I procrastinate when it comes to chores, especially painting. Trim is tedious, and baseboards are the worst. Yesterday, I managed to get myself painting the living room baseboards. To make my task more enjoyable I had a beer and turned on the radio.
As I was crawling around on my hands and knees, a song came on that caught my attention.
It started out with a catchy drumbeat that had a tense energy and seemed to skip. Beck’s voice then eased in over the marching rhythm and blipy video game sounds. There seemed to be underlying playfulness to the melancholy chords.
The song was Modern Guilt, and listening to it took my mind off painting just enough to feel like I was doing what I was meant to be doing.
The rhythm marched forward in a reserved way. The lyrics dissolved into da-da-dadadas and I was pleasantly lost.
I just watched the video, and it's PERFECT. Exactly right.
Modern Guilt lyrics
I feel uptight when I walk in the city
I feel so cold when I'm at home
Feels like everything's starting to hit me
I lost my bearings ten minutes ago
Modern guilt, I'm stranded with nothing
Modern guilt, I'm under lock and key
Misapprehension
Is turning into convention
Don't know what I've done but I feel ashamed
Standing outside the glass on the sidewalk
These people talk about impossible things
And I'm falling out of the conversation
And I'm a pawn piece in a human shield
Modern guilt is all in our hands
Modern guilt won't get me to bed
Say what you will
Smoke your last cigarette
Don't know what I've done but I feel afraid
