Well here is the official video for The Hold Steady's "Stay Positive". This is the title track off their latest release. Interestingly the song references the opening tracks on two other cds. After multiple listens the song seems to be about the band's response to success as musicians and their thanks to their fans. On their first release "Almost Killed Me" the first song was titled "Positive Jam" and so they sing on "Stay Positive".
'Cause it’s one thing to start it with a positive jam,
and it’s another thing to see it on through.
And we couldn’t’ve even done this, if it wasn’t for you."
Then on the "Separation Sunday" release, Craig Finn starts off by mumbling on "Hornets, Hornets"...
"She said always remember
Never to trust me
She said that the first night she met me
She said there's gonna be a time
When I'm gonna have to go
With whover's gonna get me the highest."
"Stay Positive" echos these lines:
"There’s gonna come a time when she’s gonna have to go
with whoever’s gonna get her the highest."
I have been wondering about these lyrics and the themes in "Separation Sunday". Holly the character who wants to go with whoever will get her the highest, ends up in church. It is there that she finally seems to get the highest as ...
"She climbed the cross and found she liked the view.
Sat reflecting on the resurrection."
And therein lies the struggle throughout The Hold Steady's songs. There is a tension between the shady world the characters inhabit and a faith that just might take them higher.
Stay Positive
"I got a lot of old friends that are getting back in touch
It’s a pretty good feeling. Yeah it feels pretty good.
I get a lot of double takes when I’m coming around the corners.
It’s mostly pretty nice. Yeah it’s mostly pretty alright.
Because most kids give me credit for being down with it.
When it was back in the day. Back when things were way different.
When the Youth of Today and the early 7 Seconds.
Taught me some of life’s most valuable lessons.
There’s gonna come a time when the scene will seem less sunny.
It will probably get druggy and the kids will seem too skinny.
There’s gonna come a time when she’s gonna have to go
with whoever’s gonna get her the highest.
There’s gonna come a time when the true scene leaders will forget where they differ and get big picture.
Because the kids at the shows they’ll have kids of their own and the sing along songs will be our scriptures.
We gotta stay positive!
When the chaperone crowned us the king and the queen,
I knew that we’d arrived at a unified scene.
And all those little lambs from my dreams, well, they were there, too.
'Cause it’s one thing to start it with a positive jam,
and it’s another thing to see it on through.
And we couldn’t’ve even done this, if it wasn’t for you.
We gotta stay positive. We gotta stay positive.
We gotta stay positive. We gotta stay positive."
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