Quest for Lyrics: "Surgery" by The Vincent Black Shadow

Like Crash Davis in Bull Durham, I HATE when people get the words wrong.

And people always do. Isn't "excuse me while I eat this fly," for its abuse of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze", the charter member in the Misheard Song Lyric Hall of Fame?

In the old days, you listened to the radio for a song and tried like hell to memorize every word until the next time the DJ played it hours later. Or you bought the album or cassette—or taped it from the radio—and wore out the plastic getting the words down.

But with full disclosure and overexposure and bushels of information available it's now novelty NOT to have instant access to song lyrics. Liner notes are usually a treasure map to promised further riches: bonus material; easter eggs; links to official sites; MySpace pages; endless fan sites; tribute pages; Wikis; message boards; blogs.

So let's hypothesize: a band called The Vincent Black Shadow—whose music I've fallen slavishly and crushably HARD for—records one king-hell of an amazing earworm eight tracks deep into their debut album, Fear's In the Water.

The song – titled "Surgery"—is a three-minute & seventeen second slice of galactic candy, an unmovable obelisk of pop awe & sonic wonder. And I'm wholly in its gravitational pull. It's all I can do to NOT be listening to the song 24/7, and speaking in its tongues. I yearn for time alone in the car, at home, on my computer with headphones so I can commune with it. (I listen at work, too, but sparingly—the repetition drives co-workers batty).

Now I want to sing along with "Surgery." Early, often, and at the top of my lungs. So, by the power of Zeus, I NEED to find those words and get them dead solid perfect.

The album's liner notes include lyrics but they aren't complete and/or correct. This happens all the time – artwork and printing is usually due before songs are recorded. The Clash's London Calling is a famous example—"Train In Vain" wasn't listed on the album cover or jacket when released because the track was an eleventh-hour addition. So maybe there was an up-against-it, last minute revelation in the studio for The Vincent Black Shadow, which contradicted "Surgery's" original lyrics.

I don't blame the band – the track kicks total ass - but the song's ineffable words are sacred to me now. The song has touched me. I'm possessed, and well past anything save getting those damn words right. I must know the unknowable. My very sanity is at stake.

"Surgery's"" lyrics are tightly wound and spill forth lightning-fast. So fast that it takes repeat listens. After 40 plays in a row—over two hours on repeat—I still can't dope out every last word. I get close, I have mini-aha moments, but not enough of them. So I throw myself on the mercy of the Internet to unlock the code. Google Makes You Smarter™-- right?

Article Author: Tiffany Leigh

Pop™. Screenwriter. Part-time girl. Passionate activist against All Things Mediocre. Tiffany Leigh's blog, "Soundtrack to the Motion Picture," can be found right here.

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