Six Great Lines from Shellac Songs

Shellac is an enigmatic, metallic-toned, minimalist rock trio that appears whenever it feels like recording a new album. The lyrics of guitarist/vocalist/engineer Steve Albini are just as untroubled, touching on anything from a prayer for two deaths to a catastrophic squirrel attack. Here are six of the group’s great lines.

“Canada” (Terraform)
“We ought to name this song after you; call it ‘Canada.’ Imagine a country so blue; backwards it’s adanac.”

Though “Canada” might be about a real-life entity, this line displays the lighthearted nature that occasionally permeates Albini’s lyrics.

“Copper” (Terraform)
“Copper is a conductor and makes for decent cooking. Dazzled by your beauty still, you know, plated or anodized, you even fool a layman’s eyes. Copper — you’ll never be gold.”

Who hasn’t been told metaphorically that he or she is copper? Whether or not these words are meant to be literal or figurative, listeners can easily relate to them if they have been told that they’re not good enough.

“Prayer to God” (1000 Hurts)
“Him — just fucking kill him. I don’t care if it hurts. Yes, I do; I want it to.”

In Albini’s mock prayer, he seems to realize that lying (intentionally or otherwise) to an omnipotent being isn’t a great idea. He quickly rectifies his statement about the potential pain inflicted on the secret love interest of his wife.

“Squirrel Song” (1000 Hurts)
“They were squirrels — real squirrels. And there were thousands. This isn’t some kind of metaphor — god damn, this is real!”

This probably isn’t an invocation of a spell from Magic: The Gathering, but regardless, songs about catastrophic squirrel attacks get a thumbs up.

Everything from “New Number Order” (1000 Hurts)

Here Shellac restructures the sequence of the numbers, beginning with one million one and ending with eleven — twice.

“The End of Radio” (Excellent Italian Greyhound)
“This is a test. If this had been a real emergency… Hey, hey, this is a real god-damn emergency!”

This is another long-form experiment from Shellac in the vein of “Didn’t We Deserve a Look at You the Way You Really Are,” the 12-minute opener to Terraform. The song’s lyrics are possibly about a post-apocalyptic radio station — or maybe just a sad little low-wattage transmitter. Either way, the closing line strikes the same tone as the end of “Squirrel Song,” leaving one’s imagination to create the potential horror with which the narrator is dealing.

– Scott Morrow