"South San Pedro" Will Quinlan and the Diviners
Call this one a victim of an overfull inbox. I got the email from the PR company back on December 3rd, but for whatever reason I totally missed it. When I spent the week after Christmas rummaging through the back log of emails I stumbled upon this gem. I'm not sure where they're coming from (I think Florida or so), and I'm not entirely sure where they're headed, but "Navasota", released in July of 2008 according to Amazon, has been in pretty steady rotation here at ThaBombShelter HQ for the month of January. Will Quinlan and his Diviners sound a little bit like the Counting Crows, a little like the Old 97s, and a lot like no one else. There's a polish and at the same time a dustiness to their sound. Very Americana, nicely country, and easy to like. This track has been great since my first listen, so enjoy as I take you through it in 100 words.The tone is very southwest, which stands to reason. The steely guitars (not steel guitars as far as I can tell) sound like Texas, even to someone who's never been. And it's not just dust and pickup trucks, it's more than that. It's tired windmills in the dark and streetlights humming to life, mercury orange flooding the sleeping downtown. There's a sound of love and longing, of teenage infatuation grown into adult love. It's hot in the nighttime and iced tea (sweetened, thanks), bonfires turning to ash-y coals and a group of friends sitting on hay bales and trading songs.
"South San Pedro" Will Quinlan and the Diviners
posted by H-Bomb @ 11:20 AM
5 Comments:
Wow, I LOVE that. I have just looked up this album to buy. They remind me a bit of Jay Farrar and Son Volt.
The lyrics to this song seem, at least to me, to indicate that a women for whom the 'writer' had relations with was killed. This assessment goes along with the title "South San Pedro" which I believe is named after a road in San Antonio (San Pedro rd.) that translates from Spanish to mean Saint Peter in English, and Saint Peter in popular culture holds the keys to the pearly gates of heaven. Also the fourth line of the song which reads "Can you hear her voice floating in the midnight air?" seems to indicate that the woman is passing into the after life. There are more lines in the song which hint at the death of this woman such as... "Late September she’s late for the sky hour" etc... Of course this interpretation of the song is neither wrong, correct, or complete for that matter, it is up to the individual what the song really means, and as I myself discovered different words in the lyrics of this song over time, the meaning changed significantly. I still have not identified all of the words (missing three) so I'm sure the meaning Is bound to change again. As I stated above, I think the song is named after San Pedro Road in San Antonio, TX which is somewhat ironic because I first heard this song on my college radio station: San Antonio College Raido Station KSYM-90.1 and San Antonio College is located on San Pedro Rd... Overall "South San Pedro" by Will Quinlan & The Diviners is an excellent song and it truly is poetic. It would definitely be interesting to hear what others think the lyrics to this song mean.
Thanks for that thorough take on the song, Rusty! And I'm glad you discovered something new, Gramma, glad I could help!
Will Quinlan & the Diviners come from Tampa, Florida.
Thanks Autopsy!
Post a Comment
<< Home