my cover of “a wolf at the door. (it girl. rag...

my cover of “a wolf at the door. (it girl. rag doll.)” by radiohead. from hail to the thief (2003).
download here.

this is my fourth cover of radiohead.
”knives out” last november,
”4 minute warning” last june,
& “high and dry” last month.

i listened to this song a lot in december, three years ago. a lot.

the lyrics are orwell-esque, paranoid. sad, inglorious. least that’s how i figure.

drag him out your window, dragging out the dead
singing, ‘i miss you,’ snakes and ladders
lift the lid, out pops the cracker
smacks you in the head, knifes you in the neck
kicks you in the teeth, steel toe caps
takes all your credit cards, get up, get the gunge
get the eggs, get the flan in the face
the flan in the face, the flan in the face
dance you fucker, dance you fucker, don’t you dare
don’t you dare, don’t you flan in the face
take it with the love is given
take it with a pinch of salt, take it to the taxman
let me back, let me back, i promise to be good
don’t look in the mirror at the face you don’t recognize
help me call the doctor, put me inside
put me inside, put me inside, put me inside, put me inside

i keep a wolf from the door
but he calls me up
calls me on the phone
tells me all the ways that he’s gonna mess me up
steal all my children
if i don’t pay the ransom
but i’ll never see them again
if i squeal to the cops

walking like giant cranes, ah
with my x-ray eyes, i strip you naked
in a tight little world and why are you on the list?
stepford wives, who are we to complain?
investments and dealers, investments and dealers
cold wives and mistresses, cold wives and sunday papers
city boys in first class don’t know they’re born little
someone else is gonna come and clean it up
born and raised for the job, someone always does
always pick it up, get over, get up, get over
turn the tape off

i keep the wolf from the door
but he calls me up
calls me on the phone
tells me all the ways that he’s gonna mess me up
steal all my children
if i don’t pay the ransom
but i’ll never see them again
if i squeal to the cops

i’d like to echo something that i’ve already written about; this is just about a year after i posted “knives out.” that entry was very centered around a man named leonard knight. emma and i talk about finding leonard. going to california and finding that guy. it seems important.

reposting some text from last november:

“so, leonard built a monumental mountain for jesus christ in the desert of southern california using only used paint he found and cement. he only intended for it to be small, and he only intended to stay there for a week. that was 1984. he has now lived there for nearly twenty-six years, working on salvation mountain. he has no electricity, no gas, no running water, no phone, no heating, no air conditioning and he receives $249 each month from social security. he is known for being one of the happiest men you could ever be so blessed meet.”

read about leonard knight and salvation mountain here:
http://www.salvationmountain.us/

anyway, i began working on this song about a month ago and finally finished it tonight. most times i do a cover in a day or two, turn it over fairly quickly. aside from “zebra,” this one’s taken me the longest for some reason. i’m happy to finish it today though, 2 december 2011.

joel does the percussion here. all else is done by me.

for emma.
i hope that you enjoy!