Arab Strap are back! Back!! BACK!!! with You You You.
Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton continue to make genuinely thrilling and engaging music. Aidan's words in particular capture the moment - particularly if you're a man on the other side of 50 whose feelings range from numbness to bewilderment at the state of the world - with the merest glimmer of hope in that "I've got you, you, you."
Whether that's a loved one, friends or the community occupying a little corner of the blogosphere, and I can relate to all three, when the writing is this good, how can anything I write about the song feel anything more than gilding the lily?
At the time of posting, it looks like You You You is available for streaming but not (yet) purchase or download. Rest assured, as soon as it's available to buy, I'm buying it!
I’ve got a hole in my shoe that lets in rain,
and another new lump in another vein;
I’ve got pills for breakfast every day,
to keep my pains and fears at bay.
I’ve got a portly paunch I just can’t shift;
I feel undesired, dismissed, adrift.
My get-up-and-go is long gone,
and the days keep dragging on.
But I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you.
I’ve got a hole in my head that can’t be filled;
time is never spent, it’s only killed.
I’m always bored, it seems nothing excites me –
my own limbic system fights me!
I’ve got watchlists I’ll never watch,
and pruritus scroti in my crotch;
I’ve got a seething sadness in my soul,
that might just swallow me whole.
But I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you.
I’ve got tears in my eyes again tonight,
as the tyrannised unite and fight;
there’s a fiery frog in my throat now,
from all that singing: Bella ciao!
I’ve got my day in court that can’t be missed,
‘cause the government claims I’m a terrorist;
I fear for my son, I fear for my daughter,
but in this world of slaughter
I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you.
(Yes I do)
And if you’re streaming this song on Spotify,
then we both fund weapons-grade AI.
But if it wasn’t here, then how would you hear it?
We’re over a barrel, but we don’t have to cheer it.
I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK TO DO
when hypocrisy reigns and nothing is true,
and nobody pays for abhorrent behaviour –
FUCK THESE DEMAGOGUES COSPLAYING SAVIOURS
With a rose in my fist,
and a song in my lungs,
I reach for a hand,
and I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you, you;
I’ve got you, you, you.
