Album: Electronic Eden.
Year: 1981.
If there was any damn justice in the world, “Heart in the Street” would be widely remembered as a beloved early 80s New Wave classic instead of a song that is so obscure you can’t even find the fucking lyrics – much less the song itself – on the internet.
But of course, there isn’t, which is a shame, because this has been among my all-time all-times since it came out.
Starting of with a slowly picked guitar, “Heart in the Street” starts of with Tom Gray lost in a dream:
I lay dreaming, in electronic Eden
Plugged in the groove, not a thought in my head
but as the verse goes on, he gets more and more desparing and as the song builds and builds, things go south:
Well now I stand, on my own two feet
My face hits the dirt, that’s my heart in the street
And then, the kicker: as the song builds to an explosion of crashing guitars and slowly thundering drums, Gray uncorks a chorus for the ages:
Jesus Christ!
Can’t we do anything right?
What’s the matter with you?
What’s the matter with me?
Heart in the street.
By the end of the song, he’s become so pained that his frustration utterly leaps from the speakers.
In 1981, a year after graduating from high school, a year before KFSR went on the air, my parents well on their way to getting divorced, the first band I was in throwing me out, the frustration in these words and performance went directly to my soul, as did the utterly gorgeous melody line.
Of course, “Heart in the Street” exists nowhere on as a stream on the internet, so I uploaded it to Soundcloud.
“Heart in the Street” on Soundcloud
My Certain Songs Spotify Playlist:
