Album: Bandwagonesque
Year: 1991
. . .
So, if “The Concept” leaned on the Crazy Horse side of the triangulation that made Bandwagonesque so great, and “December” leaned on the Big Star side, then “Star Sign” definitely leaned on the Sonic Youth side, fading up from the ether riding a shimmering, glimmering wave of spaced out feedback that was like the background noise of a moonless starry night where everywhere in the sky you looked was prettier than everywhere else.
And then the band kicked in — drummer Brenan O’Hare beating shit out of his drums while Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley’s guitars fuzzed and shone — and and it got even better, as bassist Gerald Love laconically taking the piss out of an astrology believer.
Hey, there’s a horseshoe on my door
Big deal
And say, there’s a black cat on the floor
Big deal
What I love about that opening verse is Norman Blake’s harmonies on “horseshoe on my door” and “black cat on the floor” which are as effective as they are casual, like he wanders over his mic while they’re recording and essays the perfect harmony, just before Love snarks “big deal,” after which he then asks:
Well, do you know where you belong?
And is your star sign ever wrong?
While there is a mini-chorus after the first verse, the glorious full chorus doesn’t reveal itself until the second time around.
If these things change your day
Well, if these things make your day
Seen it all before, seen it all before
Given time, these things will change
There is so much going on in this chorus, my favorite being how the guitars harness eternity for just an instant before that chorus, and then speed past it throughout, stopping only for McGinley to make his guitar laugh — ha ha ha — before he starts complaining “seen it all before,.” I also love how Love is so calm while the band is roaring and crashing all around him.
Near the end, McGinley takes a ringing, chiming solo that that’s basically the melody while Love’s bass circles around it and Blake tunnels through it, but before you you realize how great it is, they’re already on the final chorus.
If these things change your day
Well, if this song makes your day
Seen it all before, seen it all before
Given time, these things will change
Seen it all before, seen it all before
Given time, these things will change
Oh, and at the very very end, as Love finishes singing “these things will change” somebody his a weird, dissonant chord that I originally though was a mastering error on my CD, but I’ve come to realize was very very much on purpose — or even better, an accident that they all loved — and makes me love this song that much more.
In the U.K., “Star Sign” only made it to #44 on the pop charts, though here in the U.S., it was their biggest hit — though of course, “hit” is a relative term — making it all the way to #4 on the Alternative Airplay charts, and I’m assuming getting a lot of airplay on 120 Minutes.
“Star Sign”
“Star Sign” Official Music Video
“Star Sign” live in 1995
“Star Sign” live in London, 2000
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