Oh and I'm pretty sure I haven't listened to 'The National Trust' AKA Jarvis' crunching pebbles album 54 times!
It's free! Plus you get to hear peoples footsteps what's not to love? If only Jarvis would pop up with a commentary 'I have just seen a badger', 'That's a lovely pair of tits' etc. He'd have a good voice for wildlife documentaries I reckon.
That would be sweet as, but seriously, I played a couple of tracks thought 'naah!' and only hear any of it now if it comes on random and I immediately hit skip. 54 plays is not possible.
I think you could link the whole of This Is Hardcore together to form one story. I know the songs are very personal to Jarvis but from one perspective you can almost see a concept album.
The Fear - A "foreword" so to speak, setting the scene, telling the narrator detailing his depressive, paranoid, weary outlook on life. Dishes - The opening scene, the narrator is in a rut, realising that his youth has been and gone. Party Hard - The narrator goes to a party to try and "stay young" and realises how tiresome and monotonous it is. Help The Aged - The weariness of partying has led the narrator to realise his age, and how he is dangerously approaching a midlife crisis. This Is Hardcore - Furthering the age theme, the narrator has also grown bored of sex with his girlfriend and how disgustingly primitive it all is. TV Movie - The narrator has dumped his girlfriend and is at a low, although he blames her for it. "To wish the day would go away, just like you did yesterday" - shows that he is a character who is always in denial. A Little Soul - He visits his father who asks him "how come you treat your woman so bad?". His father, who was abusive to the narrator's mother, is scared that his son will turn out just like him, and likewise the narrator feels this way. I'm A Man - His mates take him out on a night out with the lads to cheer him up, just like the good old days, but much like in Party Hard and This Is Hardcore the narrator questions the credibility and productivity of it all. Seductive Barry - Coming in from the night out dissilusioned and with no-one else to turn to, the narrator turns into bed and seeks comfort in fantasising about a relationship with a fictitious woman. Sylvia - He bumps into a girl who looks like his ex called Sylvia - this woman is a victim of domestic abuse and he is consoling her. Whilst he is trying to comfort her by saying "things will get better" for her it suddenly dawns on him that they will for him too, which leads to the epiphany that is... Glory Days - The narrator analyses the way he had hopes and dreams and how they failed, but somehow he ended up where he is now, as if fate placed him here and this was how it was always meant to be. How everyone in their current situation, wherever they are, experiences their "glory days", so they should make the most of life instead of "sleeping in" The Day After The Revolution - The curtain caller. After the acceptance of the narrator's situation, of the fact that he is reaching middle-age, of how he is single, has an estranged father, has alienated a lot of mates, the best thing to do is to carry on, and then the fear will be over.
Maybe I've looked a bit too deep into it lol, but this is what happens when you spend a long period of your life obsessively listening to an album!