Song: "Here"
Artist: Pavement
Album: Slanted and Enchanted
Year: 1992
Length: 3:56
Label: Matador
Rating: 10 out of 10 (for the album on Pitchfork)
Here's the problem with the beautiful ballad that forms the centerpiece of Pavement's transcendent debut album, Slanted and Enchanted. While I absolutely love it, and would under any circumstances consider it a top 10 song of all-time in its original version as appeared on the 1992 album, I actually kind of prefer the sped up version played for a Peel session that appears on the re-released Luxe & Reduxe album from 2002. But since I couldn't realistically give the song two slots in my top 10 of all-time, "here" they are together, at #3. And you can download both versions and see which is better. Much like the rest of the album, it's all fucking great.
Slanted & Enchanted is a left-field classic, a record that came out of nowhere to help establish a new subgenre of rock & roll. Pavement had already sketched out their sound, as well as their amateurish lo-fi aesthetic, on a series of indie singles before recording their debut, but Slanted & Enchanted is where they pulled all of their disparate sounds together into a distinctive style. At first, the primitive sound of the record is the most gripping thing about Slanted, but soon the true innovations of the record appear through the songs themselves. Stephen Malkmus and Spiral Stairs subvert conventional pop structures, turning melodies inside out, reinterpreting and reworking older songs, and bending genres together. It's a complex, enthralling record, filled with fractured riffs, strong melodies, and cryptic melodies, and with all the hiss and static, Slanted & Enchanted sounds like listening to a distant college radio station -- melodies and hooks keep floating in and out of the mix, with individual lines instead of full lyrics surfacing through the murk. This unique song structure as much as the sound of the album itself makes Slanted & Enchanted an individual, signature work and one of the most influential records of the '90s.
#3 Favorite Song of All-Time
I was dressed for success
but success it never comes
and I'm the only one who laughs
at your jokes when they are so bad
and your jokes are always bad
but they're not as bad as this
come join us in a prayer
we'll be waiting waiting where
everything's ending here
and all the sterile striking it defends
an empty dock you cast away
and rain upon your forehead
where the mist's for hire if it's just too clear
let's spend our last quarterstance randomly
go down to the outlet once again
painted portraits of minions & slaves
crotch mavens and one night players
are they the only ones who laugh?
at the jokes when they are so bad
and the jokes they're always bad
but they're not as bad as this
come join us in a prayer
we'll be waiting waiting where
everything's ending here
and all the Spanish candles they sold
away have gone to this
and a run-on piece of mountain
trembles, shivers, runs down the freeway
I guess she spent the last quarter randomly
I guess a guess is the best I'll do
last time last time
was the best time...
we spent randomly
Click forward for a vintage performance from 1992 in Belgium of all places, which is closer to the "alternate" version of the song that I love, and also includes some "alternate" lyrics seemingly made up on the spot by the Patron Saint of Vague Space, Mr. Stephen Malkmus himself.
Why are there no African-American groups in this list? Are you saying black people don't make good music?
Posted by: Mr. T | January 27, 2008 at 04:42 PM
Why are there no African-American groups in this list? Are you saying black people don't make good music?
Posted by: Pandora | May 13, 2011 at 05:22 AM