Track O' The Week 81 - Wednesday

[mwh]

For this week's track I chose Wednesday. This is a song that doesn't get mentioned a whole lot but has always been a highlight of ABAAC for me. I've always thought this song, especially the chorus, was a classic "I'm putting more into this relationship than I'm getting out of it" song that turns dark, but I'm sure someone will have a different take. Who's in the picture? Why so sad? Why so many cats? So many questions...


There was something in the envelope she passed him
That weighed more to him than paper and some ink
It had a hint of something darker and a hint of something sweet
And a little extra glue right on the tip
There was something in the pain that shot right through him
As he climbed up to the place he called his home
They say every man's house should be his palace
But his castle stank of cat shit and alone

So he opened it and found a faded picture
Of a girl he's never met, but somehow seen
Like a memory of a dream from early childhood
Like a virgin's idea of release

She said "I can bend my arms until they're backward
But you can't bend your will to take in mine
And I could hold my breath until next Wednesday
And still be doing fine"

He was sad in ways he couldn't tell her
Though she could make his sadness all her own
He couldn't see the use in spreading sadness
So he took his dark depression and went home
She saw things in him he never bargained
But it wasn't enough to save either one of them
Because she took that sadness one step further
And left him all alone to face the end

[Tequila Cowboy]

This one is a favorite. I really enjoyed the arrangement that Patterson did with the Screwtopians a couple of years back and am always happy to hear it at a DBT show. I think this song might be the most desperate sounding song Patterson has ever written. It's very sad and even more so in that there is no resolution, no fixing what is wrong. In the right (or wrong) mood this one can bring me to tears.

[BigTom]

One of my favorites too. My favorite version of this song was at the Norva Theatre a few years ago during sound check. During the solo I thought Patterson was going to rip the strings off his guitar. It was the most ripping version I have ever heard. Unfortunately it was a sound check so there are no recordings of it circulating.

[sactochris]

I think the line about cat shit and alone is one of the best lyrics I've ever heard.

[mark lynn]

One of my favorites too. My favorite version of this song was at the Norva Theatre a few years ago during sound check. During the solo I thought Patterson was going to rip the strings off his guitar. It was the most ripping version I have ever heard. Unfortunately it was a sound check so there are no recordings of it circulating.

My favorite version as well. It was on International Talk Like A Pirate Day in 2008. It slayed during the sound check but the show wasn't one of my favorites. This was before they reversed the Norva curse as I think the last 2 shows there were pretty good.
Wednesday has a Mats sort of guitar assault and is one of my go to rock the fuck out songs on my ipod along with Get Out Of Denver from Live Bullet

[PeterJ]

I think the line about cat shit and alone is one of the most best lyrics I've ever heard.

As soon as I saw this was the song of the week, my first thought was, awesome, I can't wait to see what people say about the cat shit and alone line. That line just sticks with me, and I can't wait to hear it when the song starts, but I am so sad for it to be over. I have no idea why either.

[RevMatt]

I think this is one of the most underrated songs in the DBT canon. I am wondering if this was a current song when they recorded it for ABAAC or if Patterson dug up an old Adam's House Cat nugget. Either way, the song deserves more respect than it gets. The lyrics are top notch and the 'Mats inspired guitar work is alsum.

[sactochris]

I think the line about cat shit and alone is one of the most best lyrics I've ever heard.

As soon as I saw this was the song of the week, my first thought was, awesome, I can't wait to see what people say about the cat shit and alone line. That line just sticks with me, and I can't wait to hear it when the song starts, but I am so sad for it to be over. I have no idea why either.

I didn't mean to say most best, that was a typo. Now that I've been quoted I want to make it clear that although often poor, my grammer isn't bad enough to say that.

After hearing that line I decided that Patterson was a genius.

[mwh]

I think this is one of the most underrated songs in the DBT canon. I am wondering if this was a current song when they recorded it for ABAAC or if Patterson dug up an old Adam's House Cat nugget. Either way, the song deserves more respect than it gets. The lyrics are top notch and the 'Mats inspired guitar work is alsum.

It seems like I read somewhere (maybe the liner notes?) where Patterson said that he liked this song because he always thought it sounded like an AHC song and he always liked that band. Makes me think it wasn't that old.

[Iowan]

This is one of my favorite DBT songs. Maybe my favorite Patterson song of all time. It's unrivaled in terms of lyrical genius.

"cat shit and alone" is the stand out, but I always loved this one:

"So he opened it and found a faded picture
Of a girl he's never met, but somehow seen
Like a memory of a dream from early childhood
Like a virgin's idea of release"

The way he equates all of these ideas (someone you have seen but never met, a dream long past, a virgin's understanding of sexual release) of something that you can grasp mentally, but not fully understand is extremely powerful. I shed a tear when I finally caught this one live.

[RevMatt]

He was sad in ways he couldn't tell her
Though she could make his sadness all her own
He couldn't see the use in spreading sadness
So he took his dark depression and went home

God, I've been in this dark place. The isolation. The depression so overwhelming that you shun human contact. One thing that few people talk about when discussing DBT is the dark, emotional places Patterson can go from time to time. He can be as bleak as Ian Curtis, Jeffrey Lee Pierce or Kurt Cobain. But there is always a redemptive quality to his music that those other three never had. Those guys never saw the other side of the dark night of the soul. Patterson Hood has.

I think ABAAC is DBT's darkest album. It is even darker than DD. But it ends with "World Of Hurt" which is the song that spoke to me at my darkest moment.

[n.danger]

He was sad in ways he couldn't tell her
Though she could make his sadness all her own
He couldn't see the use in spreading sadness
So he took his dark depression and went home

God, I've been in this dark place. The isolation. The depression so overwhelming that you shun human contact. One thing that few people talk about when discussing DBT is the dark, emotional places Patterson can go from time to time. He can be as bleak as Ian Curtis, Jeffrey Lee Pierce or Kurt Cobain...

In fairness to KC, I don't think he ever really gave as much a shit about his lyrics, as did we the listener. He came from a self-deprecating place, one in which his only salvation, aside from the substances he used to escape, was realized through the humbuckers on his guitar and the buzz of his Fender Twin Reverb, all brought to life by his little Turbo Distortion pedal.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

It's been a while since I last listened to "Wednesday" but I remember when it first came out that it gave me a very heavy 80s vibe and that the guitar work reminded me a lot of Steve Stevens from Billy Idol's band. If this was the sound of Patterson taking musical risks, I'd love to hear more of that kind of stuff.

[RMD]

I think the line about cat shit and alone is one of the best lyrics I've ever heard.

Agree 100%. One of my top Patterson songs. Brilliant. Was real happy and shocked when DBT tore into it at the Terminal 5 show in NYC couple years ago, pretty sure it was those co-headlining with the Hold Steady shows.

[njMark]

that line like this song is just great, scary how things in DBT songs happen in real life, one of the things i like about there music. Hope this makes sense

[UncleFrank23]

Like a virgin's idea of release

I've always thought this was one of the most amazing lyrics in Patterson's catalog.