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Rating: If the two authors of this project practiced their profession in Italy, this album would never have seen the light of day. The slowness and unreliability of the Italian Postal Service would have discouraged even the most tenacious of musicians.
Fortunately for us, Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamburello are American, and in the United States, at least the Postal Service (hence the group's name) works as it should.
The endless postman-driven exchange of demos with sketched, retouched, and finalized songs, which the two used for the realization of this project, could thus happen at a certain speed, and we can only be pleased about this.
Though the result of experiences matured in musical scenes far apart from each other (Gibbard comes from the emo band Death Cab For Cutie while Tamburello is the DJ in the electronic project Dntel), "Give Up" is the result of a fortunate and well-tested partnership capable of producing a sunny electro-pop.
Ten tracks built on a melodic electronic carpet made of drum beats and keyboards on which Gibbard's voice and lyrics create romantic and positive atmospheres that are a pleasure to immerse oneself in.
Think of Postal Service as an indie and renewed version of the New Order and of this album as the Kings of Convenience insisting on the sounds of "Versus," definitively hanging up the acoustic guitar, or the Notwist who have finally decided to release all the songs born from the sessions of the wonderful "Neon Golden".
In this way, you get an idea of a pleasant project born perhaps as a pastime, perhaps as a distraction from other activities, but without a doubt one of the most interesting of the latest American independent scene.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (04:44)
Smeared black ink
Your palms are sweaty
And I'm barely listening
To last demands
I'm staring at the asphalt wondering
What's buried underneath
Where I am
I'll wear my badge
A vinyl sticker with big block letters
Adherent to my chest
That tells your new friends:
I am a visitor here; I am not permanent
And the only thing
Keeping me dry is
(Where I am)
You seem so out of context
In this gaudy apartment complex
A stranger with your door key
Explaining that I'm just visiting
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving
Why I was the one worth leaving
D.C. sleeps alone tonight
(Where I am)
You seem so out of context
In this gaudy apartment complex
A stranger with your door key
Explaining that I'm just visiting
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving
Why I was the one worth leaving
(Where I am)
The district sleeps alone tonight
After the bars turn out their lights
And send the autos swerving
Into the loneliest evening
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving (x4)
02 Such Great Heights (04:26)
I am thinking it's a sign
That the freckles in our eyes
Are mirror images
And when we kiss they're perfectly aligned.
And I have to speculate
That God Himself did make
Us into corresponding shapes
Like puzzle pieces from the clay.
And true it may seem like a stretch
But it's thoughts like this that catch
My troubled head when you're away
And when I am missing you to death.
And when you are out there on the road
For several weeks of shows
And when you scan the radio
I hope this song will guide you home.
They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now" they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now" but we'll stay
I tried my best to leave
This all on your machine
But the persistent beat
It sounded thin upon the sending.
And that frankly will not fly
You'll hear the shrillest highs
And lowest lows with the windows down
And this is guiding you home.
They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now" they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now" but we'll stay
They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now" they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now" but we'll stay
They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now" they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now" but we'll stay
04 Nothing Better (03:47)
(Ben Gibbard)
Would someone please call a surgeon
Who can crack my ribs and repair this broken heart
That you're deserting for better company
I can't accept that it's over
And I will block the door
Like a goalie tending the net
In the third quarter
Of a tied game rivalry
So just say how to make it right
And I swear I'll do my best to comply
Tell me am I right to think that there could be nothing better
Than making you my bride and slowly growing old together
(Jen Wood)
I feel I must interject here
You're getting carried away
Feeling sorry for yourself
With these revisions and gaps in history
So let me help you remember
I've made charts and graphs
That should finally make it clear
I've prepared a lecture
On why I have to leave
So please back away and let me go
(Ben Gibbard)
I can't my darling; I love you so
(Both)
Oh oh
(Ben Gibbard)
Tell me am I right to think that there could be nothing better
Than making you my bride and slowly growing old together
(Jen Wood)
Don't you feed me lies about some idealistic future
Your heart won't heal right if you keep tearing out the sutures
(Ben Gibbard)
I know that I have made mistakes
And I swear I'll never wrong you again
(Jen Wood)
You've got allure I can't deny
But you've had your chance
So say goodbye
Say goodbye
06 Clark Gable (04:55)
I was waiting for a cross-town train in the London Underground
When it struck me
That I'd been waiting since birth to find a love that would look and sound
Like a movie
So I changed my plans, I rented a camera and a van
And then I called you
I need you to pretend that we are in love again
And you agreed to
I want so badly to believe that there is truth
And love is real
And I want life in every word
To the extent that it's absurd
I grease the lens and frame the shot
Using a friend as my stand-in
The script had called for rain, but it was clear that day
So we faked it
The marker snapped and I yelled, "Quiet on the set!"
And then called, "Action!"
I kissed you in a style Clark Gable would have admired
I thought it classic
I want so badly to believe that there is truth
That love is real
And I want life in every word to the extent
That it's absurd
I know you're wise beyond your years
But do you ever get the fear
That your perfect verse is just a lie
You tell yourself to help you get by
That you tell yourself to help you get by
That you tell yourself to help you get by
07 We Will Become Silhouettes (05:01)
I've got a cupboard with cans of food
Filtered water, and pictures of you
And I'm not coming out until this is all over
And I'm looking through the glass
Where the light bends at the cracks
And I'm screaming at the top of my lungs
Pretending the echoes belong to someone
Someone I used to know
And we become silhouettes when our bodies finally go
I wanted to walk through the empty streets
And feel something constant under my feet
But all the news reports recommended that I stay indoors
Because the air outside will make
Our cells divide at an alarming rate
Until our shells simply cannot hold
All our insides in
And that's when we'll explode
(And it won't be a pretty sight)
And we'll become silhouettes when our bodies finally go
08 This Place Is a Prison (03:54)
This place is a prison
and these people aren't your friends
Inhaling thrills through twenty dollar bills
and the tumblers are drained and then flooded
again and again.
There's guards at the onramps
Armed to the teeth
And you may case the grounds
from the cascades to Puget Sound
but you are not permitted to leave.
I know there's a big world out there
like the one that I saw on the screen
in my living room late last night
it was almost too bright to see.
and I know that it's not a party
if it happens every night
pretending there's glamor and candelabra
when you're drinking by candlelight.
And what does it take
to get a drink in this place?
what does it take?
how long must I wait?
(repeat)
how long must I wait?
09 Brand New Colony (04:13)
I'll be the grapes fermented, bottled and
served with the table set in my finest suit
like a perfect gentleman.
I'll be the fire escape that's bolted to the
ancient brick where you will sit and
contemplate your day.
I'll be the waterwings that save you if you
start drowning in an open tab when your
judgment's on the brink.
I'll be the phonograph that plays your favorite
albums back as you're lying there drifting off
to sleep.
I'll be the platform shoes and undo what
heredity's done to you: you won't have to
strain to look into my eyes.
I'll be your winter coat buttoned and zipped
straight to the throat with the collar up so
you won't catch cold.
I want to take you far away from the cynics in this
town and kiss you on the mouth.
we'll cut our bodies free from the tethers of
this scene, start a brand new colony
where everything will change, we'll give
ourselves new names, identities erased.
the sun will heat the grounds under our bare
feet in this brand new colony.
everything will change...
10 Natural Anthem (05:07)
I'll write you a song
and it won't be hard to sing
it will be a natural anthem
familiar it will seem
it will rally all the workers
on strike for better pay
and its chorus will resound
and boost morale throughout the day
I'll write you a song
and I hope that you won't mind
because all the names and places
I have taken from your life
so please don't be upset
at this portrait that I paint
it will be a little biased
but at least I spelt your name right.
11 Grow Old With Me (02:29)
Grow old along with me
The best is yet to be
When our time has come
We will be as one
God bless our love
God bless our love
Grow old along with me
Two branches of one tree
Face the setting sun
When the day is done
God bless our love
God bless our love
Spending our lives together
Man and wife together
World without end
World without end
Grow old along with me
Whatever fate decrees
We will see it through
For our love is true
God bless our love
God bless our love
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