DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

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Clams
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DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Clams »

A few people mentioned this song in last week's thread about Sounds Better in the Song, so we might as well have at it. I see it as melancholy, matter-of-fact and unapologetic. Patterson's take on a dying relationship.



Way you look at me like that, something's got to give pretty soon
Throw it on a camel's back, something's got to give pretty soon
Living hard to chase the dream, way beyond our ways and means
Yours don't mean a goddamn thing.
That's what you said, but, don't believe it.

That shattered look upon your face, something's got to give pretty soon.
Swallow, but can't stand the taste, bark at the wind, chase the moon
Living fast and drinking lots. List of things we haven't got.
Tired of life with the have-nots
That's what you said and I believe it.

Maybe what you need's for someone to send you flowers
Someone strong and mean who can prove he has the power to
show you more than charm and take you on your way
to where you want to be at the end of the day
and it breaks my heart in two to know it ain't meant to be
but, it ain't me. It ain't me.

And you say it's these things I do, about me that's attracted you
so if I started doing something else, what would we have left.
And you say you just want compromise, then act so different all the time.
These reasons why you said goodbye, just another way of telling lies.

Something's got to give, got to give pretty soon
or else we're gonna lose the very things that made it bloom
Sitting in silence in a cold and lonely room
while the world goes on around us

Something's got to give, got to give pretty soon
or else we're gonna hate each other
and that would be the saddest thing I ever seen.
Everyone needs a friend, everyone needs a fuck

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Smitty
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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Smitty »

it breaks my heart in two to know it ain't meant to be
but it ain't me
it ain't me


every line in that song is loaded, but that line and the final line (we'd hate each other and that would be the saddest thing I've ever seen) are unbearable. About the clarity that comes after the denial at the end of a relationship.
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Zip City »

I've never delved that deep into the lyrics of this one because the song bores me. It's a melody/chord sequence that Patterson could write 100 times in his sleep.
And I knew when I woke up Rock N Roll would be here forever

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by OtisTheBulldog »

My head hurts from Athens too much to contribute as much as I'd like considering this is one of the songs I'm always happy to hear when it comes up on random. Like just about anybody, I've lived it at least a couple of times so I can easily relate.

The cold & lonely room line is one of the stronger ones - just saying how life's going on outside and you're stuck in the present reflecting too much on the past. I've always liked that one.

The "bark at the moon" line always kind of bothered me as awkward or too forced to have a rhyme with "moon" and rarely do I think there's too many lines that don't work well in Patterson's songs.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by jimmyjack »

I couldn't disagree more! Some days, this is my all time favorite Patterson song. It's definitely in my top 3. It resonates with me personally, and I think, lyrically, it sums up the outgrowing of a partner better than any other song I can think of.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by jimmyjack »

oops that was an xpost to Zip - sorry!

Zip City
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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Zip City »

jimmyjack wrote:oops that was an xpost to Zip - sorry!


I figured it was.

Top 3 is mighty lofty territory when it comes to Patterson songs. I wouldn't even put this song in his Top 50.

But different strokes, etc...
And I knew when I woke up Rock N Roll would be here forever

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jimmyjack
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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by jimmyjack »

Well, I am a certified DD nut, and I think ALL my favorite songs are on that album, so...grain of salt. :D

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Iowan »

Glad I'm not the only one that thinks that this song is way, way up in Patterson's pantheon. I couldn't give less of a shit if it's a normal chord progression. For fuck's sake, how many DBT songs have unusual chord progressions? The majority of DBT songs have really basic and familiar chord progressions. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that either, because they have a way of making them sound like no one else ever wrote it. Couple it with a fairly catchy verse and some of my favorite lyrics out of anyone, you have one hell of a song.

Still chasing this one, and I'd give a nut to hear it in Denver.

Oh, and before I forget, one of the best divorce songs ever.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by GuitarManUpstairs »

I have a sister-in-law who was recently divorced and then just jumped right back into another marriage with an ex-BF from high school....of course its not going well...both are currently unemployed with three kids b/w them. Not necessarily a perfect fit but still lots of parallels with this song, but the reason i am posting this is b/c just last night my wife came home from visiting them and she just said "someth'ins gotta give"...to which I replied..."gotta give pretty soon."

she sort of laughed and said, "You've got a Trucker's line for everything." And i guess i do, but its b/c the songs they write are so damn relateable, thought provoking, and emotive...even the more vague ones.

I agree with those who say it is up there in the upper ranks of Patterson songs. The lyrics sear and the imagery will punch you right in the gut.
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Clams
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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Clams »

GuitarManUpstairs wrote:she sort of laughed and said, "You've got a Trucker's line for everything." And i guess i do,


that happens in my house too
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cortez the killer
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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by cortez the killer »

OtisTheBulldog wrote:The "bark at the moon" line always kind of bothered me as awkward or too forced to have a rhyme with "moon" and rarely do I think there's too many lines that don't work well in Patterson's songs.

Whereas I see him avoiding the awkward aspect of this with his clever wordplay - "Bark at the wind, chase the moon."

I remember first getting into Decoration Day several years ago. Initially it was songs like "Marry Me," "Outfit," "My Sweet Annette," "Heathens," and the title track that jumped out at me. As I delved deeper into the album, I was blown away by just how good this record is. "(Something's Got to) Give Pretty Soon" stands out as one of those songs that cemented my love for that album and the band. The guitars on this one are excellent. Patterson's vocals flow very well. Lyrically, this paints a vivid picture of a relationship that's been pushed to the limit. For me, this is as good as anything he's ever written and recorded.
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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by beantownbubba »

Like Cortez, I initially overlooked this song but now appreciate it as much as any on DD.

What's interesting to me, among other things, is how subtle it is within what appears to be a very obvious setting. Zip talked about the simple or obvious chord progression and maybe that actually adds to that feeling, but I'm thinking that it's a guitar driven rocker about a relationship breaking up - simple right? Yet we're about a dozen comments in and nobody's even mentioned my favorite parts:

The way he switches from what he doesn't believe to what he does believe in verses 1 & 2. The totally "that can't work except it does" rhyming of flowers and power in the 3rd verse. The wisdom of "so if I started doing something else, what would we have left" in the 4th. This is one of those songs that actually stands up to 3DD type obsessive excessive examination because it's just filled w/ that kind of wisdom, subtle word play, small but exceptional shifts in wording, tone and meaning, etc. Cortez's "bark at the wind..." is yet another example of this kind of thing.

Don't know where I'd rank it within Patterson's catalog, just know that it's a great song that i love to listen to and from which i take an indecent amount of delight considering its subject matter.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Clams »

It just hit me how this song combines with the other "relationship songs" around it on DD... Heathens-->Sounds Better in the Song-->Something's Gotta Give-->Your Daddy Hates Me. That's some heavy shit all in a row. Of the relationships in the four songs, only one of them has any chance of success (Heathens, and there's no guarantees with that one). Thinking of these four songs as a suite, I might have a new perspective for listening to the middle chunk of DD.
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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by GuitarManUpstairs »

Clams wrote:It just hit me how this song combines with the other "relationship songs" around it on DD... Heathens-->Sounds Better in the Song-->Something's Gotta Give-->Your Daddy Hates Me. That's some heavy shit all in a row. Of the relationships in the four songs, only one of them has any chance of success (Heathens, and there's no guarantees with that one). Thinking of these four songs as a suite, I might have a new perspective for listening to the middle chunk of DD.


"Convenient" too that it all falls on side two on the vinyl, so they are not broken up. Same with side three on TDS.
Never going back to Buttholeville. (Good luck with that!)

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by acoxofrd »

I would put this in the top 5 of DBT and PH songs. I loved this song from the first time I heard it. DD came out about a year after I had a relationship end and this song kind of said a lot of things I thought but couldn't put into words about that one. As far as the music goes, sometimes the simplest things are the best right? I love the guitar work here and how lyrics seem to meld with the tune.
Last edited by acoxofrd on Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by lajakesdad »

Put me on the list of loving this tune. This and Heathens are my fav PH songs on this album and maybe favorite of all his songs. Anyone who's married can relate to the lyrics. Like others have mentioned, that last verse give me chills every time.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Smitty »

7. Heathens
Patterson: This song and Sounds Better in the Song provide the center of gravity for this album.
Heathens was originally to be the title track and it's probably the strongest of the songs that I wrote for this record.
I particularly love the interplay between Cooley's almost Eddie Hinton-esque guitar part juxtaposed against my original chord progression.
Jason put down two tracks of E-Bow guitar, John Neff again plays pedal steel and Scott Danborn again plays fiddle.
"She ain't revved till the rods are thrown".

8. Sounds Better in the Song
"I might as well have put that ring on her finger
from the window of a van as it drove away" - Mike Cooley

9. (Something's Got to) Give Pretty Soon

10. Your Daddy Hates Me
Patterson: Two more songs about divorce and the emotional fallout that follows.


Did most of the songs on your new album (DD) come from personal experiences?
Yeah, it was very much inspired by the bullshit that happened around the time we made the Southern Rock Opera. I got divorced and another member of the band got divorced and another member of the band managed to stay together and that was not small feat in its own right because we spent so much time on the road everyone pushed their personal lives beyond the breaking point. It was almost the aspect of why one couple made it and the other couples didn’t make it were aspects of these songs. Some people will listen to the album and got something totally different out of it though. None of the songs are so tied to what inspired them and I think that they can hold up on their own just as songs that someone can listen to and get their own story out of and because of that I have not been delving too deep into these songs as to what they mean and I would like them to stand on their own that way. Definitely it was a very trying time that almost destroyed the band itself and we somehow managed to keep it together and come out the other side and now we are doing pretty good. We are getting along well and playing good shows and all of that but it was definitely a tough time that we went through before the making of this record. By the time we made the record we had a great time making it. The songs themselves are kind of dark and sad but we went into the studio and had a great time making it.
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by garnersound »

it breaks my heart in two to know it ain't meant to be
but, it ain't me. It ain't me.

thats good stuff right there.
this always jumped out @ me from the first time i heard it.
@ the time i had a fresh ex.
our 5 year world had went to shit and it was all my fault.
or thats how her side of the story went.
i've always had more "personal" connection to "decoration day".
i can relate to the "darkness" buried within it more than any of the others.
the one thing about this song that puzzles me to this day...
who's beeper is going off @ 1:36 and @ 2:51 mark???
we're all just humans being.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by OtisTheBulldog »

it breaks my heart in two to know it ain't meant to be
but, it ain't me. It ain't me.


Interesting, cause I always just considered this line to be "it ain't me" as "i'm not the man for you anymore". But I never looked at it as to say or perhaps suggest, "it wasn't my fault".

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Smitty »

OtisTheBulldog wrote:it breaks my heart in two to know it ain't meant to be
but, it ain't me. It ain't me.


Interesting, cause I always just considered this line to be "it ain't me" as "i'm not the man for you anymore". But I never looked at it as to say or perhaps suggest, "it wasn't my fault".


I take it as "I ain't the man for you" either
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by OtisTheBulldog »

Smitty wrote:
OtisTheBulldog wrote:it breaks my heart in two to know it ain't meant to be
but, it ain't me. It ain't me.


Interesting, cause I always just considered this line to be "it ain't me" as "i'm not the man for you anymore". But I never looked at it as to say or perhaps suggest, "it wasn't my fault".


I take it as "I ain't the man for you" either


I've been on both sides now, one in which a situation would just never allow for things to work and in that case it really was a "it ain't me" type of thing. That just reminded me of that. Ahhhhhh....old shit...

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by beantownbubba »

Maybe what you need's for someone to send you flowers
Someone strong and mean who can prove he has the power to
show you more than charm and take you on your way
to where you want to be at the end of the day
and it breaks my heart in two to know it ain't meant to be
but, it ain't me. It ain't me.


In the context of the entire verse, I don't see how this can mean anything other than it breaks my heart that it turns out that I ain't the one you need. The first 4 lines describe that man, the last 2 say "that's not me" or maybe "it ain't in me to be that kind of man." I don't think this verse is addressed to fault at all.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by OtisTheBulldog »

beantownbubba wrote:Maybe what you need's for someone to send you flowers
Someone strong and mean who can prove he has the power to
show you more than charm and take you on your way
to where you want to be at the end of the day
and it breaks my heart in two to know it ain't meant to be
but, it ain't me. It ain't me.


In the context of the entire verse, I don't see how this can mean anything other than it breaks my heart that it turns out that I ain't the one you need. The first 4 lines describe that man, the last 2 say "that's not me" or maybe "it ain't in me to be that kind of man." I don't think this verse is addressed to fault at all.


Point taken, but he also later addresses "If I started doing something else" and questioning her really wanting compromise. Taken as a whole, there can be some fault addressed in it. Just another way to look at it all.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Smitty »

A good companion to this song suite is Killers & Stars
What a great collection of songs that is
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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by garnersound »

OtisTheBulldog wrote:I never looked at it as to say or perhaps suggest, "it wasn't my fault".

that's exactly the way i feel it.
i played by the rules, gave it my all and still lost in the end.
aint life grand???
we're all just humans being.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Lurleen McQueen »

Smitty wrote:
OtisTheBulldog wrote:it breaks my heart in two to know it ain't meant to be
but, it ain't me. It ain't me.


Interesting, cause I always just considered this line to be "it ain't me" as "i'm not the man for you anymore". But I never looked at it as to say or perhaps suggest, "it wasn't my fault".


I take it as "I ain't the man for you" either

I took it like Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe"
Consistently holding bullshit up to the light of reason

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by Iowan »

Lurleen McQueen wrote:
Smitty wrote:
OtisTheBulldog wrote:it breaks my heart in two to know it ain't meant to be
but, it ain't me. It ain't me.


Interesting, cause I always just considered this line to be "it ain't me" as "i'm not the man for you anymore". But I never looked at it as to say or perhaps suggest, "it wasn't my fault".


I take it as "I ain't the man for you" either

I took it like Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe"


Me too. Never really heard it any other way.

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by beantownbubba »

Way you look at me like that, something's got to give pretty soon
Throw it on a camel's back, something's got to give pretty soon
Living hard to chase the dream, way beyond our ways and means
Yours don't mean a goddamn thing.
That's what you said, but, don't believe it.


Patterson's vocal on the last line of this first verse just slays me. The hurt when the love of your life tells you that your dreams don't mean a goddamn thing AND the determination to hold on to them in the face of that is all there in those few words, in the way he sings them. You can almost see Patterson wince as she hurls that at him and then see the resolve as he rejects that and stakes out his turf of knowing what's important to him.

As is obvious from the above, i've always heard an implied "I" before "don't believe it". IOW, he doesn't believe that his dreams don't mean a goddamn thing. But it occurs to me as i write this that he could be saying that she's lying, presumably just to hurt him. Does anyone hear it that way?
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

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Re: DBT track # 35 - Something's Got to Give Pretty Soon

Post by njMark »

I am partial to this song since it is the first DBT song I ever heard and DD is the first album of theirs that I bought. I personally think it is one of the best, but thats just me.

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