Over and Over Again

 I think I've listened to "Conventioneers" more than sixty times today. It was the only song I listed to as I drove from work to the house.

A lot of my favorite songs are the ones that sound contradictory to their lyrics and/or ultimate meaning. And "Conventioneers" is one of those songs.

The tune and the way Mr. Page sings are pretty darn sexy. And the first part of the lyrics are all about coworkers being attracted to each other and sneaking off to screw. The speaker (singer?) even says "I'm already thinking marriage / I know that in the past it was something I'd disparage" and "As we danced, I could see in your eyes / You and me as senior citizens in love." Clearly imagining something beyond the one night.

After sex, though, he sings, "Then you slept, and I dressed, and I left."

To make it worse, when they get back to work after the convention the speaker asks "How can I just avoid a conversation?" and ultimately decides that "It'd be great / If you transferred out of state" to solve what he sees as a problem.

He wants her to move. To. A. Different. State! Because he feels awkward now.

So unsexy and cruel and awful and against the tone of the music and voice.

So delicious to my ears.

Also, I really like this image: "You stationed in the warm glow of the TV / Too patient as I'm playing L1 O1 V4 E1." (The point value is important, even if the number aren't sung.) In my mind, the light flickers and changes colors occasionally as whatever they're watching (the hotel's info channel probably) cuts from scene to scene while the extra small tiles are placed.

And this bit as the emotional transition of the song: "Before all the fireworks exploded / Our conversations were so loaded, innuendo flying / Now what can we say?"

I want to hear it again.