September 16, 2017

Remembering Grant Hart and Husker Du

SojourninSTL-47

It's one of the few times when an artist's death has absolutely gutted me...even if I wasn't surprised.

When I read about Grant Hart's passing, I was....well, on the one hand, I was watching a recent news item involving a music festival he was running. He...didn't look too well. But hearing of his passing was just gutting.

Husker Du and the Replacements helped me survived my twenties. Their music helped me through breakups, angst...and they still do. I'm one of those people who find loud, distorted guitars rather comforting.

So in that spirit, a selection of my favorite Grant Hart tunes....because I can. (And because pal Chris Brown would probably remove my unofficial designation as his "musical guru"). And music speaks so much louder than my written words.

First, two selections from Zen Arcade, the album that introduced me to the band. Pink Turns to Blue is my favorite of the two selections, although I've been really listening to Turn on the News in light of recent events:




One of my personal favorites is Green Eyes, a song from Flip Your Wig that was especially comforting when falling in love with a past girlfriend. (It also works, like Crush Story by Too Much Joy, on crushes)


Although everyone points to Don't Want to Know if You are Lonely, I actually prefer Hart's other tracks on Candy Apple Grey: Sorry Somehow served as a soundtrack to a moment of personal betrayal (and no, I'm not going to talk about it. Or blog about it), and No Promise Have I Made (which seems almost a great answer song with its "and now you've faced up to you facing me betrayed" lyric):




Finally, the ending track from Warehouse: Songs and Stories has always hit me in the gut. It's one of the things I had always wanted to say to my father, especially in the heat of one of our regular knock down, drag out arguments: "...I can be beautiful without you torturing me..."


For many fans, I've ignored some other choices....but that's the great thing about Hart's music: there's a treasure trove of gems worth exploring...

And yes, Grant Hart will be missed.

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