• Track: Life on a Chain
• Artist: Pete Yorn
• Album: musicforthemorningafter
• Year: 2001

Lyrics:

I live on a chain and you share the same last name, as a joke,
I sent a bottle of whiskey, as you choked,
I knew it made you feel dirty

And I was waiting over here for life to begin,
I was looking for the new thing,
And you were the sunshine heading my front-line,
I was alone, you were just around the corner from me.

So I sold the town away
I couldn’t wait to forget you
I was killed in half a day
I hadn’t time to regret you

Time alone is good, I spend my days in the city,
Dirty neighborhood, you know you’ll never convince me,
So I sold the town away, I couldn’t wait to forget you,
I was killed in half a day, I hadn’t time to regret you,
And I was waiting over here for life to begin.

I was looking for the new thing
And you were the sunshine heading my front line,
I was alone you were just around the corner from me.
I, I’m still on the chain, and you, had the same last name

As a joke I sent a bottle of whiskey
As you choked you said it made you feel dirty…
Waiting over here, for life to begin.

Still looking for the new thing,
And you were the sunshine heading my front-line,
I was alone, you were just around the corner from me

Get It:

If you decide to purchase musicforthemorningafter—and we highly recommend that you do—be sure to get the remastered and expanded deluxe edition. You’ll be glad you did:

You can purchase Yorn’s Live from New Jersey double CD here:

In my Desert Island Survival Bag, right next to my Speedo and gallon of SPF1000 sunscreen, is my copy of Pete Yorn’s debut CD, musicforthemorningafter. This brilliant 15-track record was released in 2001 and was part of a trilogy of records that were loosely created to simulate a full day. Quite obviously, musicforthemorningafter represents the morning, while 2003’s Day I Forgot chronicles the day, and 2006’s Nightcrawler focuses on the night. All three are excellent, though only musicforthemorningafter gets a spot on desert island playlist. Sorry, space limitations and all.

Yorn is from Montville, New Jersey and is a multi-instrumentalist who plays most of the instruments on his records. Yorn got his big break in 1999 when, after vying for the opportunity to perform a song on the Me, Myself and Irene soundtrack, he was asked to scoring all the music for the soundtrack. He also had two songs on the soundtrack, Strange Condition and Just Another, both of which also appear on his debut record. When musicforthemorningafter dropped in 2001, Yorn received a bevy of critical acclaim. The single, Life on a Chain, was an alt-rock radio hit. (And for what it’s worth, musicforthemorningafter is another record I found—just like Ryan Adams’ Gold—by listening to new record releases on listening stations at the local megamart box store while grocery shopping. Say what you will about the all-in-one shopping experience; I found a lot of great music that way, and my life is better for it.)

Since releasing musicforthemorningafter, Yorn has released seven studio records, including a great duet record with actress Scarlett Johansson. He’s also released two live records and a multitude of EPs. Yorn has contributed many songs to soundtracks, including a number of excellent cover songs, including The Temptations’ (and later, The Rolling Stones’) Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me), which appears on the Just Like Heaven soundtrack,  It Never Rains in Southern California¹ (originally by Albert Hammond) from the Stuck On You soundtrack, and The Ramones’ I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, which appears on We’re a Happy Family: A Tribute to the Ramones. Perhaps Yorn’s most well-known (and arguably his best) cover is Mark James’ Suspicious Minds, which appears both as a single and on Yorn’s double live CD, Live from New Jersey. (Note: The music curators here at Dances with Bass featured Yorn’s cover of Suspicious Minds many moons ago; you can find it here.)

An important note about musicforthemorningafter: I highly recommend purchasing the Deluxe Edition (released in 2011) of the record, both because it’s remastered and because it contains a number of additional tracks not found on the original release, including a Dances with Bass staff favorite, Knew Enough to Know Nothing At All, and several excellent covers, including total reinterpretations of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark and David Bowie’s China Girl.

Mr. and Mrs. Dances with Bass were lucky enough to see Yorn perform live in Indianapolis in 2007 (possibly 2006…we’re old and our memory ain’t what it used to be) at the now-defunct venue, The Mill (where he performed a stellar cover of The Rolling Stones’ Dead Flowers, which is another track we’re hoping eventually finds its way to an official release). In fact, after the show, we got to meet Yorn, and we told him—while trying not to sound like a giddy schoolgirl—that musicforthemorningafter was a desert island record for us. I like to think he was impressed. He didn’t laugh at us anyway, so we’ll call that a victory. Dammit.

Seriously, if Pete Yorn isn’t part of your music collection, I urge you to fix that…today.

¹ Try as I might, I cannot locate a copy of this track to purchase. Albert Hammond’s original is pure 70s gold, and I believe Yorn could’ve only made it better. Consider this my official appeal to the rock gods to see fit to implore Mr. Yorn to release this track as a B-side or perhaps a compilation record. Pretty please?

Video:

This is the official music video for Pete Yorn’s Life on a Chain. Note that the track’s opening is intended to sound as if it’s being played through a mono speaker, so be careful cranking your speakers too loudly. Or not.

And if you don’t listen to anything else of Yorn’s, give his take on Suspicious Minds a spin. You’ll find it on his Live from New Jersey, double-CD live release. It’s easily a top 10 cover here at the Dances with Bass popsicle stand. (Despite what the on-screen text says, this is not a bootleg; this is the officially released track.)

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