• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact

Medialoper

We're Not Who You Think We Are

Certain Songs #2448: St. Vincent – “Severed Crossed Fingers”

September 15, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: St. Vincent
Year: 2014

. . .

Guitarist and singer Annie Clark had been making records under the nom de song St. Vincent since 2007 when 2014’s self-titled record came out. While I think she had previously crossed my radar — and I’d checked out the album she made with David Byrne, Love This Giant, a couple of years prior — St. Vincent was the first time I listened to a whole St. Vincent album.

And the song that jumped out at me was the final track on the album, “Severed Crossed Fingers,” a achingly gorgeous synth-led torch song about hanging with someone who was having some issues.

When your calling ain’t calling back to you
I’ll be side-stage mouthing lines for you
Humiliated by age, terrified of youth
I got hope but my hope isn’t helping you

“Severed Crossed Fingers” is relatively sparse and slow, with the only embellishment some backing vocals during the lovely chorus.

Spitting our guts from their gears
Draining our spleen over years
Found my severed crossed fingers in the rubble there
Well you stole the heart right out my chest
Changed the words that I know best
Found my severed crossed fingers in the rubble there

The coolest part is the bridge, in which over a synth hook, those backing vocals — no doubt St. Vincent herself — come from the center of the earth and end up covering the sky all the while chanting “enough enough enough enough enough” while stopping just short of bringing the entire song to a halt.

St. Vincent was both a critical and commercial hit: not only did it make it to #12 on the Billboard Albums chart and topped a lot best-of the year lists, making to #4 on the Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop Poll. Oh, and it was also the first album by a female artist to win the Grammy for Best Alternative Album since Sinead O’Connor won for I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.

“Severed Crossed Fingers”

“Severed Crossed Fingers” live on KCRW, 2018

Did you miss a Certain Song? Follow me on Twitter: @barefootjim

The Certain Songs Database
A filterable, searchable & sortable somewhat up to date database with links to every “Certain Song” post I’ve ever written.

Check it out!

Certain Songs Spotify playlist
(It’s recommended that you listen to this on Spotify as their embed only has 200 songs.)

Support “Certain Songs” with a donation on Patreon
Go to my Patreon page

Filed Under: Certain Songs Tagged With: Severed Crossed Fingers, St. Vincent

Primary Sidebar

Lopy

Search

Previously on Medialoper

  • Certain Songs #2741: Todd Snider – “My Generation (Part 2)”
  • Certain Songs #2740: Tobin Sprout – “All Used Up”
  • Certain Songs #2739: Tobin Sprout – “The Last Man Well Known to Kingpin”
  • Certain Songs #2738: Tobin Sprout – “It’s Like Soul Man”
  • Certain Songs #2737: Titus Andronicus – “(I Blame) Society”

Copyright © 2023 ยท Medialoper