St. Vincent Booklet

C H A O T I C

P R E C I S I O N

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VINCENT

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W O R L D

W H ILE

V INCEN T

M AN IC

G EN R E

R I G I D ,

S P E C I F IC

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C R E AT I N G

D EF IES

P RECIS E

01

ST

V I N

N C E N T I

REMEMB ER

E X A C T LY

W HEN

I first heard St. Vincent.

It was right around the time she was finished touring Love This Giant with David Byrne, and “Digital Witness” had just come out. I came across her through reccomendations from friends. After taking their suggestion, I listened to to “Prince Johnny” for the first time. I remember being completely floored. I hadn’t heard Being an outsider, and being queer, I related to all these themes she sang about.

was finally released in January of 2014, I couldn’t stop playing it. I hadn’t felt that connected to an artist in much with their sound yet make it feel accessible.

It was March of 2015, my senior year of high school and it was a frigid, cold day. The only thing that got me out of the bleak state was the fact that I was seeing St. Vincent live for the first time. I had bought my ticket a week prior, and I had literally bought the last ticket before it sold out. I had to convince my parents to let me drive three hours to Providence on a school night. I was so excited to see her, I didn’t eat or drink anything before the show. I carpooled with three friends to Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel. The car ride down felt like the

closer, we waited for what seemed like years for her to come out on stage. We got our way to the front row of the general admission, and I started to feel incredibly sick because I hadn’t eaten or drank anything all day, and my friend Skye noticed this and suggest we go sit in the back instead of stand at the front. I assured her I would be fine, even though I knew I wasn’t. When she finally came out, the adrenaline took control of my body and I forgot how terrible I was feeling. She opened with “Rattlesnake,” and powered through her set with old hits while maintaining her character with weird gestures and dance moves. Then, something bad happened. Right as she starts to play my favorite song on her album “Huey Newton” I passed out. The heat and crowded space made me so sick, and I had to move to the back and get some water to which I was stuck her whole set. Despite the fact that I had lost my spot in the front row, I’ll still remember the show forever. It was a spectacle, a dramatic entertaining show from start to finish. She gave it her all, even jumping from the stage with such intensity that she actually broke a balcony. That night was when I knew St. Vincent was one of the most groundbreaking, innovative and special artists. She has a passion that shows through in her music, and she cares about the craft of every single detail along the way. She is able to articulate the way I feel so simply and poetically; she is a freak just like me and my

ESSAY

years, and hadn’t heard someone be able to do so

longest ride ever, I wanted to just be at the venue and be seeing her live for the first time. The excitement built and built as we got

PERSONAL

and listened to them non-stop. When the self-titled

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I immediately went out and bought all of her albums

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someone that sounded so unique and talked about so many relateable things.

X OS X ET S E T TB O B 0 C EEN N T / 3 S/ T S T V VIINN C

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friends felt in our adolescense and whenever I listen to her I’ll carry that feeling along with me. It brings me back to a time that was was so special and unique to me.

St. Vincent hasn’t always been St. Vincent. Annie Clark, grew up in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. Annie attended Berklee College of Music in 2001, but dropped out Junior Year. Unemployed, and now a college dropout, she moved back home to Dallas until she was granted the opportunity to audition for a backup guitarist role for the band The Polyphonic Spree. She got the part, and toured the world for a few years.

During this time, she gathered material for her stage persona. Her stage name choice was inspired by her grandmothers middle name; St. Vincent, which also happened to be the hospital where poet Dylan Thomas died, one of her earliest inspirations.

Her early work on albums like Marry Me and Actor was just a glimpse of what was to come for St. Vincent. Critics praised her debut, calling it the most inventive debuts of the decade. Amidst the chaos and newfound fame, St. Vincent signed to the label 4AD in 2009, where she tackled the sophomore slump, and released Actor.

St. Vincent was taking a leap forward from her debut. In an interview with Pitchfork, Annie described the inspiration behind her sophomore album: disney. Whimsical arrangements, juxtaposed with creepy lyrics that evoke a feeling that you’re in a Disney-themed fever dream. Actor proved her technical style and experimental flavor.

In 2011, St. Vincent found time to record her third, and most critically acclaimed album. Strange Mercy enters us into St. Vincent’s world unlike how the previous two releases did. Strange Mercy is St. Vincent’s album where she truly pushes the envelope and what we expect to come out of a St. Vincent record.

At this point in her career, She has become a master at creating an ugly-pretty dichotomy. She has confidently stated who she truly is as an artist through her

ALBU M EVER Y

Following the widespread success of Strange Mercy, many critics had no clue what to expect from St. Vincent next. She had solidified her place in alternative music, reaching more audiences with her precise craftsmanship. Over the last seven years, St. Vincent has been shapeshifting with conceptually driven characters and with her self-titled, released in 2014, she delivered nothing less.

She describes this persona as “near-future cult leader.” The album contains rich imagery, and humorous yet clever lyrics. She takes the listener through unexpected turns. In contrast to her previous albums, the lyrics feel more politically charged, referencing the overconsumption of technology in our lives through the track “Digital Witness.”And

E AC H

A N D

“Prince Johnny,”a song about gender transition. This embrace of a more synthy, minimalistic art-rock approach inspired by the internet and the digital age coats the album successfully sounding like herself more than before. Her most recent album, produced

by Jack Antonoff, Masseduction is more raw, and

personal than ever before. The album touches on the archetype of “Dominatrix in a psych ward.” Touching themes of suicide, loneliness, a failed romantic relationship, It explores a more emotional tone with signature St. Vincent kookiness. Touring Masseduction, St. Vincent further explores this idea of character and performance forward. On an average night touring, St. Vincent adorns herself with latex, neon thigh high boots and performs in front of grotesquesurreal visuals of herself and her band members. Masseduction proved that St. Vincent isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Witnessing St. Vincent’s evolution in the last six years, I’ve found a ever-growing appreciation and fondness for her transformation as an artist. Going from listening to her in my high school days, being sixteen and unsure of myself and who I was, to now; revisiting her music through another part of my life, and the beginnings of

WIT H

S H IF T ING S H A P E D EC ADE ,

fan of St. Vincent, is how much she has evolved. She continues to challenge herself musically, and by taking risks, she is able to create something uniquely hers.

my adulthood, she will always possess something more than just an artist to me. She represents my adolescense, my best high school memories, and will always bring me back to that moment in my life. Her emotion, her strangeness, and expressive theatricality that St. Vincent puts forward in her work will always keep me listening, and will always make her so special to me.

ESSAY

L A ST

T HE F O R FO R C E A

persona, describing it as a “housewife on barbituates.” What’s so exciting as a

PERSONAL

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of theefirst times St. Vincent directly lets her audience know about her character

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H AS

Her lyrics and sound are so much more expressive than before. “Surgeon”, is filled with a synthy haziness mixed with deranged, manic guitar. Strange Mercy is one

04

S HE

experimentation in her guitar playing and the creation of absurdist inner-worlds.

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as well as rareities from her self-titled era. These songs are fun enough to play at a party, and on the radio yet dark enough to play at someone’s funeral.

DEATH

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in 2007. Tracks like “Digital Witness,” “Los Ageless,” and Cruel are included,

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D A N C E

DANCE

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accessible pop music to date since the debut of her first album Marry Me

“Dance to Death” is a compilation of St. Vincent’s most experimental, yet

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LO S

04:38

In Los Ageless, the winter never comes In Los Ageless, the mothers milk their young

Cardboard, cutthroats

But I can keep running No, I can keep running The lost sages hang out by the bar

Pleasure-dot-loathing-dot-Huey-dot-Newton

Fuck-less, pawn sharks Toothless but got a big bark Live children, blind psychics

SET

Turned online assassins

BOX

04:41

Fake knife, real ketchup

Burn the pages of unwritten memoirs

It was a lonely, lonely winter ACTOR O F

But I can keep running

OUT

WORK

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02:1 5

You’re a supplement, you’re a salve You’re a bandage, pull it off

So Hale-Bopp, Hail Mary

I can quit you cut it out

Hail Hagia Sophia

You’re a patient, iron lung

Oh, it was a lonely, lonely winter

You’re a cast signed broken arm You’re an actor out of work

Of zeros and ones, you know

You’re a liar and that’s the truth

You know

You’re an extra, lost in the scene

ST

Entombed in the shrine

Oh, we fatherless features, you motherless creatures

/

VINCENT

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Feelings, flashcards

Cowboys of information

You know

07

AGEL ESS

Oh, perpetual lying, always terribly frightening, You know, you know Oh, you got the pop in the hiss In the city of misfits, you know Safe, safe, and safest Faith for the faithless Oh, dim, dim and dimmer

No, I can keep running [CHORUSx2]

How can anybody have you?

How can anybody have you and lose you?

How can anybody have you and lose you And not lose their minds, too?

The last days of the sunset superstars Girls in cages playing their guitars But how can I leave?

I just follow the hood of my car

You’re a boxer in the ring

In Los Ageless, the waves they never break

With brass knuckles underneath

They build and build until you don’t have no escape

You’re the curses through my teeth

But how can I leave?

You’re the laughter, you’re the obscene

I just follow my hood to the sea, go to sleep

You’re a supplement, you’re a salve

[CHORUS]

You’re a bandage, pull it off I think I love you, I think I’m mad

Oh my Lord, oh, we really did it now I’m a monster and you’re my sacred cow But I can keep running No, I can keep on running

Sucker for sinners

[CHORUS]

Oh, perpetual lying, always terribly frightening,

I guess that’s just me, honey, I guess that’s how I’m

You know, you know

built I try to tell you I love you and it comes out sick

You got the pop in the hiss

I guess that’s just me, honey, I guess that’s how I’m

In the city of misfits Oh, safe, safe, and safest Faith for the faithless

built I try to write you a love song but it comes out a lament

D I G I TA L

WITN ESS

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03:22

Get back, to your seat

[CHORUS]

Digital witnesses, what’s the point of even sleeping?

What’s the point of doing anything?

This is no time for confessing I want all of your mind People turn the TV on, it looks just like a window, Yeah People turn the TV on, it looks just like a window, Yeah [CHORUS]

People turn the TV on and throw it out the window Get back to your stare I care, but I don’t care

YO U ’ R E

M Y

Oh oh, I, I want all of your mind Give me all of your mind I want all of your mind Give me all of it [CHORUS]

M ASS EDU CTION

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03:37

Black saint, sinner lady Playin’ knockoff soul A punk rock romantic Slumped on the kitchen floor Nuns in stress position Smokin’ Marlboros Lolita is weeping The bride is beautiful (Masseduction) [CHORUS]

I can’t turn off what turns me on (Masseduction) I can’t turn off what turns me on (Masseduction) I hold you like a weapon (Mass destruction) I don’t turn off what turns me on [CHORUS]

Smilin’ nihilist met Angry glass half full Drinkin’ Manic Panic Singin’ Boatman’s Call Teenage, Christian virgins Holdin’ out their tongues Paranoid secretions Fallin’ on basement rugs

DEATH

SAC R E D

If I can’t show it, if you can’t see me

TO

M O N ST E R

People turn the TV on, it looks just like a window

DANCE

A

People turn the TV on, it looks just like a window

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I’M

Ooh, I want all of your mind

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AN D

COW

Get back, gnashing teeth

SET BOX VINCENT ST / 01

P E O P L E T U R N T HE T V ON

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LO O KS

J U ST

L I K E

W I N D OW,

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Y E A H ,

YE AH D I G I TA L W H AT ’ S

EVEN

W I T N E S S E S ,

T H E

P OI N T

S L EEPI N G ?

O F

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S I D E

PI LLS

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04:41

S L I P B

S AV I O R

Pills to wake, pills to sleep

It rides and sticks to my thighs and my hips

Pills, pills, pills every day of the week

You put me in a teacher’s little denim skirt

Pills to walk, pills to think

Ruler and desk so I can make it hurt

Pills, pills, pills for the family

M Y

[CHORUS]

I spent a year suspended in air

My mind on the gap, my head on the stairs From healers to dealers and then back again From guru to voodoo and voodoo to zen

BOX

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[CHORUS]

I'm behind the wheel

But I keep you on your best behavior F EA R

THE

F UTURE

I run for you, run for me too When the wall rose and fell

From the bath to the drain, and the plane to the stage

Come on, Sir, now I need an answer

To the bed, to give head, to the money I made

I won’t be gone with the goners

ST

From the chains to the reins to the vein

Come on, Sir, just give me the answer I fear the future When the club come and go To the top of your skull I run for you, what can I do?

[CHORUSx3]

When the war started new

Come all you villains, come one and all

In our bed, in our room

Come all you killers, come join the war

I come for you, come for me too

Come all you wasted, wretched, and scorned Come on and face it, come join the war Come climb the rafters, come out to space Come for the answers, throw them away Come kiss me stupid, come kiss me sore Come find me standin’ under the wall Come all you killers, come out to play Everyone you know will all go away Come all you wasting, wretched, and scorned Come watch me standin' under the wall Come all you children, come out to play Everyone you love will all go away, hey, hey When the Earth split in two I was I, you were you

Love you to the grave and farther Honey, I am not your martyr

Hail Mary pass, ‘cause you know I’ll grab it

Come on, Sir, just give me an answer

Tigers and wolves defanged by fame

Honey, I can’t be your savior

You dress me in a nun’s black habit

I can’t even swim in these waves I made

I heard the tales, fortune and blame

02:32

I run for you, run for me too [CHORUS]

[CHORUS]

/

And the oceans all swell

I’m leavin’ your state

/

VINCENT

03:27

You dress me up in a nurse’s outfit

[CHORUS]

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Hand me a badge, and a little billy club Like I’m supposed to book you on a hit-and-run [CHORUS]

But then you say, “Please.”

Then you say, “Please.”

Dress me in leather Oh, that’s a little better But that’s still not it None of this shit fits [CHORUS]

But then you say, “Please.”

Then you say, “Please.”

“Please. Please.”

[REPEATx4]

“Please.”

(They call me a strange girl) (And they speak to me in bruises) “Please.”

H A N D

(I got ‘em tryin’ to save the world) (They said, “Girl, you’re not Jesus.”)

B A D

BEL IEV ER

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03: 00

What do you know?

I’m just a bad believer What do you know?

What do you know?

From the nave and down unto the altar I left my momma sitting in the pew Knelt before the trembling pastor Fainted as he touched my trembling hand [CHORUS]

FA ST

S LOW

DIS CO

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03:20

I sway in the place to a slow disco And a glass for the saints

F R O M What do you know?

I’m just a bad believer

Am I thinking what everybody’s thinkin’?

I’m so glad I came, but I can’t wait to leave

/

I’m just a bad believer

[CHORUS]

What do you know?

Slip my hand from your hand

DANCE

What do you know?

Leave you dancin’ with a ghost

TO

Slip my hand from your hand

DEATH

What do you know?

I spent a year suspended in air

12

What do you know?

And a bar for the road

Show me your stones

Momma held me up through the rapture

Dragged me through the eyes and the whispers

Leave you dancin’ with a ghost

Lost my spirit out the car window

There’s blood in my ears

Batted by righteous, righteous hands

And a fool in the mirror

[CHORUS]

But now I’m not afraid

Y O U R I know that love is stranger

Held up and writhing in the light No, I’m not ashamed

There really is no danger Give me life

[CHORUSx3]

And the pain of mistakes couldn’t get any clearer [CHORUS]

T E E T H I N

daily events, poets, relationships, and just pure abstract thoughts to further delve into her persona as “St. Vincent”. These are the songs that make her unique, the songs that have made her a defyning voice for this generation.

TEETH

K I C K E D - -

driven, absurdist, and bizarre songs inspired by an assortment of absurd

KICKED-IN

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“Kicked-In Teeth” is a compilation of St. Vincent’s most compelling, art-

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RAT T L E S N A K E

T E AR

DI SAPPE ARS

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03:1 6

No one around so I take off my clothes Am I the only one in the only world?

Oh, it’s not the potion, it’s the magic that I seek

Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, whoa

[CHORUS]

I see the snake holes dotted in the sand

Every tear disappears

Oh, the more that I struggle I’m deeper in the pit If I can show a hand Then I can show a fist SET BOX

[CHORUS]

VINCENT

Oh, what about the pain?

ST

Hey-hey-hey

/

Every tear disappears

17

TH E

D O G S

Don’t ask me how I just know that it fades

Every eye is a seer [x4]

ah, I live on wires Yeah, I’ve been born twice Yeah, I live on wires Yeah, I’ve been born twice Yeah, I live on wires

B A R K S O

I the only the one in the only world?

WAm I LL Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, whoa

No one is behind me LE T T HE M Sweatin’ sweatin’ No one will ever find me The only sound out here is my own breath

T H E

ST RA N G E R S

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04:05

Lover, I don’t play to win Befall the thrill until I’m spent

And my feet stuttering to make a path Am I the only one in the only world?

Is that the wind finally picking up?

Is that a rattle sounding from the brush?

[CHORUSx2]

I’m not the only one in the only world

Paint the black hole blacker

Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, whoa

I threw flowers in your face on my

[x3]

sister’s wedding day

Runnin’, runnin’

[CHORUSx2]

You showed up with a black eye looking to go start a fight

Yeah, I’ve been born twice

[CHORUSx2]

Yeah, I live on wires

Playboys under your mattress, like I wouldn’t notice

Yeah, I’ve been born twice

As if the Seurat painted the Rio Grande

Sweatin’, sweatin’

Call the twenty-first century Tell her “Give us a break”

03:35

Follow the power lines back from the road

Oh, a smile is more than showing teeth

Every tear disappears

/

[CHORUSx2]

What do I share? What do I keep from all the strangers who sleep where I sleep Desperate don’t look good on you, neither does your virtue [CHORUSx2]

Runnin’ rattle behind me Runnin’, runnin’ No one will ever find me

BIRTH

I N

REV ERS E

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03:16

Oh what an ordinary day Take out the garbage, masturbate I’m still holding for the laugh The dogs will bark, so let them bark The birds will cry, I’ll let them cry Here’s my report from the edge [CHORUS]

You could say that I’m sane I’m the cause; make a turn /

03:24

Muscle connects to the bone And the bone to the ire and the marrow I wish I had a gentle mind and a spine made up of iron Mouth connects to the teeth

Like a birth in reverse In America This too will haunt me through the war Laugh all you want, but I want more ‘Cause what I’m swearing, I never sworn before [CHORUSx2]

Honey Can you reach the spots that need oiling and fixing?

B A RK [CHORUSx2]

H-E-L-P

Help me, help me

Muscle connects to the bone

And the bone to the ire and the marrow

So I pretend these aren’t ten strings attached to all ten of my fingers.

[CHORUS]

If you could only go somewhere else [CHORUSx3]

SET

And teeth to the loves and curses

Near the party line

KVI I C KNE C D -EINN T T E B E TOHX

M A RROW

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In phenomenal lies

02

Like a birth in reverse What I saw through the blinds

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DANGLED

OV ER

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PA

/ ST VINCENT BOX SET

L IKE AN I NVERSE PIETA

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L IMB S

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P OWE R PIG S G ROT

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05: 05

[CHORUS]

Power doesn’t care what you want

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Power just wants to watch Power doesn’t care what you need As long as you’re on your knees Power pigs Power pigs Power kills Power wills [CHORUS]

P I E TA

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03:28

Baptized in the shallow end Of a Holiday Inn Limbs dangled over my Pa Like an inverse Pietà [CHORUS]

Mother Nature cried “You are Leviathan, my child You are Leviathan inside” And my lungs runneth over With chlorinated water And I pleaded with my Pa But he said, “I can’t carry you no more” [CHORUS]

Can I make a pet of you?

Dress you up for all the girls Will I keep you begging now Or touch you with my gentle words?

[CHORUS]

YO U R A RE

L IP S

RED

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04:45

[CHORUS]

Your lips are red My face is red from reading your red lips My hands are black My hands are black inside this downtown taxi cab SU RG EO N

/

04: 25

I spent the summer on my back Another attack Stay in just to get along, get along, get along

Get along, get along, get along

This city’s black from all the ashes in downtown Ashes in downtown, ashes in downtown My face is drawn My face is drawn on with this number 2 pencil Your face is drawn Your face is drawn from drawing words

[CHORUS]

right from my lips

Best, finest surgeon

Words right from my lips, words right from my lips

Best, finest surgeon Come cut me open Dressing, undressing for a wall If mother calls She knows well we don’t get along, get along, get along I tell the mailman, never you mind, I’ll sift through the piles And for him to just get along, get along, get along Get along, get along, get along [CHORUSx4]

[CHORUS]

Your skin’s so fair Your skin’s so fair, it’s not fair You remind me

04:02

Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, Boys Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, Girls Sugarboy, I’m in need How I wish for somethin’ sweet Sugarboy, I am weak Got a crush on tragedy [PRE-CHORUS]

Oh, here I go A casualty hangin’ on from the balcony Oh, here I go Makin’ a scene, oh here I am, your pain machine [CHORUSx4]

I am a lot like you (Boys) I am alone like you (Girls) Sugargirl, figurine Pledge all your allegiance to me Sugargirl, dissolve in me Got a crush from kicked-in teeth [PRE-CHORUS] [CHORUSx4] [x12]

Boys, girls

TEETH

Come cut me open

/

KICKED-IN

A little something to get along, get along, get along

This city’s black

S U GA R B OY

/

A blue and a red

This city’s red from riding us into the ground

22

Turn off the TV, wade in bed

This city’s red

ability to capture vulnerabiliy and strong emotion throughout her career.

FINGERS

S E V E R E D C R O S S E D F I N G E R S

St. Vincent’s early days before she had released Marry Me to tracks off of her most recent album Masseduction. This album represents Annie’s

CROSSED

wrenching, tear-jerking ballads about love, loss and retaining a sense of hope even if things don’t work out in the end. Compiling the songs from

SEVERED

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“Severed Crossed Fingers” is a compliation of St.Vincent’s most hear t

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SMOKING

A

SECTION

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04: 05

Sometimes I sit in the smoking section Hopin’ one rogue spark will land in my direction And when you stomp me out, I scream and I’ll shout “Let it happen, let it happen, let it happen” And sometimes I feel like an inland ocean Too big to be a lake, too small to be an attraction And when you wander in and start to flail a bit

C H A M PAG N E

I let it happen, let it happen, let it happen

SET BOX

And confetti through the fallen air

Let it happen, let it happen, let it happen

I’ll make a living telling people what they want to

And sometimes I go to the edge of my roof

ST

And then I think

/

What could be better than love, than love, than love?

27

VINCENT

A choir at the shore

And when you won’t run, I’m mad, but I succumb

No one will notice, no one will know

And then I think [x6 ]

What could be better than love, than love, than love?

It’s not the end, it’s not the end

03:29

But I secretly expected

I fire at the grass just to scare you right back

And if I should float on the taxis below

/

So I thought I’d learned my lesson

Sometimes I stand with a pistol in hand

And I think I’ll jump just to punish you

YEA R

hear It’s not a killing, but it’s enough to keep the Y EA R T H E

cobwebs clear

OF

TIGER

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03:28

When I was young Coach called me the tiger

‘Cause it’s not a perfect plan It’s not a perfect plan But it’s the one we’ve got

I always had

It’s not a perfect plan

A knack with the danger

But it’s the one we’ve got

[CHORUS]

‘Cause I make a living telling people what

Living in fear in the year of the tiger

they want to hear

Living in fear in the year of the tiger

But I tell ya, it’s gonna be a champagne year

Italian shoes Like these rubes know the difference Suitcase of cash In the back of my stick shift I had to be the best of the bourgeoisie Now my kingdom for a cup of coffee [CHORUS] [x4]

Oh America, Can I owe you one [CHORUSx4]

THIS

W AV E

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03:25

He’s gonna burn up deep in Texas I’ll freeze alone in New York City We made the best of a disaster And I pull my jacket closer I lit a candle for you in Rome I did the same in Mexico Oh, won’t you tap me on the shoulder When the scary scene is over?

I feel as guilty as Jiminy And like a piggy-headed Yankee

S M O K I NG

SE CT IO N ONE

H O P I N’

RO G U E

WI L L

L AND

DI R ECT I O N

S P A RK I N

M Y

FINGERS

T H E

SIT

CROSSED

I N

I

SEVERED

SOM E T I M E S

/

In time, in time to warn you ofIn time, in time to pull you from it

28

But I did not see this wave coming In time to wake you up

SET BOX VINCENT ST / 29

YO U ON

SA W

M E

M AGAZI NE S

AN D

TV

CROSSED

FINGERS

V E RS IO N

O F

M E

R E AL

T H E

SEVERED

K NE W

O N LY

T H E Y

/

BU T

30

S I D E

A

31

/

ST

VINCENT

BOX

SET

L P 3

I

PRE FER

LOV E

TO

Y O U R

H AP PY

I

B I R T H D AY

J O H N N Y

/

PREFER

YO U R

02: 5 8

Remember one Christmas I gave you Jim Carroll

LOVE

/

03:36

[CHORUS]

Intended it as a cautionary tale

I, I prefer your love

You said you saw yourself inside there

To Jesus

Docketed like a two manual

(Little baby on your knees

Remember one summer we walked in Times Square

Cause the world has got you down)

I showed you the zombies with hundred-inch stares You took a big, set your hotel on fire We took the blame, took the bags to the train Happy Birthday, Johnny

The last time you called it was on New Years’ Eve You asked me for dough to get somethin’ to eat

Did you ever really stare at me?

Like I stared at you I ate flowers in the backyard Bought finely neutered fruit Shot a hundred arrows at a knoll A hundred sparrows blue [CHORUS]

Name tag to the sick at the side of them Tight-walking the sidewalk in spite of them As my head it moves from East to West Mother, won’t you open your arms and Forgive me of all these bad thoughts I’m Blinded to the faces in the fog?

But all the good in me is because of you (It’s true!)

[CHORUS]

(Little baby on your knees Cause the world has got you down)

Don’t run

Is it 23?

Don’t run little rabbit run

Happy New Year, Johnny

Don’t run

Endlessly, by the pylons

Are the lights on the trees?

Don’t run little bunny run

As a careless sun set it’s on the West

When I said, “let me think, ” and you yelled through

[CHORUS]

your teeth Accused me of actin’ like all royalty Always for show, no true charity You saw me on magazines and TV But you only knew the real version of me Only you know the secrets, the swamp, and the fear What happened to blood, our family?

Annie, how could you do this to me?

Of course, I blame me When you get free, Johnny I hope you find peace

Did you ever ride a bear for me?

Did you ever really care?

Did you ever really care for me?

Like I cared for you [x 4 ]

Don’t run away

King size country, where in the worries I

Sure as mother licking a finger Wipe the blush and the smudge from my cheek and Wonder what will become of your little one But all the good in me is because of you It’s true [CHORUS]

FINGERS

Happy New Year, Johnny

CROSSED

Since we last spoke, you live on the street Yeah, I wouldn’t believe all the shit that you’ve seen

Did you ever really stare at me?

04:13

SEVERED

Wherever you are

[CHORUS]

/

/

Happy Birthday, Johnny

FRUIT

32

Wherever you are

NEUTERED

L P 3

S I D E

B

S EV ERED

CRO SS E D

F IN GERS

/

03:42

When you’re calling ain’t calling back to you I’ll be side stage, mouthing lines for you Humiliated by age, terrified of youth I got hope but my hope isn’t helping you Spitting out guts from their gears CHE E RLE AD ER

/

Draining our spleen over years

03:29

Found my severed crossed fingers

I’ve had good times

in the rubble there

With some bad guys

Wake up puddle eyed, sleeping in the suit We’ll be heroes on every bar stool

Held your bare bones

Seeing double beats not seeing one of you

With my clothes on I’ve thrown rocks Then hid both my arms

ST

I don’t know what good it serves Pouring my purse in the dirt [CHORUS]

33

The truth is ugly, well I feel ugly too

With a half smile

/

VINCENT

BOX

SET

I’ve told whole lies

But I-I-I-I-I don’t wanna be your cheerleader no more [ x 2 ]

T H E

PA RT Y

/

04:05

Honey, the party, you went away quickly But oh, that’s the trouble with ticking and tocking I lick the ice cubes from your empty glass Oh, we’ve stayed much too late ‘til they’re cleaning the ashtrays Do you have change or a button or cash?

I’ve played dumb

Oh, my pockets hang out like two surrender flags

When I knew better

Oh, but I’d pay anything to keep my conscience clean

Tried too hard

Keeping my eye on the exits, I’m steady now

Just to be clever

How did we get here?

I know honest thieves

With creaks in these chairs

I call family

Oh there aren’t enough hands to point all the fingers

I’ve seen America With no clothes on [CHORUS]

I don’t know what I deserve But for you I could work [CHORUSx5]

But I sit transfixed by a hole in your t-shirt oh, I’ve said too much and they’re trying to sweep up

[CHORUSx2]

Well you stole the heart right out my chest Changed the words that I know best Found my severed crossed fingers in the rubble there

02 / ST VINCENT BOX SET

I D O N ’ T W ANN A B E A C HE E LEA D ER