Songs From the City - Los Angeles
For those of you who have Rhapsody enjoy. For those of you who don't, these are all great songs that you may or may not like.
“I Hate My Generation,” Cracker, The Golden Age
Jake stands up as the bus pulls around the corner. He looks around his home town for one last time. He wipes the sweat from his eyes, turns aside and spits. He gets on the bus.
“Rip off Train,” The Pretty Things, Freeway Madness
The bus driver plays some damn hippie music. Jake tunes it out, watching his past disappear over the horizon and his future getting bigger and realer.
“Everybody Pass Me By,” Pepe Deluxe, Super Sound
The city is warm and dry for the most part; there are a lot of transients, which is a fancy word for bums and hobos. Jake becomes one for a while, watching the world he craves walk by him. He wonders sometimes if this is really better than his home town, but then he curses and carries on.
“Life in Laralay,” Love and Rockets, Express
He meets Mr. Alke. They drive around the city at night, and talk. Maybe Mr. Alke will give Jake a job. Maybe he won’t. Mr. Alke is that kind of person; he enjoys playing with hopes and dreams.
He gives Jake a job.
“Hope,” REM, Up
Jake has a job and a place now. He’s trying to care about his work. He’s trying really hard. But he’s not very good at caring about anything, and this job is no exception. Still, nobody else really cares either, so his apathy goes unnoticed.
“Diamond Dogs,” Beck / Timbaland, Moulin Rouge
There’s a party all the time at The Club. Jake starts going every night; now that he has some money. Mr. Alke sees him there and smiles. Jakes picking up some expensive habits, but he doesn’t really notice. He dances badly, but he looks good leaning against the bar.
“Political,” Halou, Wiser
Lorna Stands near the bar too. She has a body that slows thought and a smile that breaks spines. She knows it too. Jake sees Lorna and the contours of the story become much clearer.
“Paco,” Ladytron, 604
You might have noticed that this story is a bit derivative. That’s because it’s happening all the time. It’s happening right now. It might be happening to you. Jake feels better. He feels like the city is opening itself up to him. He wonders if he’s falling in love. He goes back to the club trying to find away to get close to Lorna.
“For All These Years,” Tanita Tikaram, Ancient Heart
This is Jakes story. So we don’t get to know what Lorna’s story is. You can see it in her eyes though, if you're patient. Jake can no more understand Lorna than he can swallow the Pacific Ocean. But he’s going to try.
“Breath In,” Frou Frou, Details
Of course it’s not the first part of swallowing the ocean that’s the hard part, is it? Jake does ok for a little while. He makes Lorna smile. She takes him places. He goes. The city seems beautiful, for a while.
“You’re So Pretty – We’re So Pretty,” Charlatans U.K., Wonderland
Jake is on top of the world. No, really. Things couldn’t be better. He’s in the greatest place of all time, doing the greatest stuff of all time, with the greatest woman of all time. He hasn’t noticed that Lorna’s smile has become a little brittle. A little cold.
“When Two Worlds Collide,” Simple Minds, Real Life
This is Jakes story, but he lives in a world. There are a hundred other stories around him. Stories of betrayal. Of murder. Of despair. Even stories of hope. But Jake doesn’t really see any of them because he has one eye fixed on himself and one eye fixed on Lorna, who told him that she didn’t want to see him any more.
“Runaground,” James, The Best Of
She’s gone.
“I Am Sound,” Dandy Warhols, Welcome to the Monkey House
Jake tries to go to the club and tries to work and tries to do all those other things that he used to pretend so successfully to care about. It doesn’t really work; he can’t pull it off the way he used to be able to. So he gets drunk instead.
“On the Beach,” Neil Young, On the Beach
Jakes world becomes full of long afternoons that don’t seem to end. He goes home every night excited, and then five minutes after getting home dreads the time he has to spend alone. So he goes out with people he doesn’t like to places he doesn’t like. The Club seems dirty and small and the music sucks all of a sudden. Mr. Alke smiles.
“Run (Single Version),” Spiritualized, The Complete Works Vol. 1
Jake waits at the bus stop, standing up as the bus rounds the corner. He looks around at the lights of the city and spits. He gets on the bus. He’s going somewhere else. Somewhere that used to be home.
“Over,” Portishead, Portishead
Turning our eye to Lorna for one last look we see her destroying her apartment. Slowly and methodically. She has a lot of crystal a lot of glass. Her feet get cut. After a while she goes to The Club and dances with Mr. Alke.
“Sleepy Town,” Jim White, Wrong Eyed Jesus
The bus pulls over the hill and turns, giving Jake a view of his hometown. It’s beautiful in it’s own way. The sun is starting to come up.
“For the Trees,” Matmos, The Civil War
That night Jake lays on the roof of his old house with a blanket. He looks up at the stars drinking in the universe. After a while, he turns aside and spits.
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