below & above - i always call long division our "darkhorse" - most people didn't like it as much as hope, but it was very dear to some people, and probably one of our favorites. this song is everything i like about the whole record - simple, cold/warm, pretty, and mim's lyrics.

shame - this song was an important step for us. it was vocally challenging and pushed our musical "skills" at the time. it is still a favorite with fans - it even played on MTV's real world, strangely enough.

throw out the line - about a friend from school who was an oceanographer in alaska. the epitome of our water theme hang-up. wish i would have relaxed a bit on the vocal. sounds like someone's stringin' me up.

swingin' - this song used to hurt my hand to play - awkward chords. kramer did the mellotron on it. i love that sound. vernon yard had us remix it (?!) - "unimpressed by my first draft. . ."

see-through - more ultra-minimalism. i think john wrote the bass part, before the split. we were listening to a lot of wire at the time.

turn - more wire and joy division influence. pitiful relationship song. told kramer to make it cold. now available in low/misfits version.

caroline - finished writing this last minute in the studio. our lack of confidence shows. still have a hard time remembering how we played it.

alone - fragile-boy song (see "drag"). low self esteem love song - danger!

streetlight - couldn't think of another verse, thus beginning the tradition of short songs on each record.

stay - very talk talk influenced. had no idea what i was doing on the piano - my best morton feldman impersonation. no time to think too much about it.

take - if you listen hard you can hear some rare guitar distortion. my vocal reminds me of jeff from idaho.

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