speed of dark

Do you ever hear a song and then can't find it anywhere? This probably doesn't happen nearly as often anymore because of the Internet, but I have carried songs in my head for years. Sometimes I find them; sometimes I don't. This is the story of a song that was found.

I always lived somewhere that alternative music was rare, and I have to go out of my way to get it. About a dozen years ago, my only "fix" was to listen to the Spin radio show on Sunday nights. I'd record songs I liked on tape, filling a 90 minute tape after about three weeks. I have managed over the years to find the CDs of many of the ones I grew to love the most, but some eluded me.

One of those was "Never Tell" by Letters to Cleo. Even though my tape recording was poor, I was completely taken with this song, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Every year or so I'd remember it and look around, but I still couldn't locate it. Now I know it was on their first album, Sister, which was originally released in 1991. That album has been out of stock for some time but was re-released in 1998, but at that time I was concerned with other things and the song had fallen out of my consciousness.

The memory came up again a few months ago when we watched an old video of "10 Things I Hate About You," in which Letters To Cleo supply several songs on the soundtrack.

I got iTunes and eMusic in the past couple of years, but the track listed as "Never Tell" was NOT the song I remembered. Finally, having seen mistakes in these programs before, I decided it must be there but identified incorrectly. I clicked through all the sample tracks, and it was there under the name of "Pete Beat." So only a couple of weeks ago, I finally found my lost song.

What do I like about it? Its unusual structure, to begin with. Notice that it has kind of a bridge but it doesn't have a chorus. I like how the two lines of vocals are interwoven in the bridge. And I like the lyrics. They tell a story, or is it a dream? Or a flashback? I like the way Kay Hanley seems to be looking back from the future, knowing that disaster will come but unable to stop it.

Well I stepped off the train just the other day
I swore that I saw you
A younger man, a stronger man, but certainly the man
That you were at one time.

He stepped out of the station and into the sun
Thought that for sure
He would be meeting someone he would be meeting someone
Possibly the girl that he’d marry.

I thought at the time that I’d warn him
Of all that was to come
Since he’d commit the damage he’d do
And all along he was out on
Didn’t do it but I wanted to
It’s time once again to revive some old some new
If you don’t mind that it’s all the same
I’ll never tell you.

If seem to to fade in, if you seem to fade out
Take no mind, I don’t mind.

Never Tell from Sister (1991, 1998)
Alternate link

Cruel To Be Kind - Nick Lowe cover- from 10 Things I Hate About You Soundtrack (1999)
Alternate link

Pizza Cutter from Wholesale Meats and Fish (1995)
Little Rosa from Wholesale Meats and Fish (1995)
Here and Now from Aurora Gory Alice (1994)

MySpace | Website
Buy at Letters To Cleo Store, iTunes, Amazon.com, and eMusic
Lyrics | Tabs

Lead singer Kay Hanley is now based in L.A. and is making new music. She and her friend Michelle Lewis have a company called Art Is War that cultivates a community of producers, writers and artists--something she says record companies used to do but do not anymore.
Kay Hanley MySpace | Art Is War MySpace

Guitarist and original founder Greg McKenna has a band called Murder Capitol of the World. Their current CD is St. Jude's Revenge.
Murder Capitol of the World MySpace