or sweet
Shooting missiles in the street
They are deceiving
Seeing isn't hard but not believing
You've got the right to bite
The hind that feeds you
Delayed reaction brats
With all your multicolored hats
Are you excited?
But what's been building up
To be ignited?
You've got the right to fight
The hind that bleeds you, needs you"

From the famous Tigerbomb EP, home of many a Guided By Voices classic. This really has the rough and ready sound of classic era Guided By Voices. Is it a song about being naughty as a kid, more mis-spent youth and shennanigans. A good song with a very memorable Guitar hook.

It's Easy

Taken from "Suitcase 1" 2003

"Say oops I missed on LSD
With the figures of conspiracy
Crawling up to you
It's easy
To make a point and prove a point
It's all that you can do
It's easy
It's easy, easy"

A short acoustic demo of a song that never made it. Slightly muffled with a bit of a bum note in there and overall a bit inconsequential. I blame the LSD he missed.

Lips of Steel

Taken from "Sandbox" 1987.

"It's unreal you to tell me what I'm feeling
Strong emotions bouncing off the ceiling

Show me how far you can go
As close as I can get
As much as I will know

Stretch the truth and
Tell me I'm not dreaming
Trust your leaders
Superman with lips of steel

Show me how far you an go
We've got to get real close, now
Let's go see the show

We are on our way
We believe what you say

Ladies and Gentleman, Back by popular demand
for your entertainment and spirtual enlightment
Electric Jam Soul Aquariam"

A perfect 1 minute 30 pop song from the early years of Guided By Voices. A pastiche of "You really got me Going" and other British Invasion type songs and hard to believe this was recorded on an 8 track proabably in someones garage. Nice little talky bit at the end which again echoes R.E.M. again. Its amazing how a band so clearly influenced by R.E.M. is a band that sounds so unique themselves.

Perch Warble

Taken from "Suitcase 1" 2003.

Lyrics Unknown.

A strange demo of a wobbly vocal track, there is a good melody in there amongst all the layers of smog (a better and clearer version can be heard on "Suitcase 2" which will probably crop up later on "A Pollard A Day"). Its quick a weird little song and I kind of like it as it stick in my mind with that strange vocal effect.

Baba O'Riley (Live)

Taken from "Who's Not Forgotten" 2004.

A bit of a muffled Live recording of Guided By Voices doing a cover version of The Who classic "Baba O'Riley" and despite the low quality recording this version does Rock and you can feel Bobs passion for the song and The Who. I love the original version of this song but I feel this live recording has more energy and more power. Theres also a great live version of this song on YouTube of Bob and Pearl Jam rocking out to this

Baba O'Riley Live Angle 1
Baba O'Riley Live Angle 2

Rumbling Joker

Taken from "Waved Out" 1998

"Rumbling joker hides a lot
Rumbling joker lies a lot to you
Leads a calibrated life
Never does it rudely, foolishly
Cool inside

May we always cry
May we drink them dry
May we wake up small and pale
Asking very good questions
Justifying an existence
In the belly of the whale

Rum professor gathers wounds
Hidden in the frozen dunes by the highway
And a sour arrangement cries
Dead before the ink dries
I’m not surprised
Bruised inside"

A very dour and downbeat Pollard solo song which conjures up a sad feeling. Cry,Dry,Small,Pale etc all downbeat terms and the imagery of "the belly of the whale" is very strong. A good song and a nice change in pace from some of his more experimental or upbeat recordings.

U.S. Mustard Company

Taken from "From A Compound Eye" 2006.

Lyrics Unknown.

Taken from "From A Compound Eye" and the honour of being the most played song on my iTunes and iPod, "U.S. Mustard Company" is a wonderful song and one of Bobs absolute classics, a simple uplifting track with some lovely guitar playing and vocals that are just perfect. Again, this song has a hint of R.E.M. in it and could easily fit onto "Out of Time" or "Automatic For The People" but is also so uniquely Pollard at the same time. This is the song to play to non-GBV/Pollard fans to get them into him. Where is the U.S. Mustard Company?

Evil Speakers

Taken from "Alien Lanes" 1995.

"I am breathing, yet I feel no sky
Things without wings have begun to fly
Unhitched trailers---I see trailers trail
From the well i pull an empty pail
Little man bleeding, little heart beating so
Evil speaker blow my circuits---oh no
Brothers, sisters---all transistors, you know
Father logic sometimes gets cosmic, you know"

Ah, Classic Era Guided By Voices. A lo-fi 60 seconds masterpiece of choppy psychadelic rock. When I first heard this sort of music it blew my tiny Indie mind. A good song but not one of the best on "Alien Lanes". Im sure I have Evil Speakers. They look at me strange, just sit there and stare.

At The Farms

Taken from "Tonics And Twisted Chasers" 1997

"Well the simpleton at arms
Is protecting the village's prettiest girls
But now they're running far away
Because the washing isn't done
And they lived a life of grounding
In a closet at the foundation
And now they aren't available
To the simpleton at arms
And returning thus to the simple life
(At the farms)"

I love it when Robert Pollard plays a melancholic song and this is one, and in the same mould as "Dayton, Ohio-19 Something And 5" and just feels like a hark back to childhood and the simple life with a very McCartneyesque vocal. Tonics does have some shingin gems on it doesnt it?

Knock 'Em Flyin'

Taken from "Mag Earwig!" 1997

"When you're called to the plough
You will always slide inside her
If you work really hard
You will lose yourself and wrong her
Wait a little longer
Plough when you feel it
It's your right-tonight
And take it slow
If you grow it will you try it
You'll be so inspired to go out
And bring back the only one who matters anyhow"

A lovely stop starty but well produced mini-classic from Guided By Voices. The song, as is the way with a lot of Pollard tracks, is very staccato at the start but eventually gets going towards then end, just as the fade begins. Hes a crazy guys that Pollard, loves to mess with us. The lyrics to me come across very saucy and could be interpreted in a very sexual way. Or is it someone just enjoying a bit of farm work?

Drugs and Eggs

Taken from "Suitcase 2" 2005

Lyrics Unknown.

A nice gentle song from from one the Suitcase complitions and another song that features Eggs oddly enough. A great poppy chorus and some lovely acoustic guitar playing mark out this song. I do enjoy the "nerdle nerdle nerdle" sections by Mr Pollard too. A good song.

His Spacetruck Is Strange

Taken from "Suitcase 2" 2005

Lyrics Unknown.

A fuzzed up guitar phases away and we can almost pick up Robert Pollard singing the song muffled in the background. You can just about pick up a killer melody waiting to happen and its a shame the song didn't grow up to be a full track. Another guitar comes in halfway and the song ends sounding like a vacuum cleaner farting. A sketch of a song.

Sons of Apollo

Taken from "Half Smiles Of The Decomposed" 2004

"And just when it appears there's going to be a successful campaign against smut
Just when the Supreme Court seems to be ruling against pornographers
When it appears the nation is returning to old fashioned moral standards
Suddenly the floodgates are going to swing open
And Satan is going to vomit filth out of hell
And it'll be just as it was in the days of Lot
And will vex the souls of God's most devote devout saints

The archers have grown
Bending on back
To the new accuracy
Shoot for white hearts
Ugly supreme
Beating their flags with hiss
Coming of age
To the new day of running

The archers have grown
Bending on back
To the new accuracy
Shoot for white hearts
Ugly supreme
Beating their flags with hiss
Coming of age
To the new day of running
To the new day of running
To the new day of running
To the new day of running

I go free today
I go free today
I go free today
I go free today"

From the final Guided By Voices album "Half Smiles Of The Decomposed" an epic Who like song. I must admit I really do like this song and love the spoken introduction that reminds me a lot of R.E.M. during "Green" period. The megaphone section sounds just like the bit from "Orange Crush" when Bob sounds like a preachers discussing the Moral of the country. The song ends with an acousitc singalong from another song. Good stuff.