Be What You Are (2018 mix), by The Pleasures Pale

Be What You Are (2018 mix)

by The Pleasures Pale

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of No, Joy (Not the Same Story), Twitch, Happy Love Ghosts (It Haunts Me Now), Lovely Lovely, How I Dreamt of You, Daily Living Is a Herculean Art, Champion My Cause, Happy Love Ghosts (2019 mix), and 9 more. , and , .

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1.	Be What You Are (1985 version) 04:35	lyrics	buy track
Stymied on the back porch A screened-in view of ineptitude I cannot wait another hour You're just another toothsome fool Magazines say we're young and lean And the horde of plebes stares mockingly My own biology tends to leave me pale And my own psychology says I don't care Be what you are, you live today Be what you will as pleasures pale A kiss on the shoulder Now you listen to me Life is much, much older And the stories being told only sometimes agree Newspapers will show run-rampant grief Corruption, abuse and back-alley thieves This can tend to alarm the frail This could tend to leave anyone pale Be what you are, you live today Be what you will as pleasures pale The myths you generate With your mouth in mind Seize me, tie me — You could be more kind You can see a light at the end of the tunnel They'll say it's an oncoming train This can tend to alarm the weak at heart You know daily living is a Herculean art Be what you are, you live today Be what you will as pleasures pale Be what you are, you live today Be what you will as pleasures pale Oh, life comes and goes
2.	An Upright Spine 03:48	lyrics	buy track
Beware, beware The demon's mouth must cry I'm amazed we're all be-dazed Flesh and bones and an upright spine Life is too cruel to define Take the train through demise But it's my opinion in this great dominion Things have a way of evening out Murder, suicide, another death It comes as no surprise Meet me behind the corporate towers Flesh and bones and an upright spine Life is too cruel to define Take the train through demise But it's my opinion in this great dominion Things have a way of evening out Meet me underneath the interstate Anyways it was a lie Wealth and squalor remain the same And neither of them are mine Flesh and bones and an upright spine Life is too good to decline Take a look in my eyes And it's my opinion in this great dominion Things have a way of evening out

about

In September of 1985, singer/lyricist Jeffrey Bright began meeting for songwriting sessions with bassist Luis Lerma and guitarist Mitchell Swann in Bright's rented house on Marcella Avenue in North Dayton. Lerma was already established as a prominent rockabilly figure in the Dayton underground, having played in The Lucky Strikes, among others, and Swann was loosely associated with the burgeoning Bob Pollard/Guided by Voices Northridge scene. Swann's friend and then occasional GBV drummer Timothy Payton Earick sat in on a series of 4-track recording sessions and soon the band had a name and a demo tape.

In those early songwriting and recording sessions, with Earick's furious drumming in full force, the seeds for The Pleasures Pale's unique sound and ethos were sown. From the song lyric "Be what you are, you live today / Be what you will as pleasures pale" came the name and a fortifying identity. "Be What You Are" and "An Upright Spine" were two of the band's earliest compositions. ("Be What You Are" also appeared in a quicker tempo version on the 1987 LP.) Both speak to a fierce commitment against fear mongering, conformity and the mind-numbing influence of corporate-think spreading through American media, culture and daily life in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

These songs, in combination with a number of other raw home recordings, were distributed on cassette for booking solicitations and general promotion and correspondence. One notable recipient was Steven Patrick Morrissey of the standout 1980s UK band, The Smiths. Morrissey's response in a 1986 letter to Bright included the following: "All the songs fill me with a mad joy. I expect 'Upright Spine' must be singled out ... Dayton should be proud."

What these recordings lack in fidelity, they make up for in spirit. Their value as markers of an era — the first rush of punk and DIY-inspired "alternative" or "indie" rock — should not be underestimated. Digitized from cassette and finished in 2018, both songs on this digital release stand now as testament to The Pleasures Pale's vital regional contribution to the genre and to what would eventually become a thriving indie music scene in Dayton.

Keep a lamp lit for more to come from the extensive catalog of one of the Gem City's hidden jewels.

credits

released August 10, 2018

voice – jeffrey bright
6- & 12-string guitars – mitchell swann
bass guitar – luis lerma
drums – timothy payton earick

initial recording:
produced & engineered by the pleasures pale
marcella house
dayton, ohio
1985

additional recording:
san francisco, california
2017–2018

cover design - jeffrey bright

c) 1985 The Pleasures Pale
p) 2018 JABMA
Fugitive Music Publishing / BMI

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about

The Pleasures Pale Dayton, Ohio

The Pleasures Pale was an influential indie quartet based in Dayton Ohio active from 1985 to 1987. Oft-compared to anglo groups such as The Smiths, TPP's influences can now be read as more diverse — taking cues from postpunk, rockabilly, swing, Motown and Dayton funk. A band for misfits, their extensive, lyric-driven output sought to light a way through the rust belt's post-industrial bleakness. ... more

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The Pleasures Pale recommends:

CURSED TO ROCK THE LIVING
by TEAM VOID

Team Void is Pleasures Pale bassist extraordinaire Luis Lerma's current focus. In TV, Louie is an underworld Lucha hero wielding a zombie robot-killing surf guitar. How cool is that?! The Pleasures Pale
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Do Big Men Really Run the World?
by Myself a Living Torch

After the break up of The Pleasures Pale, singer Jeffrey Bright relocated from Dayton to San Francisco where he fronted Myself a Living Torch from 1991 to 1993. The Pleasures Pale
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Walk Like a Poem
by B Pictures

Pleasures Pale vocalist Jeffrey Bright's singing career began in Dayton, Ohio with B Pictures, spanning roughly a year between late 1984 and late1985. The Pleasures Pale
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