Sunday 20 May 2007

The Best Of Jill Hives

Taken from "Earthquake Glue" 2003

"Paid up weathered and type-o,
clad in gladstone watch him go,
swimming beneath the microscope.
hello lonely bless the nation.
mr. skip to all or none,
wooden soldiers fall upon,
try to find what makes her tick,
while their finding out what makes them sick.

i dont know where you find your nerve,
i dont know how you choose your words,
speak the ones that suit you worse,
keep you grounded, sad and cursed,
circle the ones that come alive,
save them for the best of jill hives.

been around and left you flat,
tragically decided that,
every child of god's a brat,
and shes dying to escape them.
but do we really need to see,
all her punchdrunk history,
and which of it might hold the key
for the exit to her destiny.

i dont know where you find your nerve,
i dont know how you choose your words,
speak the ones that suit you worse,
keep you grounded, sad and cursed,
circle the ones that come alive,
save them for the best of jill hives.
number one in all our souls,
trifle in the crystal bowl,
fill it up with 9 to 5,
save them for the best of jill hives."

A single and one of the most well know Guided By Voices songs. I like the way it builds and has some great lyrics. The chorus as to be some of the most wonderful sounding Poetry that Bob has ever written, just read it and its flows so beautifully. Its a good song but not an absolute favourite of mine and I find the vocal effect a bit off putting, its all sibilance and "sesses" if you ask me. Who is Jill Hives?

2 comments:

Morgan Daniels said...

You're a cold-hearted cunt if this song doesn't make you cry sometimes.

jad said...

I read an interview with Bob in which he said that the title comes from a time when he took his car to the muffler shop and was sitting in the waiting area with a barely audible TV on in the background showing the soap opera "The Days of our Lives". Bob couldn't quite make out what was being said and wrote down "The Best of Jill Hives". He said he often comes up with song titles based on notes he makes of dimly overheard background noises and conversations.