This Year
Album: The Sunset Tree and Come, Come to the Sunset Tree
Lyrics
I broke free on a Saturday morning
I put the pedal to the floor
Headed north on Mills Avenue
And listened to the engine roar[1]
My broken house behind me and good things ahead
A girl named Cathy wants a little of my time
Six cylinders underneath the hood crashing and kicking
Aha, listen to the engine whine
I am going to make it through this year
If it kills me
I am going to make it through this year
If it kills me
I played video games[2] in a drunken haze
I was seventeen years young
Hurt my knuckles punching the machines
The taste of scotch rich on my tongue
And then Cathy showed up and we hung out
Trading swigs from a bottle all bitter and clean
Locking eyes, holding hands
Twin high maintenance machines
I am going to make it through this year
If it kills me
I am going to make it through this year[10]
If it kills me
I drove home in the California dusk
I could feel[3] the alcohol[4] inside of me hum
Pictured the look on my stepfather's face[5]
Ready[6] for the bad things to come
I down shifted as I pulled[7] into the driveway
The motor screaming out[8] stuck in second gear
The scene ends badly as you might imagine
In a cavalcade of anger and fear
There will be feasting and dancing
In Jerusalem next year
I am going to make it through this year
If it kills me
I am going to make it through this year
If it kills me[9]
Banter
- It's so awesome to be here because, you know, the record came out on October 6, and that night we did the Colbert Report, and one thing you didn't get to see is that they do the one song that you do on tv, and then you do one just for the audience. Which is right exactly my style, because my main chief problem with the modern world is that everything is broadcast and recorded. I like the idea of some things never seeing light. That's what I'm into. We sang this song for a small audience with Stephen, and it's exciting to be looping around like that. This is called This Year, and you can sing it if you want. (2009-12-01 Webster Hall)
- I don't keep notes on recording sessions, but I'm pretty sure John Vanderslice was the guy wiht the idea behind the hand claps on this next tune. Please, welcome back to the stage, from Tiny Telephone San Francisco, John Vanderslice. [JV returns to raucous applause] If you feel like rocking the Rhodes, JV, it's A, to C#m, to D. Other bands would play and practice this, but as I observed earlier, those bands are posers, and we are not. (2017-06-01 The Fillmore)
- I'd like to welcome to the stage the guy who recorded this song, John Vanderslice. [raucous cheering and various instrument noises] I believe that the hand claps were actually his idea. We did them in real time instead of doing four of them and copying and pasting because we're not posers. (2023-10-03 The Belasco)
Live Performances
Footnotes
1. "I could listen to it" (2019-05-07)
10. "cursèd year" (2007-09-22 - [ed. we had no fucking idea did we])
4. "ativan" (2017-06-01)
5. "red, red face" (2017-06-01)
2. "Mr. Dew" (?) instead of "video games" (2023-10-02) "aero fighters" (2019-05-07)
3. "hear" instead of "feel" (2019-05-07, 2023-10-02, 2023-10-06, 2023-10-27, 2023-10-28)
6. "ready, getting ready" (2019-05-07)
7. "turned" (2021-08-06, 2021-08-08, 2023-10-06, 2023-10-27, 2023-10-28)
8. "it was" before "stuck in second gear" (2019-05-07, 2021-08-08, 2023-10-05, 2023-10-27, 2023-10-28)
9. Line repeated, sometimes multiple times (2019-05-07, 2021-08-06, 2021-08-08, 2023-10-28)