This song belly flops into the pool in a dingy pink bath robe that belongs to its ex. Its loved ones speculate privately about whether it intended to drown.
Welcome to the third installment of Perfect Songs. To honor the desperate, dying clutches of summer, I present “Coronado” by Deerhunter, from the album Halcyon Digest.
The simple, dissonant piano in the first measure is some sort of emotional paralyzation, or the kind of numbness that you feel when you’re utterly overwhelmed. It doesn’t blink. The acoustic guitar coming in on the second measure melts the catatonia a bit, the electric on the third gives us a little stir, and then we get one quick slap from the acoustic and suddenly we’re pacing the floor, gesturing wildly as we narrate our misfortune and bitter ennui with the complicated and frustrating charm of a disgraced crooner.
I was sick, I was dead
Lay my head on the cement bed
I had a few good years
But they don’t know
The absolute wailing of the saxophone is a stand-in for the kicking and screaming we would all love to do in our most self-pitying moments. It gives the song an ageless quality that I love, when prominent sax typically freezes a song’s true impact to its generation. The vocals cathartically moan along through the break as an extended lament.
This song is grimy and glamorous. The vocal distortion is crunchy and squeaky, but still full of body. A little Ferrero Rocher for us to munch on on our half hearted stroll down memory lane, which turned out to be an old treadmill in a dank rented basement apartment. But it feels good to move our body, you know? Without the drums and acoustic guitar propelling us forward, where would we be? Face down in a pool somewhere, probably.
So whether you’re sad that summer is coming to an end or, like me, on the brink of collapse from being pummeled by your least favorite season, this song is where we meet. We can all listen to it together while we find the strength to peel ourselves off of the couch and keep moving forward.
Cata,
Tonya <3
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