Album: Thirteen (Bonus Track)
Year: 1993
. . .
The bonus tracks that kinda sorta redeemed the U.S. CD version were a weird and varied bunch: two songs by soon-to-depart drummer Brendan O’Hare, including the soft-rocking near-classic “Golden Glades;” covers of Phil Ochs and the Flying Burrito Brothers and right there in the middle, the Raymond McGinley’s devastating “Weird Horses,” which starts with a lonely acoustic guitar and an even lonelier vocal performance.
See
See what I wanna find
I can find it by myself
But I feel
I feel like I recognize
What I see in someone else
At some point a bass sneaks in — whether played by Gerald Love or overdubbed by McGinely — and adds just a little bit more to the overall sound without even remotely distracting from the 3:00AM Tonight’s The Night vibe emanating from every pore of this song, especially on the second chorus, when his voice just about falls apart on when he sings “feeee-eee-eeeel.”
When I feel like I’m fucked up
If I feel like the stars
Have been stuck up
And somewhere behind
Time has snuck up
You call by to say hi
I really love the rhyme scheme here: “fucked up,” “stuck up” and “snuck up” is just a killer set of rhymes, and McGinley lets you know it in the way he hits each one. Also killer: the long and lovely guitar solo after that second chorus, which is where you would assume that the drums would come in, like on “Tears Are Cool,” but never do, reenforcing my belief that this is McGinley all by himself, working some shit out all by himself.
As well as being a bonus track on the U.S. CD of Thirteen, “Weird Horses” was also a b-side on the single of “Radio,” and it won’t be the last Teenage Fanclub b-side we talk about here.
“Weird Horses”
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