(The song, not the album). If you didn't know this song existed, you're in for a treat. It's not a song you play in the background. It's a song you listen to, in your chair or in your bed, with your eyes closed. Adam tells you this story in bits and pieces, like a collection of memories, and you feel at the end that you've seen his life through his eyes. It made me realize how many different types and purposes of songs there are out there. It's so long-how does he have the whole thing memorized? It must be autobiographical. Maria is the beginning focal point, who's a staple in much of his songwriting (recall the line from "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby": And there's a piece of Maria in every song that I sing). This song is similar to that one, not only in its length but in its story-form and its incorporation of the mundane and the profound instances and lessons from life. The loudest cheer from the crowd is right after the first time he sings "August and everything after," when the audience realizes that this is the long-lost song that was supposed to be on, and may have been the origin of, their stunning debut.
August and Everything After [Live].mp3
If you have a different version than the one I've posted, please let me know!
Lyrics
They're wakin' up Maria 'cause everybody else has got some place to go
She makes a little motion with her head,
Rolls over,
And she says she's gonna sleep for a couple minutes more
I said "I'm sorry" to Maria for all the cold hearted things that i have done
I've said "I'm sorry", by now, at least once to just about everyone
She says, "I've forgotten what I'm supposed to do today,
And it slips my mind what I'm supposed to say."
We're getting older and older, and older
And always a little further out of the way
You look into her eyes, and it's more than your heart will allow
In August and everything after, you get a little less than you expected, somehow...
I stumbled into Washington Square just as the sun began to rise
And I walked across the lawn to the cathedral
And lay down in the shadow of St. Mary's in the sky
I'm just one of these late-model children waiting for the king
But there ain't no sign of Elvis in San Fransisco
It's just me, and I'm playing this rock and roll thing
And she wants to be just like me
And I want every damn thing I can see.
One day, you're Daddy's little angel,
The next day you're everything he wanted you to be
They dress you up in white satin
And they give you your very own pair of wings
In August and everything after, I'm after everything.
And I said, la la la la la la la.....
Well now I got my reservations, and I got my seven million-dollar home
And I got the number of some girl in New York City
Who's always wide awake so I never have to spend the night alone
I got this nasty little habit of peeking down the shirts
Of all the little girls as they pass me by
And i wonder, if it all catches up to me
I'm finally breaking down, now
Did you think i was gonna cry?
Well, I've already got my disease,
So take your fucking filthy hands off of me
Well I hope you don't expect me to be crucified,
The best that they can do is just to hang me from the nearest tree
'Cause it's midnight in San Francisco
And I'm waiting here for Jesus on my knees
In August and everything after
I want somebody else to bleed for me
I said la la la la.... na na na....
I came down from North Dakota
'Cause I had a confidence in the military mind
And now, everyone I know is turning show girl
And dancing with their shirt off in some Las Vegas hotel line
So I'm going to New York city, because it got a little sleazy here for me
When I find myself alone, I know I'm never going home
You make the changes, the changes that you need
But I no longer know how to pray
I live in a dog-town and it's a dalmation parade
I change my spots, over and over,
But they never seem to fade away
I am the last remaining Indian,
Looking for the place where the buffalo roam
In August and everything after,
Man, them buffalo ain't never coming home
In August and everything after,
Man, them buffalo ain't never coming home
La la la la la.....
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3 comments:
"its story-form and its incorporation of the mundane and the profound instances and lessons from life"
Listening to these types of songs is like the very reason why I love reading old, published diaries and memoirs. Thank you for posting this!
Yeah...it's pretty much the same thing, isn't it? Although I think the way Adam sings it is quite nice :)
The essence of the Counting Crows is all over this song. Thanks for posting it.
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