Why Are You Looking Grave?
by Mew

Album: And the Glass Handed Kites (2005)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song by the Danish band Mew asks a lot of questions:

    Are you thinking of something to say?
    Why are you sitting there?
    Are you hoping that someone will stare?


    Their frontman Jonas Bjerre didn't proffer any answers in his 2017 Songfacts interview, but he did explain how the song was written.

    "That was written on an acoustic guitar," he said. "We had a tuning we used a lot on that album, that I think was EAEG#C#E, and we used it on a lot of songs. So, it had this kind of drone-y, strum-y feeling to it, and we turned it into an electrical song.
  • J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. sang on this track. Mew was recording the album in Los Angeles, and went to one of his shows. Afterward, they asked him to perform on the song, and he agreed.

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