I played in bands in college like a lot of people played in bands in college. One of the bands I was in, Gulf Coast Army, opened for Animal Collective in March, 2004, about two months before Sung Tongs came out.
The show was in the basement of a sushi restaurant; it's where most of the good shows in Charlottesville were. The restaurant's owner-- a Japanese guy who wandered around town in a black motorcycle jacket with the sad, displaced look people have in airports-- was a musician. I remember playing badly, but later I was told we played well considering how much beer we drank.
Afterwards, I saw Avey Tare in the hallway. "Sweet set," he said. "Sweet"-- the word was so bro,
I couldn't believe he was using it, but I instantly felt shallow for even stopping to think about it. That's how it is: You see a cool person doing a supposedly uncool thing and you're left with your arbitrary little prejudices.
At the time I thought all weird music had to be tough and brainy in order to get a point across. But I was also getting bored of listening to tough, brainy shit because it wasn't really me--
I was an undernourished 21 year old working intensely on an honor's thesis, picking through books I half-understood, tripping on mushrooms, taking long drives through the dark hills of Virginia, crawling in girls' windows, and lying to people. The world felt fragile and runny, and Sung Tongs was its soundtrack-- this gentle, confused, unintellectual music that would occasionally fall apart and re-assemble itself, like it didn't know its own shape or size.
It reminded me of the feeling of opening my eyes in the backseat of my mother's car after visiting my grandparents as a small child, never sure of when I fell asleep but never scared, either. I didn't care that some people made fun of the band for sounding naïve because I thought most people were nasty and out of touch with what made life beautiful. I still think that sometimes, but I try not to.
Sung Tongs came out in May, a few weeks before I graduated. I brought it with me to Berlin, where I'd gone to visit a friend who was studying abroad. I still know him; we talk on the phone every couple of weeks, and on his birthday I take a six-hour bus ride to Richmond, Va., so we can walk up and down the historic streets and look at the grand old homes with their Christmas decorations. He's honest and intelligent and never falls for the new thing-- the kind of person who makes me feel at home.
When he first heard "Winters Love", he said, "It's like a sea shanty, right?" He swayed back and forth with an invisible beer stein in his hand and an exaggerated smile on his face. I hadn't heard it that way before: It's like I was so preoccupied with what made it strange that I hadn't thought much about what made it comforting and familiar.
About six months later, having not thought about it for a while, it snapped into focus: a sea shanty, a drinking song, something low to the ground. I heard it. An insignificant thing-- the wisdom of friends and what they do to make you laugh-- but I still remember it, and while it'd be silly to blow it out into a grand metaphor, there's a reason, I think, why I heard "Winters Love" one way then and another way now, and why I'll never be able to hear it the way I heard it then again.
I played in bands in college like a lot of people played in bands in college. One of the bands I was in, Gulf Coast Army, opened for Animal Collective in March, 2004, about two months before Sung Tongs came out.
BigTuna1994 1 week ago
The show was in the basement of a sushi restaurant; it's where most of the good shows in Charlottesville were. The restaurant's owner-- a Japanese guy who wandered around town in a black motorcycle jacket with the sad, displaced look people have in airports-- was a musician. I remember playing badly, but later I was told we played well considering how much beer we drank.
Afterwards, I saw Avey Tare in the hallway. "Sweet set," he said. "Sweet"-- the word was so bro,
BigTuna1994 1 week ago
I couldn't believe he was using it, but I instantly felt shallow for even stopping to think about it. That's how it is: You see a cool person doing a supposedly uncool thing and you're left with your arbitrary little prejudices.
At the time I thought all weird music had to be tough and brainy in order to get a point across. But I was also getting bored of listening to tough, brainy shit because it wasn't really me--
BigTuna1994 1 week ago
I was an undernourished 21 year old working intensely on an honor's thesis, picking through books I half-understood, tripping on mushrooms, taking long drives through the dark hills of Virginia, crawling in girls' windows, and lying to people. The world felt fragile and runny, and Sung Tongs was its soundtrack-- this gentle, confused, unintellectual music that would occasionally fall apart and re-assemble itself, like it didn't know its own shape or size.
BigTuna1994 1 week ago 2
It reminded me of the feeling of opening my eyes in the backseat of my mother's car after visiting my grandparents as a small child, never sure of when I fell asleep but never scared, either. I didn't care that some people made fun of the band for sounding naïve because I thought most people were nasty and out of touch with what made life beautiful. I still think that sometimes, but I try not to.
BigTuna1994 1 week ago
Sung Tongs came out in May, a few weeks before I graduated. I brought it with me to Berlin, where I'd gone to visit a friend who was studying abroad. I still know him; we talk on the phone every couple of weeks, and on his birthday I take a six-hour bus ride to Richmond, Va., so we can walk up and down the historic streets and look at the grand old homes with their Christmas decorations. He's honest and intelligent and never falls for the new thing-- the kind of person who makes me feel at home.
BigTuna1994 1 week ago
When he first heard "Winters Love", he said, "It's like a sea shanty, right?" He swayed back and forth with an invisible beer stein in his hand and an exaggerated smile on his face. I hadn't heard it that way before: It's like I was so preoccupied with what made it strange that I hadn't thought much about what made it comforting and familiar.
BigTuna1994 1 week ago
About six months later, having not thought about it for a while, it snapped into focus: a sea shanty, a drinking song, something low to the ground. I heard it. An insignificant thing-- the wisdom of friends and what they do to make you laugh-- but I still remember it, and while it'd be silly to blow it out into a grand metaphor, there's a reason, I think, why I heard "Winters Love" one way then and another way now, and why I'll never be able to hear it the way I heard it then again.
BigTuna1994 1 week ago
oh.., goodness, I love this tune!! : )))))
trueaudience 2 weeks ago
i love it nothing but warmth from this song. and the drumming starting at 2:34!!! so nice
XtruhSpecialK 3 weeks ago
the tags. O.O
italik13 1 month ago 6
This has been flagged as spam show
merry christmas!
trumpterman 2 months ago
Animal Collective is like warm happy thoughts spewing out into music.
Ninjawood7 2 months ago 2
david firth of fat-pie.com brought me here
IAINoodle 2 months ago
i listen to this everyday<3
fadoodle100 3 months ago
@fadoodle100 Not a bad routine to have.
trippygraffiti 3 months ago
SHORTBUS Soundtrack ♥
marcoscruzortiz 4 months ago in playlist Shortbus Soundtrack 2
quite cheesy
CArdsadET 4 months ago
those "extra tags" oh god my sides
panteradeth 4 months ago 3
I believe your extra tags are innacurrate
KevinCortelyou 4 months ago 3
Jesus, that MELODY.
nokturnal5647 5 months ago 2
OMG I LUV THIS MORE THEN JUSTIN. AC4LIFE!!!
Treehouse955 5 months ago
@Treehouse955 not.... justin bieber, right????????
fadoodle100 2 months ago
@fadoodle100 OFCOURSE DUH LOL!!!!!
Treehouse955 1 month ago
@Treehouse955 you have an interesting taste in music
fadoodle100 1 month ago
incredible.
BenderJJJ 6 months ago 5
this song never gets old. timelessness or something close to it.
Godamatic 6 months ago 18
watched the movie with my girlfriend, caught this song and swore I knew the band. Glad I tracked it down, great movie, greater band.
Tocmyejo 1 year ago 9