in which aimee mann doesn't like fireworks

so, i fully realize that today's song is not cheery or patriotic in the least. 4th of july, by aimee mann, is, instead, a melancholy look at the bitter dredges of what once was. disillusioned even in the face of fireworks ("what a waste of gunpowder and sky," she snarks), the narrator dwells on the what-ifs of her relationship. it's not that she truly hates the 4th - rather, it's more that nothing is shiny and bright anymore, not when love is gone.



i got to see aimee mann in concert...wow. something like seven years ago now. she is one of those artists who seems ageless and timeless - her music, which is pitch-perfect slices of folk-singer-songwriter-americana, could be from any number of decades. and she and her guitar are even better live (something unfortunately not all artists can claim).

this song is really very beautiful in a simple way. it cuts both deep and shallow - pain can be like that, you know? it haunts and yet lingers on the surface, and i think aimee caught that in her simple lament and wishes for her ex-partner to regret how things ended.

today's the 4th of july
another june has gone by
and when they light up our town i just think:
"what a waste of gunpowder and sky"

i'm certain that i am alone
in harboring thoughts of our home
it's one of my faults
that i can't quell my past
i ought to have gotten it gone

oh, baby, I wonder
if when you are older someday
you'll wake up and say,
"my god, i should have told her
what would it take?
but now i am here, and
the world's gotten colder
and she's got the river
down which i sold her..."

so, that's today's memory lane
with all the pathos and pain
another chapter in a book
where the chapters are endless
and they're always the same
a verse, then a verse
and refrain

oh, baby, i wonder
if when you are older someday
you'll wake up and say,
"my god, i should have told her
what would it take?
but now i am here, and
the world's gotten colder
and she's got the river
down which i sold her...

yeah, she's got the river
down which i sold her..."

(mp3) 4th of july by aimee mann

here she is performing it. i dare any of you to disagree with her status as one of the premier singer-songwriters out there today:



by whatever, the album 4th of july is off of, HERE.