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Tom Fleming’s (Wild Beasts) Favorite Lyrics of 2016 So Far Are…

Fleming is into Mark Kozelek’s self-loathing.

6:00 AM EDT on October 21, 2016

As the seasons change and the end of the year creeps near, we’ve asked our contributors to pick their favorite lyrics of 2016 — so far. 
— Brenna Ehrlich, Talkhouse Music Editor-in-Chief

"When I come home from these long trips and set my shit down on the floor/I'd have a number from some girl from Singapore or Shanghai/And when I'd call her she'd ask if I had Twitter or Skype and I'd lay down on my bed and I'd wanna fucking die."
— Jesu/Sun Kil Moon, "A Song of Shadows," Jesu/Sun Kil Moon

Save for the sections in the Jesu/Sun Kil Moon record where Mark Kozelek reads fan letters (absolutely essential listening, BTW), I really like this passage in "A Song of Shadows.” It beautifully captures the self-loathing of being the big man on tour and the small man when you're finished. Self-loathing manhood is something of a pet subject of our band as well, and pretty much every Sun Kil Moon record is a Rolls Royce example. Much as I'm always looking for transcendence or something truly beautiful, it's very comforting to be reminded that sometimes we all have to wade through the shit to find it.

(Art credit: Dan Schmatz)

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