IMAGI-BLOG
T-minus 9 days: Exile in {Imaginary} Girlville: Your favorite EIG song?
Submitted by ChrisB on June 16, 2008.
Our sixth anniversary party and tribute to Liz Phair's classic 1993 album Exile in Guyville, Exile in {Imaginary} Girlville, is now only nine days away. I can hardly believe it is so close!
For today's countdown, we thought we'd turn it over to you and ask: What is your favorite song from Exile in Guyville? Why?
My favorite is "Fuck and Run."
Although it is a song where our heroine/anti-heroine sings of not being able to escape her promiscuous past and keeps her from finding the romantic love she seeks ("I want all that stupid old shit like letters and sodas."), it is the go-to song for me when I feel depressed or lonely (which happens almost as often as I feel thirsty).
Phair sings "I can feel it in my bones, I'm going to spend my whole life alone" at the beginning of the final chorus (about 45 seconds earlier it's "another year") and she sings it with such a monotone, almost flat, harmony that it perfectly captures the alienation the song demands. It is a simple but raw lyric, devastating in its almost indifferent approach to her own loneliness.
But enough about me, let's talk about you. What's your favorite Exile in Guyville song?
Hear everything from "6'1"" to "Strange Loop" at Exile in {Imaginary} Girlville at Chop Suey on Wednesday, June 25. Doors at 8pm, 21+, $8 adv. through Ticketweb.
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imaginary ash said on June 16, 2008:
I'm with Jesse, "Divorce Song" and "Stratford On Guy" are among my tops. I also always really liked "Dance of the Seven Veils," "Shatter," and "Johnny Sunshine." And, duh, "Flower."
That didn't really narrow it down much did it?
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Ariel v. said on June 16, 2008:
One fave? That's tough!
I think overall mine is Gunshy. What a beautiful song - I like the moody beautiful ones, and her guitar sound on it is so Liz. Second fave is Dance of the Seven Veils. But because it's got such strains of GnR, I listen to Mesmerizing most.
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4
imaginary dana said on June 16, 2008:
This IS a really hard question.
I love the obvious best: "Fuck and Run" and "Divorce Song" can't be beat. But I have a very special place in my heart for the opening tracks "6'1"" and "Help Me Mary."
I can remember the first time I heard the record, after a VERY bad breakup (with a VERY tall {and very jerky} guy). I heard those opening lines to 6'1":
"I bet... you fall in bed too easily with the beautiful girls who are shyly brave and you sell yourself as a man to save."
...And it was like an epiphany. I'm a smidge taller than Liz (5'4") but the bitter-yet-empowering lyrics of that song still knocked my heartbroken socks off that day (and they still do, all these years later).
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6
yelahneb said on June 16, 2008:
"Flower", for all the wrong and obvious reasons :)
i went to Lilith Fair in '98, and ended up at the same hotel as most of the performers, including Phair. she was *incredibly* shy, almost mute, but it was cool meeting her.
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Paul Pearson said on June 16, 2008:
Fuck And Run is pretty damn good for an iconic moment, but my personal favorite would probably be either Mesmerizing or Stratford-On-Guy. Canary just chills me to the bone.
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keenan said on June 16, 2008:
"Fuck and Run" will always, always be my favorite, and it sits comfortably in my top 20 all-time favorite songs as well (and has for many, many years, since my band in high school covered it, when our lead singer was younger than 17). "Letters and Soda" has always been something of an ideal in my head. Though, I will always have a serious soft spot for "Divorce Song", "6'1"", and "Help Me Mary". Really, the whole record has always served as some sort of a "fuck yeah!" comfort record.
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10
Ben Swingline said on June 17, 2008:
Stratford On Guy... it gets stuck on my head any time I get near an airport.
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Cal's Back On The Planet said on June 17, 2008:
Chris B. and I had a conversation last week about how it's impossible for me to pick a favorite song on this album because the reason this album is so amazing is because of the way the songs work together. That said, "Canary" does an incredible job of creating a bridge from the first part of the album to the rest. It, to me, kicks off the second act of Exile's story and leads the way for the stories in the rest of the album.
Can't wait to see who sings this at the Exile in *Imaginary* Girlville!!!!
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Paul said on June 17, 2008:
The opening line to "6'1"" is one of those "wows" you get once every few years -- you wish you had written it yourself, but are giddy that there's someone brave enough out there to write it for you.
My favorite on EIG moves around, but I always seem to be drawn to "Girls Girls Girls":
"...because I take full advantage
of every man I meet
I get away
Almost every day
With what the girls call
The girls call
The girls call
The girls call 'murder.'"
Brilliant -- for some reason the word "almost" gets me every time.
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imaginary stella said on June 17, 2008:
I can't even attempt to pick one -- the entire album, top to bottom, is one of my favorites. Sorry to chime in and not answer the question! But...this post did just inspire me to throw the disc in for yet another spin and see if I can't report back a definitive answer!
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15
imaginary dana said on June 17, 2008:
It was really interesting to me that just about every band playing at our Exile in {Imaginary} Girlville party requested to play a different song. Reading all the comments to this blog post, the response is the same -- people love the whole record, and there isn't just one great jam.
How many records can you really say that about?
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16
yma said on June 18, 2008:
standing six foot one
instead of five feet two
and I loved my life
and I hated you
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Reviews
jesse said on June 16, 2008:
Divorce song! It's not just my favorite EIG songs, but one of my all time favorite songs: period! I also love Mesmerizing and Stratford On Guy. Who doesn't like to pretend that they were in a Galaxy 500 video?