My Favorite Band?

As your friends/family/co-workers start to learn you go to bands they've never heard of they will invevitably ask you for names.  Picking just one will always be impossible, so you'll give them a few.  You grow older, you hear new things you like, you outgrow things you don't anymore.  One band, though, that has been on my list for 10 years going strong now is The Weakerthans.

I've seen them play about 6 times over those 10 years, basically every chance I get, and I hope that never changes.  This post is about the first time I saw them.  It was at the local campus bar, and the place was packed.  The Constantines opened (more on them later) and we sat back in an uncomfortable tight spotand then pushed and squirmed and fought our way to a good viewing spot.

And it was so worth it.  John K Samson is the greatest Canadian lyricist of our time.  There, I've said it and I won't take it back.  He tells stories, "at a wedding reception in 1972, where a little boy under a table with cake in his hair, danced at the grown up feet as they danced and swayed", and makes you feel things, "the ways we watched her watch us walk away", in a way no one else does.  And he does it all with a smile and a recognition of just how lucky he is to do this for a living.

This is a video for Psalm For the Elks Lodge Last Call.  It makes me want to be 60 years old, wear a funny hat, and hang out with all my friends.