Why is it that some Belle and Sebastian songs bring tears to my eyes? They remind me of the past and of growing up in Scotland in the seventies. They speak to me of always being an outsider, of never having the right clothes to wear - "you can't afford a blazer, girl, you're always wearing clogs" is close to the bone. Of not being cool and not being aloof enough. Of not being cynical enough to transcend the crushing experience of unrequited love. The first B&S song I ever heard was The State I'm In - still, I think, the most perfect of all. I sat down on the floor and listened to this soaring, sweet voice and knew that everything would be all right. As a footnote: I'm finding the increased level of vitriol and defensiveness on this mailing list somewhat depressing. I like knowing what people are interested in and what their memories and feelings are - spurred by B&S and inspired by them, which is why we're all here. C [Keith Watson] You're right here of course - I mean, I think people need to discuss other things since there just simply aren't enough things to talk about on a regular basis regarding Belle and Sebastian - it'd be a different story if they released a record every week. Still It's interesting what you say, "The state that I am in" was also the first song I heard by them about 14 months ago or so, my friend basically put Tigermilk on and said "have a listen to this" to which I thought yeah yeah kind of thing, but by the end of the song I was like on my knees like I'd scored a goal in the world cup - bloody amazing. I grew up in Scotland in the 70's, however it's hard to attach Belle and Sebastian to that although I acknowledge it does make you feel dead young again. I really attach it to Gregory's girl growing up as this was where I lived at that time, and went to the school etc. so I''ve got a filmed record of where I lived when I was a kid. I do feel that Belle and Sebastian's success is purely a matter of time, it is stifled by their unwillingness to play the game (do the press etc.) which is fine, but even then, when a band's this good, it's pretty unlikely that they'll not break through no matter what - On the current curve of chart success it's looking like A Century of Fakers could be top 20 stuff - I really hope so, as there'll be plenty people around the world who'll not yet have heard of them (not "real" fans I suppose ?!), who'll get the chance and that, to me can only be a good thing. Cheers, Keith. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister@majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------