As time has gone on COMC has largely fallen out of favor with me. Once upon a time I liked it for what it was in terms of being a convenient to use site with cards that I could pick up on a whim while also treating the site like a database.
Fast forward to 2020 and most of the cards there are overpriced and I actively try to avoid buying from that site if I can help it. eBay might've ramped up costs by taking more in eBay sales taxes, but that would still probably leave you with more than if you'd gone straight to COMC.
Fortunately for me I already have most of the cards that are on that site. Unfortunately for me when a card I do actually need pops up I feel like I have to acquire other cards along with it to justify the shipping costs.
Case in point is the first new Luis Torrens addition from a real card company I've had in months. A camo parallel of Torrens from 2018 Topps Series 2. These parallels are a pain because these are numbered to 25 copies. You'd think that in the age of eBay/comc/etc... it'd be a lot easier to find these but because of a combination of a lot of things (mainly mass production spreading these out so far that the chances of even more than three of them seeing the light of day is slim) that's not the case. In any event I've had my eye on this on COMC for months and I finally pulled the trigger on it.
It's numbered 13/25, and thank fuck because it saves me the moral quandary of wondering if I should send it to Gavin for his X-Mas card collection.
I've got a small Dark Magicial Girl collection going on and I'm a sucker for oddballs like these. As far as I can tell these were made in North America for a North American audience.
As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).
My favorite song ever is Somebody Told Me by The Killers. Off of their debut album Hot Fuss. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that in passing before, but I don't think I ever dedicated an entire post to it.
Today is March 15th, meaning it's the 16th anniversary of Somebody Told Me getting released as a single. I probably should've waited four more years for an even/cooler 20th anniversary but my patience ran out.
And why wouldn't it, this is my favorite song ever here!
Alright, I might have to pump the brakes a bit. I love the song dearly, but repeated listens have diminished it just a liiiiiittle bit for me over the years. That said, I still do enjoy the song a lot whenever I hear it, and after a long break away from it I found myself loving it all over again.
Like recently I discovered this demo version of Somebody Told Me. Apparently all it takes is a slight reworking of this song to get me to fall in love with it all over again. This is great. It's at "almost ruins the studio version for me", levels of great.
So anyway, much like the last few times I spoke about a song on it's own, I think it's best to look at this.
I kinda noticed that in the past I focused more on lyrics and didn't pay too much attention to how the songs sound sonically. To be honest, I struggle with that because I'm not too knowledgable about instruments or chords or any of that. I couldn't tell you if what we're hearing is super sophisticated or innovative or new or simple or standard or old. What I do know is that this track features a slick ass bassline courtesy of bassist Mark Stoermer and an equally kick ass guitarline by guitarist Dave Keuning. Both of which I adore to hell and back. This track's groove is the very reason I'll never get tired of it. It's just so bouncy, fun and full of energy that I love it. Can't say much more than that in terms of how it sounds to me.
Alright, let's get to the lyrics.
Now in an interview with Rolling Stone's Garin Pirnia, Killers frontman Brandon Flowers described the song as "the story of trying to meet someone in a club". I mean that's true enough when you take the lyrics at face value, but I've always had an alternate interpretation of the song. My take is that this song is about how hard it is to make songs. Follow along with me as I explain my thought process as well as list how it could go the other way too.
Verse 1
Breaking my back just to know your name
Seventeen tracks and I've had it with this game
I'm breaking my back just to know your name
At Face Value: This guy is at a club that's really into a girl, and desperately trying to get even the most basic things about her. Starting with her name.
My Take: This guy is so stressed about this song he's trying to make that he can't even come up with a name for it (probably not even a working title). Sidenote, it wouldn't surprise me if Somebody Told Me was like the 17th track Flowers (or possibly Keunig, Stoermer or Killers drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr.) ever wrote professionally. I'll go into why this is a little later.
But heaven ain't close in a place like this
Anything goes but don't blink, you might miss
Cause heaven ain't close in a place like this
I said heaven ain't close in a place like this
At Face Value: The Gods are not shining down on this poor soul tonight, for his whole night is about to be ruined.
My Take: The Gods are not shining down on this poor soul tonight, for his inability to make progress on the song is his personal hell. And it feels three times worse! Also the only time he does appear to get some inspiration, it's gone in a flash. Reinforcing the state of hell he's in.
Bridge 1
Bring it back down, bring it back down tonight
Never thought I'd let a rumor ruin my moonlight
At Face Value: I'm going to take liberties here and assume this is alluding to the protagonist guy having been high in love(?) before but crashing down in a hurry. Why? Because his night is ruined after hearing a rumor about this girl he's into.
My Take: He finally finds something he can vibe to, immediately bringing it back and hoping to turn the recreated magic into something. But then he hears something that destroys whatever positive emotion that gave this troubled artist a moment of sweet release.
Chorus 1
Well, somebody told me you had a boyfriend
Who looked like a girlfriend
That I had in February of last year
It's not confidential
I've got potential
At Face Value: Well rumor has it that girl had a boyfriend, who looked like a girlfriend, that the guy had back months ago. And that it's common knowledge, and yet despite all of whatever that was, he thinks he can make it work.
My Take: After he finally got something going, someone tells the artist that the song they created sounds like the music the artist was listening to last February. It's pretty obvious, yet it's still salvageable in a way.
See, this brings me back to why earlier I said I wouldn't be surprised if this was literally the 17th song Flowers (et. al) ever wrote as a published artist. In an interview with NME, Flowers was quoted as saying he felt depressed after hearing The Strokes' album, Is This It. Reason being that Flowers thought it was perfect and decided to throw away everything he'd been working on for up until that point minus the song Mr. Brightside. What that means is that Somebody Told Me was not in that contingent of songs thrown away (duh), there may have been 17 of them, and that the inspiration for this chorus could very well be his inability to create something that felt different enough from the material on Is This It. Assuming my interpretation holds any water (which, maybe it doesn't).
Verse 2
Ready, let's roll onto something new
Taking its toll, and I'm leaving without you
Cause heaven ain't close in a place like this
I said heaven ain't close in a place like this
At Face Value: The guy is ready to move on from the topic, even though it also eats him up inside. To the point where he's pretty much ready to move on from the girl. And it's hell for him.
My Take: The artist is ready to try again. After all it has potential to be something good and still different enough. But the process of continuing to make it is still hell.
Bridge 2
Bring it back down, bring it back down tonight
Never thought I'd let a rumor ruin my moonlight
At Face Value: Same as before kinda. This is going downhill really fast.
My Take: "Okay, we've got something else here! Maybe this will work, run it back, soundcheck it and all that. Wait. Oh don't fucking tell me..."
Chorus 2
Well, somebody told me you had a boyfriend
Who looked like a girlfriend
That I had in February of last year
It's not confidential
I've got potential
Rushing, rushing around
At Face Value: This rumor is really messing with him. His mind's racing and going back and forth.
My Take: "Shit, this still sounds like the music I was into last February!". Doesn't look like the tweaks did much to change how the song is perceived, or how it sounds. Now they're really pressing and hurrying themselves to get something out of this.
Verse 3(?)
I'm not sure if this is a verse or a refrain, but it's here so...
Pace yourself for me (for me)
I said maybe, baby please
But I just don't know now (maybe, baby)
When all I wanna do is try
At Face Value: The girl is apparently distraught when confronted with these rumors, the guy knows they're just he-say, she-say, but he's not sure what to think anymore. All he wants is some ass.
My Take: The artist is calming himself down. Or possibly receiving a pep talk from whoever broke the news to him that his stuff is a rehash of that stuff from last February. But the artist is more lost than ever. Even so, his will to make something anyway remains because all he wants to do is create music. To create art.
Chorus 3 (x3)
Well somebody told me you had a boyfriend
Who looked like a girlfriend
That I had in February of last year
It's not confidential
I've got potential
Rushing, rushing around
Minus the word "well" there at the start, the song ends with the chorus getting repeated three times. So let's just do it once.
At Face Value: Yet the rumors still permeate his mind. I don't think dude's getting in them jeans tonight.
My Take: The artist keeps working and working to recreate his song but it always sounds like that shit from last February (read: Is This It).
And that's pretty much the lyrics.
From what Flowers has said in interviews, I take it that he has a weird relationship with this song. Mainly because he seems to be really upset that people (read: his record label) wants for him to make Somebody Told Me Part 2 when he wants to make other things, which is his right (and honestly for the best).
He also seems to have developed an aversion to his Hot Fuss era voice, as he's gone on record saying he wishes he could have a do-over. As well as him generally expressing his displeasure with how he thinks he sounded on his debut.
Personally, I love how this song sounds and Flowers' vocals are a big part of that. The bassline and guitarline will keep me chained to this song for all of eternity, but Flowers' vocals and the subject matter makes it something really worth keeping around forever to me. The double meanings, and the frustration in Flowers' voice that can be considered both sexual frustration or just general work frustration is what really sells it for me in a way that so few other songs (even by The Killers) ever will. Everything about this song works for me.
And that's why it's my favorite song of all time. Ironically enough my second favorite is Daft Punk's Instant Crush, which features The Strokes' frontman Julian Casablancas. Small world.
So big thanks to Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. for bringing the world this gem.
As always thank you (the readers) for stopping by :).
