Song Of The Day 10/15/2014: Squeeze - "In Quintessence"

You Pick The Artist II: Richard Shinder gave me Squeeze, and I made a mistake in accepting it. Not because I don't know my Squeeze -- I know them like the back of my hand -- but because my favorite Squeeze song, "The Elephant Ride," has already been a Song Of The Day. Oops. It's too bad, not just because I can't share my favorite Squeeze song in context of this series, but also because Richard's a Republican and I think he would have appreciated the titular elephant. Luckily for him, Squeeze doesn't have a really great song about donkeys. Although they have a couple great ones about making an ass of one's self. HI-YO! (I'm an independent. My party's mascot is a warthog that's just escaped from an animal testing lab.)

But fear not. Squeeze is one of my favorite all-time bands, probably in the top 20, having grabbed me at "Tempted" and never releasing me from their bedroom community. So there's lots of suitable replacements I can choose from. Even if I can't confirm it's my second favorite Squeeze song with utmost certitude, "In Quintessence" from East Side Story will always contend for the title. It's a tightly phrased portrait of a lip-curling brooding type who sounds pretty insufferable. Floating away in overestimated thought, craving information but getting so much he ends up knowing nothing, unable to adjust his youthful aspirations to a flailing adulthood -- yeeeah, s'pose it's easy to see why I'd glom onto this bit of the Difford & Tilbrook.

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