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#TMBThursday: Snowball in Hell

by on June 27, 2013 and modified on March 18, 2021.
Posted In: TMBG: Lincoln

“You must be making a lot of sales, piling up a good income…”

“Oh, ah, I’m doing alright. I could do better, but…”

Lincoln, track 17: Snowball in Hell. (Listen on iTunes)

Snowball in Hell didn’t connect with me as much as a kid as it has in more recent decades. The hapless salesman, trying to smile his way through an awkward encounter with his colleague. You can tell he’s the kind of guy who’s never going to get ahead, and will always be wondering why. He never seems to be able to improve his lot in life. Everything is always just a little worse than it was before, as the fires of hell melt that little snowball he’s worked on so hard.

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#TMBThursday: Shoehorn With Teeth

by on June 27, 2013 and modified on March 18, 2021.
Posted In: TMBG: Lincoln

He wants a shoehorn, the kind with teeth / Cause he knows there’s no such thing.

Lincoln, track 15: Shoehorn With Teeth. (Listen on iTunes)

For all its pretty literal absurdism, Shoehorn With Teeth is, at its core, a song about wanting something you can’t have. The nonexistent shoehorn, the return to the womb, the girl who isn’t there. Here our hero is stuck in his bubble, with all of his hopes and dreams – love, happiness, wealth, faith, security – lingering just out of reach. He wants them, even though he knows he can’t reach them.

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#TMBThursday: Santa’s Beard

by on June 27, 2013 and modified on March 18, 2021.
Posted In: TMBG: Lincoln

I can’t help but feeling jealous / each time she climbs on his knee. / Why must she climb on his knee?

Lincoln, track 12: Santa’s Beard (Listen on iTunes)

Here’s the second act of the ‘broken romance’ cycle I’ve mentioned before (beginning with I’ve Got a Match, and ending with They’ll Need a Crane). Here Gal is confiding in the friend dressed as Santa, and the not-completely-clueless Lad misconstrues her attachment as romantic in nature. Santa, it seems, doesn’t know what to make of it.

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#TMBThursday: The World’s Address

by on June 27, 2013 and modified on March 18, 2021.
Posted In: TMBG: Lincoln

I know you deceived me / Couldn’t sleep last night…

Lincoln, track 10: The World’s Address (Listen on iTunes)

To be honest, I never really knew what to make of this song. I enjoyed the latin rhythm, and always imagined it being played by one of those great old ballroom orchestras. Here I have some other planet (Venus, I think) cutting in on Earth’s action. Don’t know why, I always tended to latch onto the jilted-lover imagery on this album, especially here on side B.

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