Album: Dear Catastrophe Waitress.
Year: 2003.
What an uplifiting romp this song is! And totally unexpected.
While they’d put out a bunch of great EPs in the years surrounding and following the epochal If You’re Feeling Sinister, Belle & Sebastian hadn’t even come close to putting out an album as good. And honestly, as the 21st century dawned, it really kinda seemed – for all of Stuart Murdoch’s formidable songwriting chops – like they were just going to fade away into the twee sunset.
Then Dear Catastrophe Waitress came out, signalling – via their version of glam rock, of all things – that Belle & Sebastian were in it for the long haul, that they were going to change up their music as needed. That record is epitomized by “I’m a Cuckoo,” featuring twin guitars, joyous horns, shuffle beat, call-and-response vocals and a chorus that I will sing until the day I die.
I’d rather be in Tokyo
I’d rather listen to Thin Lizzy-oh
Watch the Sunday gang in Harajuku
There’s something wrong with me, I’m a cuckoo
That “Thin Lizzy-oh” followed by the Thin Lizzy guitar lick absolutely kills me every single time.
Official video for “I’m a Cuckoo”
My Certain Songs Spotify Playlist: