Your little hoodrat friend makes me sick but after I get sick I just get sad.
Because it burns being broke and it hurts to be heartbroken
But always being both must be a drag.
She's been calling me again. She's been calling me again.
Your little hoodrat friend's been calling me again.
And I can't stand all the things that she sticks into her skin.
Like sharpened ballpoint pens. And steel guitar strings.
She says it hurts, but it's worth it.
Tiny little text etched into her neck it said "Jesus lived and died for all your sins."
She's got blue black ink and it's scratched into her lower back.
It said: "damn right I'll rise again."
Yeah, damn right you'll rise again.
I've been dusted in the dark up in Penetration Park.
I've been plastered. I've been shaking hard and searching in a dirty storefront church.
I've been plowed, but I ain't ever been with your little hoodrat friend.
What makes you think I'm getting with your little hoodrat friend?
Your little hoodrat friend got me high though.
We were 17 and stuck up in Osseo.
She said it's funny even true love gets troubled by Stillwater
and washed up in the Mississippi River.
Her claddagh ring was pointed at the people.
She said "St. Theresa comes to me in dreams."
She said "I ain't gonna do anything sexual with you.
I'm kinda saving myself for the scene."
I've been dusted in the dark up in Penetration Park.
I've been plastered. I've been shaking hard and searching in a dirty storefront church.
I've been plowed, but I ain't ever been with your little hoodrat friend.
What makes you think I'm getting with your little hoodrat friend?
She said: City Center used to be the center of the scene.
Now City Center's over, no one really goes there.
Then we used to drink beneath this railroad bridge.
Some nights the bus wouldn't even stop.
There were just way too many kids.
I was waiting for my ride and I got jumped from behind.
I got punctured. I got stopped by the cops.
They found it in my socks, and I got probed.
But I ain't ever been with your little hoodrat friend.
What makes you think i'm getting with your little hoodrat friend?
-- The Hold Steady, "Your Little Hoodrat Friend"
Eight more hours in Philly... I can't believe at my age (50) that I can this excited about rock and roll.
ReplyDelete"Damn right I'll rise again."
I assume you mean you're seeing these guys in concert in five more days? If so, that's awesome... especially because I'm seeing my first-ever Hold Steady show on Friday night, right here in my home town at one of my favorite venues. I even get to experience it with my fiancee-- an ardent Hold Steady fan. (That means she's a keeper.)
ReplyDeleteI don't get too excited about concerts anymore. I mean there are some that I'll go out of my way to see: U2, The National, Bill Mallonee, and I'm looking forward to Radiohead next year. But The Hold Steady is a band that I'm willing to travel to see. I saw them two times this past year. Incredible show - energy from the band AND the crowd. I guess all I'm saying is, I'm jealous I won't be seeing them this time around.
ReplyDeleteI just saw them in Philly, and I may not have never seen a better show.
ReplyDeleteThe Creation festival had never moved me that much. The only thing that might rival it is Sufjan Stevens at the Festival of Faith and Music two years ago.
On stage with The Hold Steady in Philly last night! I'm not sure if it's an overstatement to call them the best band in America.
ReplyDeleteJust go see 'em when they come to your town.
I am tremendously psyched about this concert. When I saw The Hold Steady back in March (http://andywhitman.blogspot.com/2007/03/halleluiah-and-other-casualties.html), I have to say that the "best American band" tag certainly occurred to me. But then, I haven't seen a lot of great American bands. Still, the interaction of the band with the audience was a sight to behold. If nothing else, "band with a rapid cult following" seems to apply. In this case the cult sang along with every word, and, as is obvious from the lyrics I quoted, there are a whole lot of words to sing.
ReplyDeleteThat should be "rabid," not "rapid." This is what happens when you type too rabid, er, quickly.
ReplyDeleteAndy - I kind of like "rapid cult following".
ReplyDeleteHere's a link (don't post if not allowed) to some Philly Hold Steady love and a tough-to-find mp3 of THS covering Led Zep's "Hey Hey What Can I Do".
http://teenkicks.blogspot.com/
Have a great time tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if I'll be able to make it.
Exactly 24 hours until I see The Hold Steady's Halloween show here in Chicago. I am ridiculously excited. Having missed them at Lollapalooza, I'm ready for a night of some rock redemption.
ReplyDelete