Daydream Nation

It's an anthem in a vacuum on a hyperstation. Daydreaming days in a daydream nation.

Hi Son,

It’s been almost a year since I wrote you about Sonic Youth. At that time I was going through a lot of stress, because there was a good chance your mother was going to need surgery again. I also mentioned that the type of music that gets me through times like those are very noisy and loud. There isn’t another band that fits those criteria better than Sonic Youth. However, when I came up with the idea to write you about the band again, I can’t say that I’m in that difficult head space. I really wanted to share you with what brought Sonic Youth up from the underground in 1988. Their first era was from 1981 up to this point. They were only known to those passionate about their style. There hadn’t been a song that really stuck in the mainstream. The song that brought them to the surface was “Teen Age Riot.”

This song is the epitome of cool. Anytime Sonic Youth makes a song palatable to the mainstream, it just sounds “cool.” It starts out with a very calm and relaxed guitar riff with Kim signing, amongst other verses:

Spirit desire, spirit desire
Spirit desire, we will fall
Spirit desire
We will fall

Then another guitar riff having a lot more energy starts and Steve hits his drumsticks in the background banging out the tempo. Of all the parts of the song that stands out to me the most, it’s Steve at this part. I honestly can’t remember many other songs starting out this way. There are other songs where Steve will do the same thing (he does this again midway through Teen Age Riot), but this is the example that stands out most. Thurston then comes in with the vocals. This is one song where his vocals are really understandable and tight. The song is nearly 7 minutes long and not a second is wasted. When it hit mainstream radio, it was edited down to just under 4 minutes. I can’t stand the radio edit. There’s so much missing that makes this song great. The meaning of the song is about an alternate reality where the front man for the band Dinosaur Jr., J Mascis, is the president of the United States. I’m honestly not sure why they picked J Mascis for this alternate reality. This song would become the opening track for the fifth studio album, “Daydream Nation.”

The album art is one of my favorites. It’s a painting by Gerhard Richter called “Kerze (Candle).” It was created in 1982 using oil-based paint. Richter re-created this image from a photograph. I think it’s quite fascinating how he was able capture the flame of the candle in a way that makes it look extremely realistic. Candles were an important symbol for Richter “as a silent protest against the regime.” However, as he painted “Kerze” he never intended it to have the “unequivocal meaning” of speaking out against the regime.

The other part of the album art is on each side of the double LP or the CD, depending on which media you own. The band mimicked the symbols that were used by Led Zeppelin on their fourth studio album. The first symbol (infinity) represented Lee. The second, the female gender symbol, represented Kim (as if there was another member of the band to give this to). The third was omega given to Thurston. The fourth and final, which is my favorite, was given to Steve. The image was a “demon-angel baby” holding drumsticks.

After “Teen Age Riot” comes “Silver Rocket.” It’s a contrast from the opening track. The song may be the “hardest” on the entire tracklist. The tempo is faster and Thurston’s vocals are more aggressive. Then we come to track 3, “The Sprawl.” I really enjoy this song. Mainly because Kim is doing the lead vocals. Some of the lyrics to the song were literally taken from “dialogue overheard from prostitutes, junkies and denizens on the streets of New York.”

I wanted to know the exact dimensions of hell
Does this sound simple? Fuck you
Are you for sale?
Does "Fuck you" sound simple enough?
This was the only part that turned me on
But he was candy all over

Most of the verses are Kim just reciting there words into the mic. Then the chorus comes along “Come on down to the store. You can buy some more and more and more and more.” The first line in that lyric was an “ad line for Macy’s department store on local NYC TV in the 1980s.” The second half of the song is purely instrumental. It’s really a jam session. The guitars are very euphoric and calming. Unlike these types of endings on previous records, it doesn’t have Lee and Thurston creating sounds by doing crazy random things to their guitars.

Track four is probably my favorite, “Cross the Breeze.” It begins heavy with Kim again doing the vocals. The first couple of minutes are instrumental and Steve is destroying the drums. For most of the verses, Kim ends the verse yelling “I wanna know. Should I stay or go?!?” Then the last third of the song is another instrumental, but less of a jam session. The music is serene and makes you feel like you are sitting on the beach feeling the breeze while watching the waves on the water. I could honestly listen to this part for hours at a time. I absolutely love it. Track 5 is “Eric’s Trip.” This is a Lee song (on vocals). I should point out that one of my favorite things about “Daydream Nation” is the relatively even split between Thurston, Kim and Lee doing lead vocals. The song sounds like the title. It’s kind of trippy, then again a lot of Lee’s songs are trippy. The origin of the song comes from the movie “Chelsea Girls.” The film was directed by Paul Morrissey and Andy Warhol. There is a monologue given by Eric Emerson while he was on LSD.

Track 6 is “Total Trash.” This song is in reference to the “Crack Epidemic” at that time in New York City. It’s an interesting song because it changes tempo throughout, until it speeds up into chaos toward the end. Track 7 is “Hey Joni” sung by Lee. It’s in reference to a couple of things. The title is an homage to Jimi Hendrix’s song “Hey Joe.” The reference to Joni is for Joni Mitchell. I’m not sure if the song is really in direct correlation to Joni’s past and present in 1988. The reason why I say this is because a lot of the lyrics are in reference to “Neuromancer,” a sci-fi novel by William Gibson. Unlike “Eric’s Trip” this song has a less “trippy” feel to it.

The last half of the album begins with “Providence.” The track is a couple of phone messages left by Mike Watt with a piano in the background. Thurston recorded “Providence” at his mom’s house using only a Walkman. Then comes track 9, “Candle.” I love the beginning of this song. The opening guitar riff gives me the vision of watching the sun rise. It feels like a great start to the last act of the record after an “intermission” from “Providence.” Track 10 is another Lee track called “Rain King.” This is my least favorite of the “Lee songs.” Then we get to Track 11, “Kissability.” This is a “Kim song” and probably my favorite vocals that she performs out of the songs she sings on “Daydream Nation.” What’s interesting about Kim is that she was very much against personifying the typical image of a woman in the music industry. The message I get from the song is how sick a lot of producers and other men in the music industry can lie to a woman about her perspective talent just so they can get closer to her.

Look into my eyes, don't you trust me?
You're so good, you could go far
I'll put you in a movie, don't you wanna?
You could be a star, you could go far

The chorus ends with the lines, “you drive me crazy, give us a kiss.” The voice inflection that Kim uses when she says those two lines is mocking the disgusting men who try to take advantage of women. I’ve said this before, but Kim was very much a trailblazer in the rock industry for women. This song is a great example of that.

The final track of “Daydream Nation” is called “Trilogy.” It’s broken down into three parts.

• Part A: The Wonder

• Part B: Hyperstation

• Part Z: Eliminator Jr.

The first two parts are sung by Thurston and are a combined 13 and a half minutes. Part B actually gave the inspiration for the name of the record.

It's an anthem in a vacuum on a hyperstation
Daydreaming days in a daydream nation

“Part Z: Eliminator Jr.” is sung by Kim. It’s actually much different than Parts A and B. The title is a cross between Dinosaur Jr. and ZZ Top. The song itself is about “The Preppy Killer,” Robert Chambers. He was also known as the “Central Park Strangler.” The music and vocals are pretty hard and up tempo. It’s a very poignant message about a very sick individual. Robert’s actually on parole until 2028 having only served 15 years of a 19-year sentence.

Tears cruise away, packed and then took a shit
The sky is ours, dark stains on his pants
Enough to make him blush around the bone
Take a walk in the park? Shit, yeah!

The record in itself has had a lot of influence going into the 1990s for the grunge and indie genres. I’ve said before my favorite record of theirs is “Sonic Nurse” but I will always recognize their best as “Daydream Nation.” It’s been called their “Magnum Opus.” Which now brings me to my soapbox. Sonic Youth should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s maddening to me how many of the inductees are measured upon their record sales. However, this band is unequivocally the inspiration of a new generation of music. They also pushed the boundaries with the what could be done with a guitar. They had a serious presence in the 1990s after “Daydream Nation” and I would argue their best decade of music was their last. I just hope to hell they make the Hall of Fame within my lifetime.

Love,

Dad

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