Vampire Weekend - Contra poll

i think i know what i want to vote for but going to listen again before voting.

"white sky"

"giving up the gun"

or "run" but

when i was 17

i had wrists like steel

easily taxi cab

"white sky" versus "california english" versus "taxi cab" versus "run" versus "giving up the gun"

(i.e. you're all correct)

what a great album

love this album so much, the last three songs are all show stoppers in their own regards, going with Giving Up The Gun

horchata or white sky, voted white sky because how in the world did anyone sign off on that line near the end that sounds like "Looking back, you shouldn't have farted."

i think ur a contra

"White sky" easily (I think it was written during the sessions for the first album). Then maybe "Diplomat's Son".
This album is OK but so far from the greatness of the 2 others.
It's like a b-sides compilation.
some interesting ideas but mostly substandard songs.

white sky

5. Taxi Cab
6. Run
7. Cousins
8. Giving Up The Gun
9. Diplomat's Sun

^^ amazing sequence

really the only ringer is "I Think UR A Contra"

cali english

i barely listen to the first record. always reaching for this or modern vampires

I've never gotten tired of this album.

"Giving Up The Gun," a song so tuneful and lovely that I momentarily forget how repulsive I generally find this band.

this one is much better as an album than the other two imo, i can cherrypick any song on the first one and the third has a really dull run towards the end, but it's got their best songs (Finger Back & Everlasting Arms).

Easily Cousins for me. It's actually impressive to me how they manage to remain precious even when ripping through a blistering song like that.

but it's got their best songs (Finger Back & Everlasting Arms).

o_O

I remember the moment Ezra K appeared on SNL in tight jeans, leaner, and with crisp hair. It was like, "You've arrived, kiddo." We married the following Saturday.

lol

Dad was a risk-taker
his was a shoemaker
you greatest hits 2006 little listmaker
heard codes in the melodies
you heeded the call
you were born with ten fingers
and you're gonna use them all

A little stairway
a little bit of carpet
a pair of mirrors that are facing one another
Out in both directions
a thousand little Julias
They come together in the middle of Manhattan.

This really is the album where Koenig's lyrics took it too the next level.

That cousins line is always linked in my head with Taylor's "you made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter".

Diplomat's Son, followed by White Sky and Taxi Cab.
Easily their best album.

eheh funny how everyone has a different obvious stand out track !

Voted for Taxi Cab as it's just so pretty. This is my least favourite of their three albums. Never been able to get into it in the same way for some reason and I've really tried hard with it. Listening to it again now, maybe it'll finally click.

That cousins line is always linked in my head with Taylor's "you made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter".

― Tim F, Friday, April 10, 2015 2:27 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ezra and taylor are very stylistically similar songwriters

nostalgic for garbage
desperate for time

http://31.media.tumblr.com/66334f0d31f6a1c25f082c8c5996c864/tumblr_mt0v00DsEN1swh5d0o4_250.gif

his hair is miraculous

^^^

I knew you'd get it.

can't you imagine him on that couch, doing those mannerisms for hours?

1. Diplomat's Son 2. Taxi Cab 3. Giving up the Gun

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

after listening again, finally decided on "Giving Up The Gun."

I have also listened to this again following this thread and I still find it faaaar from the 2 others.
Some very good songs though.

I have also listened to this again following this thread and I still find it faaaar from the 2 others.
Some very good songs though.

― AlXTC from Paris

Yeah, I did the same and this is my exact same feeling about it.

Already voted for Taxi Cab but should have gone with Giving Up The Gun.

Voted "Run." This is my favorite album of theirs. Not a fan of the production on Modern Vampires.

Taxi Cab. It's where they worked out how to write slow songs and it's Ezra's best lyric about class. "I pretended I was horrified…"

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

i guess this album is back loaded.

I'll often go to brunch or dinner and sing, "In the summer/eating burrata" or "frittata"

I think 7 chumps who voted in this poll R contras.

"holiday" is a totally excellent song, 0 votes

i wasn't aware people disliked "i think ur a contra"

i mean, other than vampire weekend detractors, of which there are many

i like "i think ur a contra," hardly the best song though

yeah what brad said

I didn't do a relisten because this is the one VW album I don't have close at hand. But I voted for "ITUAC" because at the time of the release I was deep into pursuing a relationship that was ending before it started, and the whole lyric thing about what "You" wanted (good schools and friends with pools) and what "I" wanted (You) really hit home. That's what I always think of first when I think about this album.

I think the some of the lyrics are excellent but it's the only tune which feels like it's essentially a prop for the lyrics, rather than a great tune which secretes all these awesome insights and turns of phrase within its sparkling melodic folds.

I voted for "Run", can't remember if it was on here or elsewhere that someone described the explosive part at the middle of the song as turning itself inside out and thus opening up the second half of the album to being received with different ears. that's stuck with me.

i'm glad no one voted for "holiday" cuz it became the bane of my existence the fall of 2010 when it was used in a volkswagen commercial and it played on TV ALL THE DAMN TIME

"Giving up the Gun" is one of the very good ones so no problem with that.
I'm surprised "White Sky" and "Taxi Cab" are so low... especially behind "Contra" !

i didn't vote or post in this because i can't decide what my fav song on this is but what an awesome album

One of the few albums I own that coincides with my point of view about lots of things (most of the time I'm listening to fiction).

fake philly cheese steak
but she use real toothpaste

otm

a t-shirt so lovely it turned all the history books grey

took me ten years to hear "richard serra skatepark," good joke

this is a perfect album

ive come around to the opinion that this is the best vw album, hearing songs like white sky, california english, and diplomat's son turn into powerhouses with their current live lineup was pretty fantastic.

One of the few albums I own that coincides with my point of view about lots of things (most of the time I'm listening to fiction).

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn),

1. Diplomat's Son
2. White Sky
3. Horchata

Horchata starts out awfully twee, but I really like "Here comes the feeling you thought you'd forgotten/ chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on." It reminds me of the moment at the end of Kipling's Kim where the world snaps back into focus: "Roads were meant to be walked upon, houses to be lived in, cattle to be driven, fields to be tilled, and men and women to be talked to."

I've no doubt Koenig has annotated Kim.

The New Yorker called Vampire Weekend "Rudyard Kipling as a rock band," iirc. I don't think this is quite accurate - I think Kipling's more of a George Harrison/Cat Stevens/Bruce Springsteen combo - but there's definitely some influence there.

cousins is my choice, btw. these guys can really thrash when they want to.

you wanted good schools and friends with pools
you’re not a contra
you wanted rock and roll, complete control
well, i don’t know

never pick sides
never choose between two
well i just wanted you
i just wanted you

goddamn Ezra was cute during this era

ive come around to the opinion that this is the best vw album, hearing songs like white sky, california english, and diplomat's son turn into powerhouses with their current live lineup was pretty fantastic.

― jacquees, full of cobras (voodoo chili), Thursday, November 21, 2019 3:31 PM

otm

can I just

http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Glastonbury+Music+Festival+40th+Anniversary+PcOuwWRyBFSx.jpg

id bang him

eh

This is definitely my favorite vw album.

absolutely their best

Yup

that night i smoked a joint with my best friend
we found ourselves in bed, when i woke up, he was gone

I initially misread this as 'Controp poll'.

tw // sexual assault, rape

an incredible piece from tavi. i was particularly struck by this passage. i was on vw tumblr when ezra and tavi were dating and so many of us brushed it over/ignored it because it made ezra *look* bad, never considering what tavi was going through pic.twitter.com/Qh7Ou3hgU7

— iana murray (@ianamurray) February 24, 2021

nobody? the lack of traction this is getting is mystifying to me

It's discussed here: Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

ahhhh thanks

is p4k going to address this ever

talked about on tavi g thread last week

Not defending Ezra in the least here, but what exactly can p4k report on? Afaik she hasn’t mentioned him by name or specifically accused him of anything, so it seems pretty risky for any publication to run with it until there is more info, no? Obviously we can put two and two together, but it wasn’t until ERW specifically named Marilyn Manson that that whole thing spread like wildfire in the press, even though everyone knew who she was referring to years ago.

Get'em guys!

in Manson's case there was a lot that he could have been called on years ago without naming anyone else. instead his own PR/gloating was repeated and passed off as criticism/controversy. in a more p4k relevant example the same goes for ariel pink. in this case there was enough to question if there had been a habit of questioning such things even at the expense of access. of course that's probably bad capitalism. as for what they can do now, there's nothing they can do (including nothing) which wouldn't make them look complicit, which they are