Bind You Like You Want To Be Broken

Pavement “Pueblo” (Live in Cologne, 1996)

Pavement is known for having very smart and clever lyrics, but most of the lyrics on Wowee Zowee are incomplete, improvised or outright gibberish. A lot of the lines that are clear are bits of evocative language that stuck at some point in the creative process, particularly in the numbers that were staples of the band’s live set before they were tracked in the studio. The record is in some ways improved by this impressionistic quality, amplifying moments of absurdity and adding a touch of mystery to emotional peaks, such as the climax of “Pueblo.” That section may be the most devastating thing Stephen Malkmus has ever written, as he returns from a desolate instrumental section by rising up with a ragged, surprisingly vulnerable “when you move, you don’t move, you don’t mooooove.” The verses suggest some kind of dramatic context, but I have no idea what this particular bit of verbiage means or what it has to do with a guy called Jacob. Nevertheless, it hits me in the gut like few other pieces of music. I know this feeling, this abstract thing that has resonated with me for over half of my life, and that it feels something like giving up something that you want so badly it stings. Malkmus is very rarely a guy who spells out the emotional content of his music, and this song is a good reason why he shouldn’t need to bother – when you can strike this chord, provoke this sort of complex emotional response, why would you ever need to be so literal?