Losing Haringey grabs you instantly as you realize that this is hardly a song, but a story. The narrative is told in speaking voice over a beautiful Clientele soundscape, punctuated periodically with a wordless la-la chorus. The background music alone is phenomenal, but the star of this song is the story. I cant think of many other bands that have done the combination of speaking and music quite so well, and when I do think of them, theyre usually terrific tracks. The Clientele might be onto a great trend - I would love to listen to more songs arranged like this. The freedom from a lyrical chorus and the greater volume of words makes this a very appealing forum for new prose.
The full lyric is included below. It tells of a poor young man wandering the streets until he find himself sitting on a bench where he realizes that he is sitting in a family photograph from 1982. The details recalled and the feelings that are evoked are quite powerful. The way the narrative is told and the background music synergize to create a very thick feeling of sadness and nostalgia - typical of stories of innocence lost. Its impossible not to remember that same feeling of 1982-ness along with the song and the same sadness of those days being gone.
http://theclientele.blogspot.com/2006... ( Thanks to Doonburn, UK)
