The Perfect End To Our Date

The Magnetic Fields “God Wants Us to Wait”

Stephin Merritt recently told me that the original version of this song, penned 28 years ago, was a 13 minute poly-rhythmic krautrock epic. Listening to this version, just over 2 minutes in length, has since become a thing of me straining to hear traces of that previous draft. It’s certainly there. That harsh Germanic pulse could definitely keep going on indefinitely, and there are echoes of Can in the rhythm, melody and general tonality. The lyrics don’t go back so far, but suit the mood very well – Shirley Simms’ delivery of buzzkill lyrics about wanting to wait until marriage for sex despite being naked on the floor with her date make perfect sense when paired with this rhythm that is sexy yet stern and aloof.

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