TS: "Drive" vs. "Closing Time"

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Last song of the night. Do you set up one last dance for the couples with the Cars asking who's gonna drive you home, or do you send off the last drink with Semisonic's plea to take them home?

My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 06:31 (twenty-two years ago)

VU, "After Hours"

hstencil, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 06:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Europe "The Final Countdown"

Broheems (diamond), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 06:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Def NOT "Closing Time". Annlying whiny song + too much pressure.
How about Blondie "Atomic"?

Orbit (Orbit), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 06:39 (twenty-two years ago)

eddie money- take me home tonight!

todd swiss (eliti), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 06:43 (twenty-two years ago)

I usually root for the hometown team, but I could never stand "Closing Time." The old bouncer ("Aminal") at the Red Dragon in Minneapolis used to shout that, and I felt like Semisonic should have given him some credit.

"Drive," on the other hand, is a great tune. But I'd probably go with Black Flag's "Drinking and Driving" or Atmosphere's "Shoes."

subgenius (subgenius), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 06:44 (twenty-two years ago)

"Tonight Tonight Tonight" by Genesis seems like the right kind of song I would want to hear while exiting a bar or party, and then once you're out the door, the song is only heard faintly through the windows.

billstevejim, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 08:51 (twenty-two years ago)

kirsty stegwazi "take me home with you"

the surface noise (electricsound), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 08:58 (twenty-two years ago)

"Closing Time" had some decent musical ideas, but the verses have always bugged me. I get the feeling that the singer was making them up as he went along ("time for you to go out to the places you will be from"). I'm a little lukewarm towards "Drive," but the Cars are one of my all-time favorite bands, so I'd have to pick them.

John Fredland (jfredland), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 14:29 (twenty-two years ago)

kate bush "get out of my house"

cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 14:31 (twenty-two years ago)

The Streets: 'Where's My Lighter?'
Dead Kennedys: 'Too Drunk to Fuck'

BTW I did NOT want to be reminded of that TERRIBLE whiny 'Closing Time' shitpile. Can a moderator delete all references to it plz?

ENRQ (Enrique), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 14:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I was thinking of the Tom Waits album Closing Time.

My Huckleberry Friend (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 14:39 (twenty-two years ago)

...or the Leonard Cohen song.

rainman (rainman), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 15:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Trip Shakespeare still kicking Semisonic's ass from beyond the grave

Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 15:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Donna OTM. Nothing could ever touch the glory of "Toolmaster of Brainard"

I nominate Woodie Guthrie's "So Long, It's Been Good to Know Yuh" for the last song of the night.

BrianB (BrianB), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 16:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Donna OTM. Nothing could ever touch the glory of "Toolmaster of Brainard"

And let us not forget Toolmaster Jef Maynard, but that's another Minnesota slice o' goodness.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 16:52 (twenty-two years ago)

what's that morrisey song about driving girls home? is it actually just called "driving your girlfriend home"?

Ian Johnson (orion), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 21:14 (twenty-two years ago)

"Last Dance" duh.

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 21:24 (twenty-two years ago)

The Leonard Cohen "Closing Time" is a popular bar-closer in Canada. At that point in the evening, Cohen's voice sounds exactly how you feel, so it's a very logical song choice.

Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 21:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I always thought it was called "Give Me My Lighter Back."

roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 21:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I usually root for the hometown team, but I could never stand "Closing Time." The old bouncer ("Aminal") at the Red Dragon in Minneapolis used to shout that, and I felt like Semisonic should have given him some credit.

Entirely OTM; I'm always disappointed that the guy didn't really push the envelope and go for the logical next step lyricwise:

"Clo-sing time / Occupanc-y o-ver one-hundred / Pro-hib-it-ed by law"

rejoinder, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 22:24 (twenty-two years ago)

But more to the point, two words: Benjamin Orr. If there were ever a no-brainer ...

(I mean the question, not the cruiser)

rejoinder, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 22:26 (twenty-two years ago)

spencer chow OTM

Felonious Drunk (Felcher), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 22:35 (twenty-two years ago)

yay Red Dragon! those Wanderer's Punch drinx r deadly.

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 22:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Ian: are you talking about "There Is a Light" etc? The doubledecker bus, the ten-ton truck, with the crashing and the killing and the dying etc?

If so, good call. Though it would compete fiercely for airplay with "Killing Moon" at most clubs where it was even possible ...

rejoinder, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 22:46 (twenty-two years ago)

> Do you set up one last dance for the couples with the Cars

Well... the thing is that Drive is actually one of the least romantic songs ever written. I mean, it's gorgeous, a classic, but it's world-weary and intensely melancholic. "Who's gonna drive you home?" is a rhetorical question, purely figurative; the lyric is not a plea to be allowed to fulfill that role, but rather a lament that the person he's addressing will have nobody to help her when trouble comes. The world is a mean place, says Drive and many people face it alone, without anybody to support them.
So, I'd just go for Take My Breath Away if I were you.

Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 22:52 (twenty-two years ago)

"Dead End Street"

juju, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 23:06 (twenty-two years ago)


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.