seasonal

Three songs that allude, however glancingly or metaphorically, to our periodic feverish national gesture at democracy:

Nothing Painted Blue "Campaign Song": Apparently, the album this one appears on (Power Trips Down Lovers' Lane) is out of print. This is a crime against the state of our love, baby.

Game Theory "Throwing the Election": Hell, this one's out of print too (2 Steps from the Middle Ages)...a long, complicated story involving rights and the whereabouts of masters. Ex-drummer Gil Ray describes the story for Game Theory's previous album - the underheard classic Lolita Nation - in this blog entry and this one.

"Complicated Game" (Andy Partridge, XTC): The demo, from Andy's enormous package (I phrased it that way just for him) of demos, Fuzzy Warbles (which - mirabile dictu! - is actually in print). The demo barely hints at the furious chaos of XTC's studio version: except for that oddly voiced second chord, it sounds like yr basic careless strumming. In his notes, Partridge notes that this version was recorded very quickly, essentially to aid his memory in remembering the song idea.

Nothing Painted Blue "Campaign Song" (Power Trips Down Lovers' Lane, 1993)
Game Theory "Throwing the Election" (2 Steps from the Middle Ages, 1988)
Andy Partridge "Complicated Game" (demo) (Fuzzy Warbles 1 - recorded 1978)
XTC "Complicated Game" (Drums and Wires, 1979)