blathering nonsense (about) lyrics

We're switching it up this week, since in between last week's BNL album and the upcoming one for next week, my beloved Steven Page branched out on his own, releasing what has become a favorite CD of mine. Surprise, surprise. Perhaps he'll do more in this vein, now that he's officially left BNL. Oh, a girl can hope, right?

The Vanity Project is filled with typical Steve songs-- political and social commentary, along with angst-filled relationship songs, and ones that are lyrically a joy, like So.Cal. (this shorter version doesn't give the song its dues, but it's all I could find). While I did look up Pierre Trudeau, not knowing much of anything about Canadian politics or his "long walk in the snow," I'm still not too sure about the intended meaning of this song, but I just know that there's just something alluring about this song, something frustrated and political and so appealing about Wilted Rose. Of course, there's gotta be a couple relationship-gone-bad songs, and this one's powerful and sad and beautiful, all at the same time: Thank You For Sharing. I liked hearing about the back story of this song in the beginning of the video for So Young, So Wrong, So Long, because it's an interesting concept, and one that I actually have thought about myself. (Remember that I'm painfully prone to introspection... others may call that self-obsession... whatever.)

And now for the highlighted song, naturally.

Album: The Vanity Project
Year of Release: 2005
Song: These Wasted Words
Words & Music by Stephen Duffy and Steven Page

These broken dreams are enough
To make better people give up, but not us
We soldier on like nothing's wrong
Did we think that we'd last this long? Oh no

We touched souls while walking across the coals
If we give up nothing will be good enough

If we never make love again
Will you still want to call out my name?
There is nothing left to explain
When we admit that there's no one to blame

You drove my car down the street
Thinking you would never repeat all those lies
I sat and stared into space
But all I could see was your face above mine

It's easy to hurt the one you love the most
Stay with me, we're never giving up the ghost

If we never make love again
Will you still want to call out my name?
There is nothing left to explain
When we admit that there's no one but

These wasted words, never to be heard
Oh, we all pray that there's more to life than love

If we never make love again
Will you still want to call out my name?
There is nothing left to explain
When we admit that there's no one to blame
No one to blame

The pain is just palpable on this song, and I can't help but wonder about Steven Page's own broken marriage and how much personal experiences have gone into songs like these. It makes me tear up when I listen to it, because it's just so damn earnest. Add in his signature voice with it's strength and range, and there's another song added to the ranks of my favorites.


Getting back to all five guys next week,