Can't Lose

Album: With Love and Squalor (2006)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • On the cusp of success, We Are Scientists found themselves living in New York and mingling with other bands in the same situation. Keith Murray describes it as "a scene of bands that we were involved in that still not a lot of people had really heard of." During that period of time, the band members indulged in their newfound rock and roll lifestyle. This song, recalls Murray, "was sort of at the height of that period of just sort of being out all the time, rarely going to bed before the sun was up, and wondering how healthy it was to be doing that for the first time since we had moved to New York."
    Remembering those days, Murray says, "We'd sort of been a band that essentially didn't really exist on anybody's radar but our own and our parents'. And I think we were just sort of coming into our own as a band about the time we were writing those songs. I think that one was written about halfway through the writing of the songs on that first record. And we had started touring for the first time, doing actual extended tours. So we had a lot of friends who were in bands that we'd made on the road."
  • Breaking up with a long-term girlfriend added angst to the tidal wave of emotions Murray was already living in. And it provided fodder for the songwriter in the form of abandon. With a hint of irony he says, "As a person who's never really been totally comfortable in non-considered abandon, I've spent a lot of time thinking about that abandon, how good for me it was or was not. Ultimately, I do think that being drunk all the time and being out constantly in that period was pretty good for me psychologically, although I was sort of losing my mind momentarily."

    "A lot of that first record is also about indecision," he adds, "and inability to actually make any real moves on anything. So that song is also considered that, as well."
  • For a band who doesn't take themselves too seriously, Murray confesses to having a "problem with solipsism" and spending a lot of time over-thinking everything. "Even abandon for me involves consideration of abandon," he says. "And I spend a lot of time worrying about things that I shouldn't necessarily worry about." The line in the song, "everybody says I ought to get over myself" is a reflection of that sentiment. "Not necessarily that people were confronting me about it. And in fact I think that line is a pretty good example of how great an importance I tended to place upon my consideration of myself, because I doubt anybody else even gave a sh*t. (laughing) You know, that total belief that it was so important that everybody else must be considering it, too." (read the full interview with Keith Murray)

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in Songs

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in SongsSong Writing

Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Jay, Peaches, Spinderella and other Darrining Victims

Jay, Peaches, Spinderella and other Darrining VictimsSong Writing

Just like Darrin was replaced on Bewitched, groups have swapped out original members, hoping we wouldn't notice.

Grammar In Lyrics

Grammar In LyricsMusic Quiz

Lyrics don't always follow the rules of grammar. Can you spot the ones that don't?

Actors With Hit Songs

Actors With Hit SongsMusic Quiz

Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien Songs

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien SongsSong Writing

The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.