I had the great pleasure of seeing Toad the Wet Sprocket play Webster Hall in New York City last week. I have always been a big fan of these guys and many of the songs they played were from “Dulcinea,” the band’s 1994 masterpiece.
How can you not love an album that contains a song (“Nanci“) with these opening lyrics: I can’t believe you/You bend your words Like Uri Geller’s spoons.” Smart. Funny. Goddamn brilliant.
“Nanci” is one of my favorite songs on “Dulcinea,” but there are many others. The album’s two radio hits, “Something’s Always Wrong” and “Fall Down” are excellent, as is the opening track, “Fly From Heaven,” which begins with these lyrics:
Paul is making me nervous
Paul is making me scared
Walk into this room and swaggers
Like he’s God’s own messenger
I read somewhere that this song is written from the perspective of one of the apostles, James, and is about Paul the apostle and the struggle of faith after the death of Jesus. Not so funny. Still brilliant.
I lost my copy of “Dulcinea” several years ago and simply could not find it no matter where I looked. Eventually, I stopped looking. As loyal readers of my blog will recall, I parted ways with my wife last year and moved out of my house into a new apartment. One of the few items that I brought with me was an old CD rack system that had been gathering dust in a closet. I hooked it up and hit the “Open/Close” button on the CD player. There, resting comfortably in the CD tray, was “Dulcinea.”
Hello, old friend.
Tags: Dulcinea, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Uri Geller
March 7, 2009 at 4:35 pm |
Funny, the only Dulcinea music I recall is from the musical “Man of La Mancha” (Don Quixote) . . . an interesting archetype, to be sure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulcinea .
And as for Nanci, a name that will go down in infamy (fiancee #1) as a bender of truth, justice and the American way.
April 29, 2009 at 10:56 am |
Dulcinea is definitely a desert island disc. Can’t live without it.