Lyrics for Subbacultcha as interpreted by riffic

Subbacultcha Lyrics
This is a song about something there
there is something about this song
we did the clubs what ass
i was hoping to have her in the sack
i was looking handsome
she was looking like an erotic vulture
i was all dressed in black
she was all dressed up in black
every thing was fine down here
what you call it here
call it what you will here
way down down down in this subbacultcha
her warm white belly in the life i'd lived had seen nothing
finer she shakes and she moves me or something
she's like jellyroll like sculpture
i was wearing eyeliner
she was wearing eyeliner
it was so good down here
saving for my scrapbook here
way down down down in this subbacultcha
now we live on the sea and relax and ride the tack
drug running on this panamanian schooner
she walks the deck in a black dress
and me i dress up in black
and we listen to the sea
and look at the sky in a poetic kind of way
what you call it
when you look at the sky in a poetic kind of way
you know when you grope for luna.

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caitsith01
07-06-2003

Rated 0 
No comments? What's up with that.

This song is a bit different to the others on the album. The thing that I like about it is the creative use of syllables and timing in the words - "everything was fine down here / what you call it here / call it what you will here" - the words carry their own rythm and the reversal of the wording adds a sort of symmetry.

The symmetry is all through the song, the whole "I was.../she was..." pairing of the verses.

Also interesting are the reflexive lyrics: "this is a song about something there / there's something about this song" (more lyrical symmetry too).

And the end lines - "when you look at the sky in a poetic kind of way/you know when you grope for luna", seems to me that this is a comment on the moon being an inspiration for anyone with a poetic/romantic personality but our attempts to write when inspired by the beauty of the moon (luna) is always relatively clumsy compared to the reality (we can only "grope" for it).

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Superabound
06-26-2004

Rated 0 
its about the Goth subculture, hence, "subbacultcha"
all the dressing in black, the eyeliner, the black feather boa his erotic vulture is wearing; hes attracted to this goth chick, hes "hoping to have her in the sack", so he adopts the whole goth thing in order to impress/get closer to her

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AlexheartKim
10-07-2004

Rated 0 
This song is great to hear live, charles articulates it so well, and such fun lyrics. "i was wearing eye liner, she was wearing eye liner" so unsophisticated for such a weird song. Also the spoken beginnings and endings are great. I dont have any insight to this song, i just like it.

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AlexheartKim
10-07-2004

Rated 0 
This song is great to hear live, charles articulates it so well, and such fun lyrics. "i was wearing eye liner, she was wearing eye liner" so unsophisticated for such a weird song. Also the spoken beginnings and endings are great. I dont have any insight to this song, i just like it.

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CB the PB
11-30-2004

Rated 0 
Frank was wearing eyeliner when I saw him on the 24th. Best night of my life. Words can't even begin to describe it. I am a changed person; no joke.

They didn't play this song, but that's ok.

I love the "you know when you grope for luna" part as well, and I thought the same thing about it as caitsith01 up there ^^. I love how the music sort of stops when he says it, too, making it sound somewhat awkward, which I think adds to the message of how, as cait puts it, "our attempts to write...[are] always relatively clumsy compared to the reality". Not sure if that was intentional, that's just what I get out of it.

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Mirza
03-17-2005

Rated 0 
I love the way guitar fits in to the ambient of the song, the way it melts with Frank´s narration.Awesome!

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eshtaryus
04-18-2005

Rated 0 
i agree with Superabound about the gothic meaning
and i think that there is a hint of wiki culture in the word "luna"
but not enough occurrences of the word so might not be,
i like the "i was../she was.." pairing
and frank's mannages to emphesize the fact that goth is something undefined using the
"what you call it here
call it what you will here
way down down down in this subbacultcha"
i love this song and the pixies very much.

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ROBRAM89
06-17-2005

Rated 0 
It's a hell of a lot of fun to just shout along with the song at random parts. "You know when you grope for LU-NA!" is one of the funnest damn things to say on te face of the earth.

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pharmageek
11-28-2006

Rated 0 
According to a feature story, "Rebirth of the Pixies", in Spin (Sept. 2004), Frank Black a/k/a Charles Thompson was seeing a gal named Jean Walsh who, though playing word games, and her love for "hard b0iled '40s movie dialogue", inspired him to write these songs about her--"Subbacultcha" a good example. I was glad to know what was behind that twisty l'il wordplay anyway--I was on an email list around the late '90s for info on upcoming shows, new albums, etc. by players who emerged from that vital late '80s Boston indie scene: Frank Black and the Catholics, the Breeders (Kim & Kelly Deal), former members of Throwing Muses (Tanya Donnelly, Kristin Hersh), et. al. and the list was called "Subbacultcha", which I thought was the best name for what these artists were up to at the time doing other projects. Then like all interesting lists, it died out in short measure, LOL.

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rkpetersen
04-19-2007

Rated 0 
No one's mentioned it, but the repeated 'down here' references also emphasize the song's sexual tension between these two Goth kids.

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patchwork cat
07-25-2007

Rated 0 
This song is so good, it's actually survived the bands whole career and then been recorded on what Wiki calls 'their final album' (never say never)
i think the lyrics say it about goth sub-culture. Like the way the who did for the mods. 'Down here' sounds more like the basement clubs and similar 'dives'. Down here in this sub-basement culture...where no-one can tell whether you are wearing a black dress or just dressed up in black. :)

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artslut
08-22-2007

Rated 0 
sculptcha

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persimmon
05-14-2008

Rated 0 
I think he's lovingly mocking the Goth scene ("I was all dressed in black/She was all dressed up in black"; "I was wearing eyeliner/ She was wearing eyeliner"). I adore this song, love the playful syllables. Also, "She was looking like an erotic vulture (vultcha!)" has to be the absolute best lustful line I have ever heard.

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