I’m pretty sure that this will be the last time I post a Song of the Moment that is named for one of Judas Priest’s guitarists. “Glenn Tipton” by Sun Kil Moon has been in constant rotation since I first heard it Saturday night. I was drawn to the album, Ghosts of the Great Highway, by its striking cover art; it wasn’t until 30 seconds into the first track that I realized that Sun Kil Moon is the new band from Mark Kozelek, formerly of Red House Painters (and Sweetwater, if you’re an Almost Famous fan). This song is what the inside of my head sounds like these days.
Cassius Clay was hated more than Sonny Liston
Some like KK Downing more than Glenn Tipton
Some like Jim Neighbors, some Bobby Vinton
I like ‘em allI put my feet up on the coffee table
I stay up late watching cable
I like old movies with Clarke Gable
Just like my dad doesJust like my dad did when he was home
Staying up late, staying up alone
Just like my dad did when he was thinking
Oh, how fast the years flyI know an old woman ran a doughnut shop
She worked late serving cops
But then one morning, baby, her heart stopped
Place ain’t the same no morePlace ain’t the same no more
Not without my friend, Eleanor
Place ain’t the same no more
Man, how things changeI buried my first victim when I was nineteen
Went through her bedroom and the pockets of her jeans
And found her letters that said so many things
That really hurt me badI never breathed her name again
But I liked to dream about what could have been
I never heard her calls again
But I like to dream