Sonic Youth

Released: October 30, 2007

Songwriter: Bob Dylan

Producer: John Agnello Sonic Youth

Things are crashing better, she's all too tight
In my neighbourhood she cry both day and night
It's a milestone but she's down on her luck
Days make her so lonely and it's so hard to buck
Now and then

I believe that she'd stop him if she'd find time to care
I believe that she may look upon decidin' whose to care
And I go by the Lord, anywhere she's on my way
But I don't belong there

No, I don't belong to her, I don't belong to every choir
She's my Christ-forsaken angel but she don't hear me cry
She's a lone-hearted mystic and she can't carry on
When I'm there she's all right, then she's not when I'm gone

Heaven knows that the answer, she don't con no one
She's the way forsaken beauty, she's mine for the one
And I lost her hesitating 'bout temptation as it runs
She don't harm me
I'm not there, I'm gone

Now I cried tonight, like I cried the night before
And I'll feast on the highway but I'll dream about the door
It's alone, she's forsaken by her fate, words to tell
It don't have approximation, she is smiling fairly well

Her smile is contagious, I was born to love her
But she knows that the kingdom waits so high above her
And I run by the race but it's not too fast still
But I've got the fever
I'm not there I'm gone

Well, it's all about diffusion as I cry for her veil
I don't need anybody now beside me to tell
And it's all affirmation, I'm asleep but it's not
She's a lone-hearted beauty but she don't like the spot
There she comes

Yeah, she's gone like a rainbow that was shining yesterday
But she's home now beside me and I'd like her to stay
She's a lone forsaken beauty and she don't trust no one
And I wish I was beside her but
I'm not there I'm gone

It's too hard to stay here and I don't want to leave
It's so hard for so few, you see, but she's hard, too hard to me
It's alone, it's a crime, the ways she mauls me around
But she don't phone to hate me but it's time to make her crown

Yes I believe that it's rightful, I believe it in my mind
I've been told, like I said before, I'll carry on when I'm blind
Yes , the soul gypsy told her, like I said, carry on
And I wish I was there to help her but
I'm not there I'm gone

Sonic Youth were a New York based experimental rock outfit founded in 1981. Initially composed of only Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore and a revolving-door lineup of drummers, the band added Lee Ranaldo after watching him perform with experimental guitar composer Glenn Branca at the influential New York no-wave festival, Noise Fest. After a couple years and several false starts, the band finally settled on Steve Shelley (formerly of The Crucifucks) as their drummer.

From roots in no-wave and noise, Sonic Youth crafted a dissonant and thunderous sound composed of sophisticated scale systems and offbeat guitar tunings. The period between 1985’s Bad Moon Rising and 1988’s Daydream Nation is often thought of as their creative pinnacle, with the latter album acting as their seminal masterpiece.

In 1990, Sonic Youth ruffled the feathers of the nascent indie rock community by signing with major label subsidiary Geffen Records. This move ushered in a second period of relevance for the band, highlighted by heightened exposure and brief flirtations with fame. Albums like Goo, Dirty and Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star entered with Billboard Hot 100. Despite a more radio-friendly bent, the music from this period is also critically adored, with songs like “The Diamond Sea” and “100%” frequently making “Best Of” lists from the period.

more tracks from the album

I’m Not There: Original Soundtrack

From the album

I’m Not There: Original Soundtrack (2007)

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I’m Not There: Original Soundtrack