voting with your feet

ive been distracted recently by things that warrant my attention only if i choose to accept a certain path. thats the problem with it all really, isnt it? we know where we want to be, we're quite sure of a path that leads there, but we are often much too completely tied to our status quo. what is the reason for this? i would of course argue that it is that Sisyphean complex, the comparable tranquility that comes from the assurances of the burden of repetition. but tonight id like to challenge one self-evident conviction with another.

The story of NYC's The Walkmen is one of particular interest for us in this search for meaning. Born out of the 'next big thing' Johnathan Fire*Eater, the walkmen became obsessed over the recording process, believing that the creation of the art lay in the manipulation of the sounds, rather than the creation of the sounds in and of themselves. Holed up in a self-owned studio (Marcata) in Harlem, full of vintage and analog devices, the Walkmen set out to create something unique, but traditional. the climax of that album the track 'Everyone who pretended to like me is gone'

constructs a motif that may come to define the walkmen-one distinctly of loss and alienation, but from a perspective often untold. for the protag in 'everything,' he has been, as is often the case, thrown out of a relationship. the difference here is that part of him returns to the 'ship, not just mentally, but physically. the protag returns, against his own best advice to the other, but not to resurrect the relationship-that is clearly dead, but merely for some tortured pleasure. 'i made the best of it' refers not to the time spent in the relationship itself, but to also encapsulate the return.

The single off of the follow up to their debut, a song called 'the rat', presents something not altogether dissimilar, but not to alike. The walkmen are plagued by a shortcoming of many bands-the lack of two lead singers. The rat is sung by leithauser, but structurally it is a dialogue between two, with each line alternating speakers.

the song tracks the progression of an argument, one of those finger-pointing arguments, where each party blames the other. Going out, that ritual of concession and diminishing returns, has taken its toll. they still are 'going out' or have been until just recently, but the awkward silences have taken toll on this couple, acouple that is one of those that keeps only to themselves. 'that' couple, the couple of the single dates and generally 'antisocial' behavior. the curious piece is that the couple still maintain some affection towards one and other, though it is likely born out of a stubborn refusal and fear to end things totally. the choice is not going out alone, going out in the couple, or not going out at all. rather it is going out as usual, coupled, and being alienated from the other. maybe it is that this fear is only short term, judging by the way the music, dark and bothered, still offers hope-especially after the refrain. both parties will not leave or end the thing completely, as shown by them beating on both sides of the door/wall. the door and wall are different in that they are located in separate places in the apartment, though of course on the same plane. picture one party inside banging on the door, the other outside banging on the wall, unhappily, but necessarily, in order to preserve the Thing. they would both rather have the one come inside. What have the walkmen done? compile a complex dialogue of a relationship approaching end? No, too much hope is offered. What could this song refer to then? This dialogue/course of events happens regularly, monthly even.