My first ever concert was Lloyd Cole and the Commotions at the Park West in Chicago in 1986. It was a fun show, and I enjoyed it immensely. Not that this has anything to do with this song, but I just thought I’d let you know.
Anyway, Speedboat in many ways is a classic Lloyd Cole song–a cool bit of a groove, pretentious but charming lyrics (some say they OD’d on Leonard Cohen), and a bit of a story as well, albeit one without any real sort of ending.
You can listen to the song below:
And of course, the lyrics:
Julie said we drink far too much coffee,
Wine and cigarettes and we never get no sleep,
I first met them at a riverboat party,
Both of them were speeding, I would say.
I lived on the edge of all this indulgence,
Taking notes and trusting in prudence,
Julie said to Jim, “Why don’t we jump in,
While the water is cool and we are still friends?”
Some say that they OD’d on Leonard Cohen,
Well I can see that river whenever I think about them,
The river is cruel,
And the water is deep and blue.
I was working then on my great unfinished novel,
“Please let introduce myself, my name is Ronald”,
I was okay there until I lost my cool,
Now let me introduce you to the rest of the crew.
It wasn’t my style to find surf in my eye,
It was much more my style to find sand in my eye.
Though there is absolutely no truth to be discovered,
Albeit in truth there’s nothing to be found,
We academics are not easily discouraged,
Lloyd you know wits they come three to the pound.
Julie said to Jim look at the state we’re in,
It was never her intention to conclude anything.
It wasn’t my style to find surf in my eye
It was much more my style to find sand in my eye,
It was just not my style to find surf in my eye
It was much more my style to get sand kicked in my eye,
Sand in my eye.
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