Sing a Song for Us Tonight is a segment where people choose a song that is special to them and explain why. Today’s guest is Lill. She’s chosen Died Pretty and their song DC. Here’s her story. Thanks Lill!
I went to university as a (I like to think slightly) mature aged student. It was a strange time, as my first marriage ended in tears and numbing pain at the beginning of my uni life and then the joy of meeting my second husband came at the end of it. Neither man had anything to do with uni.
Like lots of mature aged students, I had a full life outside of uni in the real world. So the days I spent on campus, the classes, the friends I made there, and the social life became like a second life for me. Away from commitment, away from paying the rent, away from the responsibility of being an adult.
My first husband was a musician, and we enjoyed a variety of music at home and at gigs, both his and other bands. When our relationship broke up, I missed that part of my life. I missed hearing new music with him and talking about it, I missed his band, I missed us singing together to the radio. I even missed him practising! After we split, I ‘found’ Died Pretty, I can’t remember how.
They were like an ointment for my poor mind. Somehow I nagged the activities people on the student union for long enough and they got them to play on campus. They brought all the arts students out of hiding (at a predominantly Engineering/Business university). I wore out my copy of “Doughboy Hollow”. Quite simply, they reached into my cold cold heart and gave it a squeeze.
For anyone who doesn’t know them, they were an indie rock band, I guess you can hear in them influences of Dylan and The Velvet Underground. “Doughboy Hollow” was perhaps their best selling album, and came out in 1991. My favourite song off the album was the single DC. It’s a lament to a lost love “DC, your smile has left it’s mark upon my world and /even your barbs were like cut diamonds that you hurled”. It touched me as I was coming out of the mind haze of my marriage ending, when not a lot else did.
There’s no song better to dance around in circles to, crying until you laugh ’cause you know you look ridiculous. I also found joy in it though, and it still makes me smile to listen to it now. I can’t stop myself from dancing around to it. It came at a time when I realised that though goodbyes were sad, they were a part of life and I would get through this time. Before, I had been so sure this pain would never ever end. The chorus lyrics are beautiful “But now you’re gone it’s such a sad thing, and as we dissolve into dark /behind these questions are these answers and this song’s to say goodbye” Uni became a haven for me, standing outside my real life, and Died Pretty marked it out.
Go and listen, and let yourself go. Have a dance, have a sing, and even have a cry. (Lill)
If you’ve got a story about a song you’d like to share, even if you’ve done one before, please email me, thanks
17 responses so far ↓
1 squib // Aug 8, 2008 at 11:05 am
What a beautiful story and I think I might just have to get hold of the album because I like this song a lot
2 lill // Aug 8, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Thanks, I’m glad to share it. And thanks for asking me too.
3 warthog // Aug 8, 2008 at 1:21 pm
It’s too late for me to dance to it now, Lill, but I’ll give it a go tomorrow.
That’s a very interesting story. Like you, I went to uni as a mature student [early 40s] and loved indie music so I was going to all the gigs….but my back kept me out of the mosh pit and I only did light whirling at the back of the hall to bands like James cos I tended to alarm the normal aged whirling girl students. I have no idea why cos I was only expressing myself in my meagre way!
4 perseus // Aug 8, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I saw them live a couple of times in the early 90’s, once with Beasts of Bourbon and once, bizarrely, with Jesus Jones (before they went all poppy).
They were bloody great live.
5 lill // Aug 9, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Warthog, thank you for having a dance. And feel free to express yourself in a fullsome way!
Perseus, what a double act, DP & the Beasts! That must have been a memorable night. It must have drawn an interesting crowd.
6 warthog // Aug 9, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Yes, it’s a good slow whirler, Lill, and I remember the song. They probably used it as a warm up for us at James gigs.
My whirling hobby went fine until I started fast whirling to stuff like “The Cage” at Genesis concerts.
One minute I was revolving nicely to the, “….turning…around and around and around…” bit, but by the next, I was surrounded by paramedics and on oxygen.
7 MrSquib // Aug 10, 2008 at 11:20 am
I preferred the Musical Box to The Cage
8 warthog // Aug 11, 2008 at 11:34 am
Ah! But that was musical theatre with Pete prancing about in masks. I’m not sure if it’s ever been performed by Buster, certainly not for 20 years.
It’s certainly whirly in parts, MrSquib, but I don’t think anyone whirled in those days!
9 MrSquib // Aug 11, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Wartie
You’re not a fan of Phil Collins are you?
I have a couple of Genesis albums with buster at the helm but its not the same, Genesis finished as far as I am concerned once Pete left.
You’ll be telling us that you fan dangoed to Englebert Humperdink next….remember him….?
10 warthog // Aug 11, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Could I ever forget a face like that!?
Peter was a performance artiste.
We didn’t whirl to performance artistes.
Presumably, we used to sit crosslegged on the floor.
But like they say, if you can remember the late 1960s and early 70s, you weren’t there!
11 squib // Aug 12, 2008 at 10:14 am
I have no idea what you two are on about
12 warthog // Aug 12, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Gosh. How I envy you your youth.
13 Mad Cat Lady // Aug 15, 2008 at 7:21 am
… and then on the weekend I stumbled across Doughboy Hollow in the music shop, so I bought it - <3 - like it a lot. It’s remastered version with a second disc with demos and b-sides which I haven’t listened too yet.
14 squib // Aug 15, 2008 at 10:12 am
Funny you should say that because I stumbled across it also (the same one with the second disk). I’ve been playing it in the car and it’s superb
15 lill // Aug 22, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Woo hoo I have converts! Enjoy!
16 Bob // Oct 17, 2008 at 2:31 pm
the song is about a very close friend that died, not a relationship that ended, but read whatever meaning you need into it. Didn’t you all catch the gig earlier this year of Died Pretty doing Doughboy Hollow?
17 lill // Oct 17, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Looking back, at the time the song came out I guess I was in a place where my ‘reading’ made sense to me so I didn’t look any further. Thanks for letting me know though.
I knew they were doing the gig but I live a long way from the city and couldn’t justify the expense of going. Sometimes it sucks being a grown up - when I was young I just would have done it and worried about it later…
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