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I still don't understand this song all these years on. It is a behemoth.
To my tastes, it not only towers above everything else on CHz but also stands out in their entire discography. They've never done anything like it. It's the most 'rock' Noah has ever been but that doesn't begin to cover why it's such an incredible outlier.
The beat is pure Tomboy, which makes sense given it came out of the same era of writing sessions, but it's absolutely banging. Hard and lolloping like Bonham but also sticky and very hip hop. Slow Motion comes closest probably but that is nowhere near as idiosyncratic.
The verses, or whatever you might call the structured vocal parts epitomise Dave's comments about how authoritative the Tomboy songs sounded to him. They're almost like a sermon, but delivered to himself. There's such pain in the words and delivery but also such conviction. The repetition. He's drawing a line in the sand.
And all the while you have these strange orchestral stabs slashing at the chords. They sound like knives slicing through guitar strings. You have this ecstatic modulated violin on the keyboard which is unlike any sound they've ever played. It reminds me of Deakin's astonishing guitar line which bursts into Water Curses, but only in that I've never heard anything like it, not just in their music. It winds its way through the entire song - how did they even write this part? And why?!
Noah changes gear, "No more in the wrong place, no more in the wrong time, no more getting through trials in sight" and these drums and strings and keyboards and stabs smash together and start dancing around each other, we hear these distant 'oh oh ohs' and the vocals are suddenly swinging and sassy as fuck, "no more little fights, never more a broke mess at night" and I am bouncing. It's delivered like a psalm, though. Total confidence and wisdom. Where can this song even go from here?
"Out of my..."
And we are somewhere they've never been before.
I said at the time that the chord changes in the middle section were the new Banshee Beat but there's so much more going on here. That winding violin is now wailing with joy and pain, pure catharsis. Those 'oh oh ohs' are like the voices of the dead brought back to life, delivered with no emotion but they make you want to cry.
The string stabs and the bass drive on, and then there is a colossal chord change lifting everything up, holding the entire song aloft for a weightless moment and then piledriving it back into the dirt and I don't even know what the hell is happening now. Years of hurt are coming out, streaming down your cheeks. The 'oh oh ohs' are now reassuring, comforting, we've all been there, we're in this thing together. Let it out.
Almost aware that they've wrought everything from the song, the final section just puts us back on the level. Live, this section was perhaps the high point but even the strained, desperate "lift this weight" feels like reaching for a moment which has already passed. I don't think they'll ever do anything like this again.
I think it has the potential but it never reached that level for me, although yes, it's definitely up there somewhere, and the best CHZ song for me.
