The opening track to Xiu Xiu’s eighth studio album, “Always”, displays Jamie Stewart addressing his audience openly and welcoming them to the album.
Steward has given details about the lyrical content saying that the song is about “trying to find beauty and company in the realisation that life, for...
[Verse 1]
If you are wasting your life, say hi
If you are alone tonight, say hi
If you wish he should die, say hi
(Hi, hi, hi, hi)
[Verse 2]
If there's a hole in your head, say hi
If you have a stitch in your wrist, say hi
If, when you look at the sky
It is black and shredded
[Chorus]
A sliver of bone could get caught in your throat
Well, silence is golden
A shot of bone sticking out of your arm
Well, blood is beautiful
[Post-Chorus]
If your curtain is closed
And you are still standing behind it
If there is a rag in your mouth
Broken glass will shine for with the moon
If your body has quit
And you forgo residing in it
Rat feces lacing your tongue
Broken hearts will shine for with the moon
[Verse 3]
If you don't know what to say, say hi
If your bra is on fire, say hi
If your bed is a living hell, say hi
(Hi, hi, hi, hi)
[Verse 4]
If you have eaten it all, say hi
If you have poked out your eyes, say hi
If, when you open your arms
Ferdinand gores you in the chest!
[Chorus]
Have you seen your face as of late?
The hippopotamus is beloved
Half a crocodile hanging out of its mouth
With the village rejoicing
[Post-Chorus]
If your curtain is closed
Yet you are still standing behind it
If there is a bomb in your mouth
Broken glass will shine for with the moon
If your body is wrong, wrong, wrong
And you regret residing in it
Jack razor-bladed your throat
Broken hearts will shine for with the moon
Hi was written by Jamie Stewart.
Hi was produced by Xiu Xiu & Greg Saunier.
It is rare, if ever, that I would describe a Xiu Xiu song as populist, but I think “Hi” fits into that notion. While it came from a series of e-mails from a friend while she was coming to terms with how physically and sexually abusive her childhood and current relationships were, even though it is h...