Ceremonial First Post

What makes this song work.

Writing is most interesting when I am in conversation with someone else; I enjoy being a commenter on blogs, substacks, and Notes, but have been thinking that it was worth having a home for longer thoughts.

Because one of the inspirations for starting the substack was having been a guest on Brad Kyle ‘s Tune Tag (“the most fun someone can have on the internet”) I thought I’d start by analyzing a song, and trying to figure out what makes it so compelling.

I was immediately hooked when I heard “Piazza, New York Catcher” by Belle and Sebastian. It doesn’t sound like anythign else on the album and absolutely grabbed me. Reading about the song there are various people explaining the many references in the song. but that doesn’t capture the appeal.

The first thing to note is the sound which is both extremely clear, and easy to understand every word, very intimate. It sounds like he’s whispering in your ear — or, at least, like you’re sitting in a small room hearing somebody in an unguarded moment.

The lyrics have an interesting emotional push-pull dynamic going on. The opening line gives a clear mood, “Elope with me, Miss Private, and we'll sail around the world" Ah, it’s a love song. But then the next lines sound sort of foreboding (the delivery prevents them from feeling sinister; it doesn’t sound like the singer has bad intentions, but they prompt a feeling of concern), “How many nights of limping round on pagan holidays?” That doesn’t sound quite right.

Second verse, same thing. The opening line suggests doing something fun, “San Francisco's calling us, the Giants and Mets will play” and then the next line (and rhyme) introduces an entirely new concern, “Piazza, New York catcher, are you straight or are you gay?” And the trip to the game doesn’t sound very romantic, “We hung about the stadium, we've got no place to stay / We hung about the Tenderloin and tenderly you tell / About the saddest book you ever read, it always makes you cry”

We started this song with a call to elope. We’re thinking about a wedding, and now he’s singing about the saddest book she’s ever read, which always makes her cry?

Then we hear about his anxiousness about being prepared to be a good husband, “‘You'll take care of her, I know it, you will do a better job’ / Maybe, but not what she deserves”

But then we’re back to shared intimacies and in-jokes, “Elope with me, Miss Private, and we'll drink ourselves awake / We'll taste the coffee houses and award certificates”

It’s tender and nervous. Philosophical, and full of doubts, and charming. You root for the back-and-forth to end in happiness (and the song comes to an end before we know how their story ends up)