A digital scrapbook by the author of Steal Like An Artist and other bestsellers.
Smog, “To Be Of Use,” off Red Apple Falls, 1997
To be of use
To be of some hard
Simple
Undeniable useLike a spindle
Like a candle
Like a horseshoe
Like a corkscrewTo be of use
To be of use
cf. Charles Portis: “The trick is to make yourself first useful and then necessary.” (“We had both known the despair of trying to sell things that nobody wanted.”)
Callahan is one of our great American songwriters and one of my all-time absolute favorite musicians. If you don’t know his music, this mixtape is a wonderful place to start.
Smog, “Let Me See The Colts,” off A River Ain’t Too Much To Love (2005)
Let me see the colts
That will run next year
Show them to a gambling man
Thinking of the futureHave you been drinking? No,
Nor sleeping
The all-seeing all-knowing eye is dog tired
And just wants to see the colts
Listen to this song with a pregnant woman’s ears…
Smog, “Our Anniversary,” off Supper (2003)
My wife and I got married 5 years ago today.
Its our anniversary and the bullfrogs
And everything that can sing is singing
its mating songWe are far from flowers
Cut and dried
So let us thrive let us thrive
Let us thrive let us thrive Just like the weeds
We curse sometimes
Supper, by the way, is a very underrated Bill Callahan album, and it’s only $5 on Amz.
Smog, “Let’s Move To The Country,” off Knock Knock (1999)
“Let’s move to the country
Just you and meMy travels are over
My travels are throughLet’s move to the country
Just me and you”
cf. Jonathan Richman’s “City Vs. Country.”
Smog, “Cold Blooded Old Times,” off Knock Knock (1999)
The type of memories
that turn your bones to glass
turn your bones to glassmother came rushing in
she said we didn’t see a thing
we said we didn’t see a thing
Thx, thisismyfavoritesong!
Smog, “Vessel In Vain,” off Supper, 2003
my ideals have got me on the run
It’s called Supper, but I like to play it at breakfast. One of my all-time favorite albums.
Nothing — it’s the city of my heart you are hearing when you listen to my records.
I don’t think I’m a serious musician. I place a great value on music and respect the creation of it. But I never was or became a serious musician. I just started as a curious kid and hope to end as such.
mutant-what-not