Suede – The Drowners
I have covered but two of my three favorite songs in previous blogs, even though I’ve been writing for more than a year. As I promised long ago to introduce you to all three of them, I think it is high time I finished the job.
So slow down, slow down,
You’re taking me over
And so we drown, sir we drown,
Stop taking me over
Currently Playing: Suede – The Drowners
The opening drum hits are hypnotic. It’s rare for a drummer to do anything terribly melodic, or memorable, or even at all original, but Simon Gilbert managed to accomplish all three of those feats in the initial four bars of this, the band’s first single. And then comes Bernard Butler’s guitar. He is hands down my favorite of all the Brit pop/ indie rock era guitar heroes, ranking above even Jack White, and his solo in “The Drowners”, which you can hear beginning at about 2:25 if you click the above link, is my favorite thing he ever recorded.
I can’t listen to Suede without feeling at least a little bit melancholy. In many ways, my “grown-up” musical life began with my discovery of Suede. I was utterly bored with modern music. Rap had begun to suck, and American rock was all about grunge. Nirvana achieved something amazing, and I was definitely into that sound for awhile, but a year or so had passed, and the music industry had begun to find ways to again co-opt something brilliant, and in the process ruin it. Then I heard “The Drowners” and my life changed. Everyone has that one band, or song, or moment, where music altered their perception of the world, and Suede was it for me. Theirs was the perfect combination: in lead singer Brett Anderson, Suede had the perfect mixture of the sexual mystery of Bowie and the literate swagger of Morrissey (though perhaps more importantly, a singer who realized that a truly great pop star is often a provocatively ridiculous character; but the band had the ability to kick ass, thanks to aforementioned guitar hero Bernard Butler.
Suede was my band. They soared to great heights almost immediately– they were named Britain’s band of the year before they even released a single– their debut album won the Mercury Prize (Britain’s top musical honor), released hit song after hit song, and then, they imploded. Butler left the band, and the release of their second full-length album, Dog Man Star, was in doubt. Its release was among the most bittersweet moments of my life; it was better, much better, than their already-amazing debut– perhaps the best record I’d ever heard. But that was it. No more Suede. Or was there? I’m getting off-topic. I’ll continue this narrative someday in a future blog.
Enjoy “The Drowners,” and try to see if you can figure out what the lyrics mean. Hint– they are hella gay.
Won’t someone give me a gun?
Oh well it’s for my brother
Well he writes the line wrote down my spine
It says “Oh, do you believe in love there?”
If you write a line down someone’s spine, where do you end up? Exactly.
Today’s Question: Do YOU believe in love, there?
My favorite part is towards the end, when Anderson is repeating the line “you’re taking me over,” and then shifts to “stop taking me over” as the music opens up one last time. Good stuff.
Music
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British, Britpop, Indie Rock, Music
Suede rocks. Thanks for introducing us to them! Your blog is a never-ending source of great new music.
Cool colors .come and visit my site sometime and leave a comment if you want to.
wow…new post and new music…nice
Am I the only one who is gonna comment on the butt sex reference?
not really a big fan… but this song is pretty chill… ;]
This song is sooo awesome. Thanks for sharing it with us. =)
This rocks!
nice song peasport ummm yea…
chitaliano’s bro
@icecrepas, butt sex??