Stumbled across this in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of the 2010s and I am a huge Hold Steady fan but had never heard it. Holy. Shit. Incredibly moving. Chicago is the crossroads, the Rome of the Midwest. Our church. My home.
One of my friends went to high school with the girl in the video. She showed me the video without realizing what an impact this video would have. This fucking song/video speaks to me on a level I've never found. I listen to it every time I'm feeling anything. This video is perfect. Thank you so much.
So moved every time. Drunk. Sober. It's a simple story, but the meaning takes on complex tones the more you listen. So moving. A beautiful realisation of truth yet a heartbreaking tale of not quite realising it. This is life. Thank you, Craig
This song has broken my heart everytime. Its glorious and so is Craig Finns ability. Hes also why i love the hold steady and yes I loved both music in backwards order.
I need to hear more Annie Nero! That background vocal was so good! Also, this listening to this song gave me about 15 different emotions all at once, just like a great novel would. Love!
Being stationed in Chicago in 2017-18 for my last year in the Navy, & me knowing I’ll be settling back in Mpls for good, I made this trip from Chicago to Mpls, Mpls to Chicago way too often. Writing atm this from my beautiful home I bought in Mpls. Hope 2 c u in June when u play fine line here in Mpls
I don't really comment. But my brother sent me this as being tonally similar to something we're writing. Sibling of a dead friend, unfinished business, etc. I don't think he realized how much this fucked me up though. I just moved out of Chicago for a job that isn't really turning out to have been worth it, and this song hit me in the guts like a brick wrapped in newspaper. I don't know why there's newspaper.
Lost 8 good friends in 5 years. Lost my best friend months ago. No one told me. I've been an addict 10 years now. To this day I cry over every memory that passes my mind. Reminding me those people I loved are gone and there is so much trauma because of abuse, pain, what I've had to do alone. This song still takes my breath away
Olivia I’m so sorry. This song stopped time for me so many others I hope you know no matter what it feels like you aren’t alone. I don’t know you but I care about you and even if everyone’s situations are completely different so many (me too) feel like how can things ever be ok? Even if everything isn’t going to be ok ‘better’ IS out there. I’ve seen it, I know it, and I’m counting on it, too.
i listened to this song accidentally for the first time and after a while I realized I'm all goosebumps and I felt enchanted. it rose some different emotions all at once. an struggle than can be beautiful. i loved it since and listened to it almost every week. its a different song and its a great one. i love it
Well done. Evocative, begs for hitting replay. To me- best line- 'I felt God in the buildings' - only editorial comment? If having met 1 mile N of Midway, entrance into the grand city would be the southern view from LSD. But, thank you for this. For your artistry.
i am thankful for this amazing work! the storytelling is simple. the characters & situations are relatable enough for me to fill the gaps & wonder what was next in the silence between words. the drums come in right when we see her holding the boombox in the car. we know what's at stake & the journey begins!
My phone randomly started playing this song on apple music thank u phone! living in cicero and berwyn and always lived in chicago i never went no where else this touched my heart dearly
Listen to this one at the end of a night out. Perfect song perfect vibe perfect lyrics. Thanks Craig! We all want the same things Hoping to see you do this one live one day
Actually a sick track. Looking forward to the album now in a way that I wasn't before. The Minnesota accent is real noticeable when he does spoken word, but I don't hate it. It's kind of cool, and it works with the narrator.
This guy sings Went back to St Paul sat down at the bar Had a few drinks - can't find it anywhere I know he's the one heard a number on *WZBT* by *Craig Finn* and I know that was the guy that sings that *God Watches Us* … because he sounds like *Bruce Springsteen* alot. They use to play *God Watches Us* on *WTMD* alot.
Even though he tells a tale of his friends making it to the West Coast he gets stuck in a snow bank and (&) ends up back in St Paul but the radio station *WTMD* must have had Baltimore in mind since the station is in Towson, St Paul and Charles St Paul Street splits into an overpass and an underpass and eventually to the inner harbor area St Paul turns into Light Street and the Key Highway I was Grub Hubbin' everywhere inside 695 Beltway and I'd keep goin back to St Paul myself up around 26th St Paul is in the John Hopkins neighborhood it criss crosses US 40 there near the RAMS HEAD RAMS is a giant curtain in the back with a huge Police Station across Baltimore St the next block is the block across Fait St Hard Rock Cafe on a dock So I gets the food about fifteen places around the block maybe 20 or 30 places Tin Roof, Chicken Pollo, Mexican Tequila Bar, Toucan Grille PF Chang's, so I got an order in front of Ram's Head goes up Water St turn on to Gay and head up Bel Air there a red light at US 40 turns into Orleans St here on the East Side so it feels like it getting ready to rain well down comes the front handlebars of a bike slam on the road, what ? Then the rest of the motorcycle, slam hits the US 40 eventually across the street I see a van gassing it but going nowhere but he's evving the van trying to get it to go and at the same time I see a guy lying straight on his back with his head under just in front of rear passenger wheel the guy was gassing it I yelled at them 2 guys he was under there they immediately jumped out and slide him out a few feet and jump back in and keep trying to get outta Dodge but their linkage was just busted when they collided with the bike but I didn't see it happen just saw two part bike fall out of sky …
If he was in high school / college with the guy who died, a girl 4 years younger would be sketchy, but when you're 30 and she's 26 it's kind of whatever
At first listen I enjoyed the song. I've been a fan of the hold steady. I'm also from sw side of Chicago near Cicero. The story the song describes just goes to prove that many Midwesterners from rural parts use Chicago for their bacchanal and debauchery. The fact that Finn uses Cicero and cermak (non-white high crime areas) as the backdrop for this fictitious crime transacted by two white people from Minnesota shows the discontent for the living situations of those in unglamorous parts of Chicago. hey craig, Capone died in Alcatraz years ago! You can drive down to Cicero and cermak and hire a hit man to kill your brother in law in the twin cities!
Her mom found her brother Then she found the container wrapped up in a newspaper Stuffed in a duffel bag with hockey pads and seven grand in rubber bands We didn't speak at the service but later a message from a number that wasn't familiar said "Hey it's Charlie's sister Would you do me a favor? There's unfinished business It's roughly the size of a baseball" I said I wasn't totally sure, but yeah I could probably call someone I knew this kid from my dorm when I went to school in Wisconsin My two semesters were a total disaster and he was part of the problem Hadn't talked in forever But Wayne from Winnetka picked up on the first ring I explained the situation He said he'd be interested but we'd have to come to him We said lunch time on Wednesday A Mexican restaurant a mile north of Midway He worked for his father's shipping company out west of the city Right now I'm not working She said we could split it Just glad to be finished and not even tempted But it's so goddamn sad in her house right now He's still here in everything She just needs a break from it Said she wants to come with We left really early Went from St. Paul to Cicero in my Chevrolet that didn't have any radio Had a boombox in the back seat that was running on batteries Played 1999 into Led Zeppelin III When the tape deck got all wobbly she still sang the harmonies The transaction was easy My buddy looked similar just a little bit heavier And counting all the money in front of him seemed silly This isn't the movies It was over so quickly Wayne got in his car Drove into the sunset, turned left onto Cermak And she turned to me and said: I've never been to Chicago I got nothing going on tomorrow Maybe we could stay here tonight Lose ourselves in the glass and light Never been to Chicago I've got nothing going on tomorrow Maybe we could stay here tonight Lose ourselves in the glass and light We got a room at the Hyatt Michigan Avenue I can still picture you We each got a toothbrush from Walgreens We drank in the taverns, we ate somewhere Italian Then she's on the sidewalk trying to ask for a cigarette from oncoming traffic I felt God in the buildings The light from the skyscrapers showing up in the river And four years didn't seem like much anymore We both want the same things We kissed on the corner We kissed in the corridors We fumbled with clothing We all want the same things And then it was morning We drove back all hungover And all the way to Eau Claire she played with her hair Came up on St. Paul and she was sobbing
Can someone help me out? English is not my native language, I can’t figure out what is going. The brother died, the sister tells the guy there is unfinished business. The size of a baseball implicates someone need to be murdered? He called wayne to do the job? About right?
No, it's a drug deal gone unfinished. Her brother died and owed someone money and they needed to drop it off near chicago. It's his memory of that trip and the time spent with his dead friend's sister
Stumbled across this in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of the 2010s and I am a huge Hold Steady fan but had never heard it.
Holy. Shit. Incredibly moving. Chicago is the crossroads, the Rome of the Midwest. Our church. My home.
I can't express how much I love this.
Beautifully sad. The song is a storytelling wonder and the video is a great little movie. One of Craig's best, IMHO.
This was a beautiful piece. I was very moved by it.
This piano captures the feel of Chicago weather in my mind... can't explain it.
This is delightful. Craig is the best story-teller of all time, bar none.
One of my friends went to high school with the girl in the video. She showed me the video without realizing what an impact this video would have. This fucking song/video speaks to me on a level I've never found. I listen to it every time I'm feeling anything. This video is perfect. Thank you so much.
Wow!
So moved every time. Drunk. Sober. It's a simple story, but the meaning takes on complex tones the more you listen. So moving. A beautiful realisation of truth yet a heartbreaking tale of not quite realising it. This is life. Thank you, Craig
This song has broken my heart everytime. Its glorious and so is Craig Finns ability. Hes also why i love the hold steady and yes I loved both music in backwards order.
beautiful video and song
Stumbled on this on Vimeo a few days ago and I've listened to it everyday since. This is an awesome, unique song.
I need to hear more Annie Nero! That background vocal was so good! Also, this listening to this song gave me about 15 different emotions all at once, just like a great novel would. Love!
Is that who it is, I searched so many ways, the compu-box didn't want to tell me who the female harmony was in this song,
Holy shit....There's a video to this???!!! IMO....Video and song of the year.
Being stationed in Chicago in 2017-18 for my last year in the Navy, & me knowing I’ll be settling back in Mpls for good, I made this trip from Chicago to Mpls, Mpls to Chicago way too often. Writing atm this from my beautiful home I bought in Mpls. Hope 2 c u in June when u play fine line here in Mpls
This beautifully sad and very haunting. One of Craig's best.
I don't really comment. But my brother sent me this as being tonally similar to something we're writing. Sibling of a dead friend, unfinished business, etc. I don't think he realized how much this fucked me up though. I just moved out of Chicago for a job that isn't really turning out to have been worth it, and this song hit me in the guts like a brick wrapped in newspaper. I don't know why there's newspaper.
Lost 8 good friends in 5 years. Lost my best friend months ago. No one told me. I've been an addict 10 years now. To this day I cry over every memory that passes my mind. Reminding me those people I loved are gone and there is so much trauma because of abuse, pain, what I've had to do alone. This song still takes my breath away
Most recent loss. My best friend. First fentanyl over dose I've had to face with someone I love and cared about
Olivia I’m so sorry. This song stopped time for me so many others I hope you know no matter what it feels like you aren’t alone. I don’t know you but I care about you and even if everyone’s situations are completely different so many (me too) feel like how can things ever be ok? Even if everything isn’t going to be ok ‘better’ IS out there. I’ve seen it, I know it, and I’m counting on it, too.
Thank you, truly beautiful. I guess when you find someone that sings your harmonies, do whatever you can to delay the morning from coming.
i saw this video freshman year of college, and still 5 years later i think of it constantly
Unbelievably beautiful song.
I think it's brilliant "And he was part of the problem" beautiful
great line...
he was from winnetka after all.... ;D
This is one of my favorite songs.
Craig Finn, you're all grown up now. Beautiful song, man.
Please suggest more songs like this one. I love this song and wish it would just keep going.
Cassandra Jenkins’ track “hard drive” reminds me of this, for what it’s worth.
His songs Messing With The Settings, Carmen Isn't Coming In Today and Break From The Barrage
Made me think of Carrie and Lowell by Sufjan Stevens
I found about this song because of the radio Wave in my country and now I can't stop listening to this song.
There are not many songs that you need to hear the end of ( even when you have listened before) but this is one of them. Thank you.
This is amazing. I feel bad for people that are not listening to this.
I'm going to tell myself this is Halleluiah.
maybe or Sapphire or Sarah...
It's alarming how deep this comment cuts me.
no! guys its about Charlemagne's sister!
Sad af yet pure genius.
Everything a Video should be!!!
i listened to this song accidentally for the first time and after a while I realized I'm all goosebumps and I felt enchanted. it rose some different emotions all at once. an struggle than can be beautiful. i loved it since and listened to it almost every week. its a different song and its a great one. i love it
We all want the same things....what a wonderful concept
This is fucking beautiful! Came here through Sam Fender and I'm glad I did
Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together... x
hahaha true
It's romantic love, sad but beautiful in the same time. Impossible but still there, that's the magic of it.
And yet, these moments shape lifetimes...
this is so much my life i can't stop crying.
Well done. Evocative, begs for hitting replay. To me- best line- 'I felt God in the buildings' - only editorial comment? If having met 1 mile N of Midway, entrance into the grand city would be the southern view from LSD. But, thank you for this. For your artistry.
this just feels so authentic and somehow so new
Amazing song - Craig you're a brilliant writer, thanks for your work.
Well this is the best thing to come out of 2017.
i am thankful for this amazing work! the storytelling is simple. the characters & situations are relatable enough for me to fill the gaps & wonder what was next in the silence between words. the drums come in right when we see her holding the boombox in the car. we know what's at stake & the journey begins!
My phone randomly started playing this song on apple music thank u phone! living in cicero and berwyn and always lived in chicago i never went no where else this touched my heart dearly
Listen to this one at the end of a night out. Perfect song perfect vibe perfect lyrics.
Thanks Craig! We all want the same things
Hoping to see you do this one live one day
"This isn't the moves"................... a novel in 5 minutes.......fucking brilliant,
all the way around..............
Stunning. Video, song, lyrics...stunning.
i love you, craig finn. you goddamn genius
This is phenomenal.
Very beautiful and touching. It give me warm pain...
When the drum beat kicks in---Tooooo fucking good.
Love this track but hard to share and convince others to love it. Need a video for birds trapped in an airport!
I wish there was a cassette so I could constantly listen to this in my car.
Your car has a cassette player still? Man, that's actually really cool! :)
Thanks Craig, I was captivated
This is music man
This is a great song! I will buy it from the iTunes store and add it to my iPod.
Jeez man... This is great.
Love this. Reminds me of Arab Strap in this song.
Beautiful
very good Craig
I love this record.
Always amazing, Craig
Thank you discower weekly so much
Like. Like. Like. Love.
Wonderful, I care about the characters and their future.
Hi Craig for me (and my quite old age!!!) PARDON ME you make me feel young when i used to dream with Springsteen and Dylan ......TANKS !!!!
...pure beauty.
Great one man!
I love this
I didn't understand the story at first but once I did the song had a new meaning to me
Actually a sick track. Looking forward to the album now in a way that I wasn't before. The Minnesota accent is real noticeable when he does spoken word, but I don't hate it. It's kind of cool, and it works with the narrator.
I want to know what becomes of these two young folks
Love it
It's a crime that in 2024 this video still only has 1.6K likes.
It's a super sleeper of a video.
It’s like the perfect mixture of Leonard Cohen and Warren Zevon ❤ So glad I discovered Craig!
Great friend
This song is and will always be in my musical canon. It's a prime example of how to ewoke emotions through a story and a melody. Love it!
Area where I was born n raised awesome
Really fantastic.... Rolling Stone sent me here btw
'7 grand in rubber bands'... 'Charlie's sister' - Holy Shit is this about Charlemagne?
❤️
we all want the same things
& then it was morning
This song is fucking incredible.
He really loves Saint Pauls and mineapolis
greart video / my favorite
what did they sell?
I thought they bought something??
I thought it was the heroin of the brother that died of an overdose.
oh - yeah okay that would make sense.
@@nebbywoo I always assumed it was cocaine and the brother was a dealer because no addict has 7 grand worth of dope for personal use.
We live on different planes
Layers of life unseen by the outside world
Tune in for the show but skip the ads that depress you.
This guy sings Went back to St Paul sat down at the bar Had a few drinks - can't find it anywhere I know he's the one heard a number on *WZBT* by *Craig Finn* and I know that was the guy that sings that *God Watches Us* … because he sounds like *Bruce Springsteen* alot. They use to play *God Watches Us* on *WTMD* alot.
Are you thinking of Craig Finn's "Preludes," from his "We All Want The Same Thing" album?
@@skrem23 Yes, thanks …
Even though he tells a tale of his friends making it to the West Coast he gets stuck in a snow bank and (&) ends up back in St Paul but the radio station *WTMD* must have had Baltimore in mind since the station is in Towson, St Paul and Charles St Paul Street splits into an overpass and an underpass and eventually to the inner harbor area St Paul turns into Light Street and the Key Highway I was Grub Hubbin' everywhere inside 695 Beltway and I'd keep goin back to St Paul myself up around 26th St Paul is in the John Hopkins neighborhood it criss crosses US 40 there near the RAMS HEAD RAMS is a giant curtain in the back with a huge Police Station across Baltimore St the next block is the block across Fait St Hard Rock Cafe on a dock So I gets the food about fifteen places around the block maybe 20 or 30 places Tin Roof, Chicken Pollo, Mexican Tequila Bar, Toucan Grille PF Chang's, so I got an order in front of Ram's Head goes up Water St turn on to Gay and head up Bel Air there a red light at US 40 turns into Orleans St here on the East Side so it feels like it getting ready to rain well down comes the front handlebars of a bike slam on the road, what ? Then the rest of the motorcycle, slam hits the US 40 eventually across the street I see a van gassing it but going nowhere but he's evving the van trying to get it to go and at the same time I see a guy lying straight on his back with his head under just in front of rear passenger wheel the guy was gassing it I yelled at them 2 guys he was under there they immediately jumped out and slide him out a few feet and jump back in and keep trying to get outta Dodge but their linkage was just busted when they collided with the bike but I didn't see it happen just saw two part bike fall out of sky …
34 people have never been to Chicago
this almost kills me...
Best short story since the death of Raymond Carver.
yeah...this is one of the best short stories I've ever heard.
"Four years didn't seem like much anymore" What does that line mean?
Four years since the brother had died, I think.
Sheep: their difference in age. She was the little sister.
Dan McCarthy This makes perfect sense. Thanks!
If he was in high school / college with the guy who died, a girl 4 years younger would be sketchy, but when you're 30 and she's 26 it's kind of whatever
that's the great thing about a short story...they hint at backstory, but don't tell you...
Yer transaction takes place in skokie...
At first listen I enjoyed the song. I've been a fan of the hold steady. I'm also from sw side of Chicago near Cicero. The story the song describes just goes to prove that many Midwesterners from rural parts use Chicago for their bacchanal and debauchery. The fact that Finn uses Cicero and cermak (non-white high crime areas) as the backdrop for this fictitious crime transacted by two white people from Minnesota shows the discontent for the living situations of those in unglamorous parts of Chicago. hey craig, Capone died in Alcatraz years ago! You can drive down to Cicero and cermak and hire a hit man to kill your brother in law in the twin cities!
Her mom found her brother
Then she found the container wrapped up in a newspaper
Stuffed in a duffel bag with hockey
pads and seven grand in rubber bands
We didn't speak at the service but later a
message from a number that wasn't familiar said
"Hey it's Charlie's sister
Would you do me a favor?
There's unfinished business
It's roughly the size of a baseball"
I said I wasn't totally sure, but yeah I could probably call someone
I knew this kid from my dorm when I went to school in Wisconsin
My two semesters were a total disaster and he was part of the problem
Hadn't talked in forever
But Wayne from Winnetka picked up on the first ring
I explained the situation
He said he'd be interested but we'd have to come to him
We said lunch time on Wednesday
A Mexican restaurant a mile north of Midway
He worked for his father's shipping company out west of the city
Right now I'm not working
She said we could split it
Just glad to be finished and not even tempted
But it's so goddamn sad in her house right now
He's still here in everything
She just needs a break from it
Said she wants to come with
We left really early
Went from St.
Paul to Cicero in my Chevrolet that didn't have any radio
Had a boombox in the back seat that was running on batteries
Played 1999 into Led Zeppelin III
When the tape deck got all wobbly she still sang the harmonies
The transaction was easy
My buddy looked similar just a little bit heavier
And counting all the money in front of him seemed silly
This isn't the movies
It was over so quickly
Wayne got in his car
Drove into the sunset, turned left onto Cermak
And she turned to me and said:
I've never been to Chicago
I got nothing going on tomorrow
Maybe we could stay here tonight
Lose ourselves in the glass and light
Never been to Chicago
I've got nothing going on tomorrow
Maybe we could stay here tonight
Lose ourselves in the glass and light
We got a room at the Hyatt
Michigan Avenue I can still picture you
We each got a toothbrush from Walgreens
We drank in the taverns, we ate somewhere Italian
Then she's on the sidewalk trying to
ask for a cigarette from oncoming traffic
I felt God in the buildings
The light from the skyscrapers showing up in the river
And four years didn't seem like much anymore
We both want the same things
We kissed on the corner
We kissed in the corridors
We fumbled with clothing
We all want the same things
And then it was morning
We drove back all hungover
And all the way to Eau Claire she played with her hair
Came up on St. Paul and she was sobbing
songwriter
Can someone help me out?
English is not my native language, I can’t figure out what is going.
The brother died, the sister tells the guy there is unfinished business. The size of a baseball implicates someone need to be murdered?
He called wayne to do the job?
About right?
No, it's a drug deal gone unfinished. Her brother died and owed someone money and they needed to drop it off near chicago. It's his memory of that trip and the time spent with his dead friend's sister
The thing that's the size of a baseball is the brother's remaining drugs, which she asks the narrator to sell for her
Anyone else here after reading "Dirtbag, Massachusetts" by Isaac Fitzgerald?
Anyone here from Sam Fender’s Facebook story?
I love this song but this video not as good as the one in my head
Oh yeah I’m an Aussie but I’ve got needs
Ed Sheeran, but actually good👍