We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes all five tracks from the digital stream/download PLUS a secret bonus track. Packaged to deflect attention despite the glare of a hostile regime.

    Includes unlimited streaming of [ samizdat-001 ] Thug Nation via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD or more 

     

about

This is an old song, part of a quartet of tunes I recorded on my Tascam Porta-One 4-track cassette recorder back in 1994, collected under the incredibly pretentious title, "Smart Bombs in the Hotel de Vie." I've included it in this set because it's one of the signature songs of the SS — interweaving plunky guitar melodies and vocal harmonies that stray a shade from the expected.

Musically, I remember noodling about with the melodic walk-down that starts the song and then recalling how it sounded a little like the Simon & Garfunkel song "America." Maybe you caught the pun about "homeward bounders" in the lyrics above? From there, I wanted the song to ebb and flow, a little like its seaside setting.

Story-wise, I wanted to write about lovers who felt estranged in their current lives, who sought escape — anything that would raise them up from the doldrums of their existence. So they meet in secret, in nature-aided gloom, as far from the rest of humanity as they can get given their limited resources. Hence the pier, cut off from the shore by a fog bank. And I wanted to express something along the lines of however dire their circumstances, they ought not sell out, not bargain away their souls — there had to be limits on how far they’d go to survive. Ultimately, they realize their only choice is to leave their current lives and start again somewhere else. At least they'll have each other.

-Robi

lyrics

The fog comes rolling in
And cuts off pier from shore
The homeward bounders thin
To bar and bolt their doors
The devils sneer and grin
The ocean starts to roar
You push and push again
I've told you once, I've told you before

There are some things I'll never do
Even though you might want me to
You ordinary fool

I could be
Extra ordinary
Extra ordinary
Extra ordinary, too

The rain comes pouring down
We hide beneath the pier
Let's leave this stinking town
And start again somewhere
The ocean starts to pound
The devils grin and sneer
You swim or else you drown
So take my hand and let's get out of here

Cos there's some things I'll never do
Even though you might want me to
You ordinary fool

I could be
Extra ordinary
Extra ordinary
Extra ordinary, too

I could be
Extra ordinary
Extra ordinary
Extra ordinary...

...for you

credits

from [ samizdat​-​001 ] Thug Nation, released July 15, 2017
Words and music © 1994, 2017 Robi Polgar

Kelly J. Rath — guitars, vocals
Robi Polgar — guitars, vocals

Recorded at Alta Vista Recording, Austin, TX; April to July, 2017.
Mixed by Josh Allen; mastered by Tom Johnson.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Robi Polgar image

Robi Polgar Austin, Texas

Robi Polgar is a musician, writer, director and unrepentant soccer junkie, living in Austin.

He is one-half of the guitarist-singer-songwriter duo The Study Session (with Kelly J. Rath) and the frontman for Brit-Poppers The Late Joys.

Mr. P pens, plucks and performs punchy political paeans with a deft left hook and massive progressive undercut.

More: www.robipolgar.com/music.html ... more

contact / help

Contact Robi Polgar

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Report this track or account

If you like Robi Polgar, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Beans joins the show to discuss his album release, "ZWAARD".

listen now