The Hold Steady
Sideways Skull

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Sideways Skull lyrics

Taken from forthcoming long-player, The Price of Progress, ‘Sideways Skull’ is a great fuzzy slice of Minnesota’s alt-rock legends, The Hold Steady.

It all rumbles into life with a drum fill and guitars made of sharp lumpy rocks. Craig Finn’s storytelling enters the fray as things fizz through the story to the chorus. The character of the verse will be familiar to fans of this band as there’s an urgent delivery of lots of words, which all assemble into a zoomed-in micro-experience of meeting up with other musicians.

The chorus smoothes out enough to be distinct, but what’s super enjoyable is the assortment of words that contains rhymes in strange places, which is sure to put a smile on our faces.

There’s a musical interlude, started by the piano and supplying a strong thematic break, this serves to enhance the feeling of the final part of the song when it returns to the fray, as the pause is a deep breath before the urgency is increased.

This band has put out a great deal of good music since they formed back in 2003 and this single lives up to already high expectations. It also supplies the album’s title, ‘I said, “I’ve got a band too, we’re called The Price of Progress”‘. I’m excited for more!

Listen to The Hold Steady – Sideways Skull.

Sideways Skull lyrics

She ordered me a Newcastle and handed me a Marlboro
Stuck a dove in my right hand
She took a quick picture, but even when we squinted
I didn’t look so much like Robert Plant

She flew a flag that she made from a bedsheet
A sideways skull and a lopsided pentagram
Said, “asymmetrical’s way more diabolical”
“You don’t wanna make it look too perfect, man”

The trick is not getting cynical
She had a hairbrush mic and a fantasy band
She opened up with “We Are The Champions”
Went right into “Under my Wheels”
I was tryna figurе out how I feel

Faded denim with the buttons and badgеs
Laminates and backstage passes
Jacket held together by the rock band patches
And they let her smoke, but she can’t have matches
After last week’s pyro disaster
She’d like me better if I didn’t wear glasses

And she said, “We’re gonna do a show at The Pyramids”
She said she needs to take a call from her lawyers
Introduced me to the dudes that she’s calling her crew
An assortment of sad self-destroyers

Sitting six to a table in the room off the kitchen
Telling stories about things they imagined
Like after the show, we got roofed on the Reeperbahn
Woke up in a video cabin
I was rolling my eyes at the ritual lies
Okay, maybe half of that happened

She bites down on the caplet and the blood comes from her mouth
But it’s hard to fully rock in a halfway house
The band would be better if they weren’t such burnouts
The Beatle boots and the glam rock tophat
Isn’t gonna make any difference
It never works when no one listens

Faded denim with the buttons and badges
Laminates and backstage passes
A jacket held together by the rock band patches
They let her smoke but she can’t have matches
Bites down on the capsule and the blood comes from her mouth
But it’s hard to really rock in a halfway house
The pesky problem of the tepid turnout

I said, “I’ve got a band too, we’re called The Price of Progress”
“We’ve got a reputation as New Hampshire’s hardest”
“Our singer’s psycho and our fans are violent”
“Once they let me loose, we’re probably touring Europe”

Our morning meetings in the room off the kitchen
New medication for the same old depression
It never works when no one listens
But it’s sure nice to meet some fellow musicians

The Hold Steady

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Written by Fenton on 11th February 2023

Steve Fenton writes in our music, words, and culture categories. He was Editor in Chief for The Mag and covered live music for DV8 Magazine and Spill Magazine. He was often found in venues throughout the UK alongside ace-photographer, Mark Holloway. Steve is also a technical writer and programmer and writes gothic fiction. Steve studied Psychology at OSC, and Anarchy in the UK: A History of Punk from 1976-1978 at the University of Reading.