Sometimes I Cry

Robert Pollard's early worship of R.E.M. is evident on tracks like "Sometimes I Cry," a song that sounds like something lifted straight from R.E.M.'s Athens club gigs in the time before the "Radio Free Europe" single. There's plenty of jangle, some counter-melodic singing and strong hooks throughout.

The song is also another instance of Pollard's early embrace of common songwriting tropes, content to write songs of heartbreak and loss with little ambiguity or obfuscation. Sophistication was a long ways off at this point.

Pollard starts with something that could have been cribbed from a lovelorn high schooler's notebook:

Sometimes I cry because you don't love me no more
And sometimes I'm dyin' -- I'd be lyin' if I tried to ignore
The hurtin' inside that started when you walked away
And each night reminds me -- it's behind me, but I need you today

He graduates to freshman composition by the time the bridge hits:

Every moment speaks hovering silently in the air
The wind hammers like a drum
Every highway leads into a darker sea of despair
Turn you back to where I come from

Still, it's Robert Pollard, so there's something quotable buried within this decent little song. The protagonist, hearing the call of the trucks on the freeway, seems to realize there is more than the love of this girl out there waiting for him, singing, "This rock just ain't a safe place to hide under any more." Not to overstate things too much, but there's a nice parallel there to Guided by Voices, a band once content to hide under a rock, issuing limited edition vinyl and rarely performing outside of Dayton. Here's one happy fan who is glad they decided it wasn't safe to hide under that rock any more.