Craig Finn's singing isn't the clearest so you're right, it's hard to decipher the words sometimes. But they're worth it. Finn grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and this song has plenty of hometown references:

John Berryman was a poet from Minneapolis who committed suicide by throwing himself off of a bridge in that city, the Golden Gophers are the sports team from the University of Minnesota, the Twin Cities are Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and, as the song references, the winters there are endless.

And Sal Paradise is the narrator in On The Road.

Finn is a Boston College grad with a love of literature, and many of his songs highlight the pull and push relationship he has with Roman Catholicism. Alcohol and drug references abound in his songs. He's one of my favorite writers. And, for a guy who looks like he works the nightshift at a CVS, he's a commanding stage presence. My life is richer because of bands like The Hold Steady.

My favorite songs by THS include: Constructive Summer, Magazines, Sequestered In Memphis, Massive Nights, How A Resurrection Really Feels, Stay Positive, Positive Jam, First Night, and I could go on and on.

If you download these songs, you'll be hooked, money well spent, a new musical obsession perhaps!

The Hold Steady "Stuck Between Stations"

There are nights when I think that Sal Paradise was right Boys and girls in America, they have such a sad time together Sucking off each other at the demonstrations, making sure their makeup's straight Crushing one another with colossal expectations, dependent, undisciplined, sleeping late

She was a really cool kisser and she wasn't all that strict of a Christian She was a damn good dancer but she wasn't all that great of a girlfriend He likes the warm feeling but he's tired of all the dehydration Most nights are crystal clear but tonight it's like he's stuck between stations

On the radio

The Devil and John Berryman, they took a walk together And they ended up on Washington talking to the river He said, "I've surrounded myself with doctors and deep thinkers Their big heads and soft bodies make for lousy lovers"

There was that night that we thought John Berryman could fly But he didn't, so he died She said "You're pretty good with words, but words won't save your life" And they didn't, so he died

Yeah, he was drunk and exhausted, he was critically acclaimed and respected He loved the Golden Gophers but he hated all the drawn-out winters He likes the warm feeling but he's tired of all the dehydration Most nights were kind of fuzzy but that last night he had total retention

Yeah, these Twin City kisses They sound like clicks and hisses We all come down and drowned In the Mississippi River

We drink and we dry up and now we crumble into dust We get wet and we corrode and now we're covered up in rust We drink and we dry up and now we crumble into dust We get wet and we corrode and now we're covered up in rust

She was a really cool kisser and she wasn't all that strict of a Christian She was a damn good dancer but she wasn't all that great of a girlfriend He likes the warm feeling but he's tired of all the dehydration Most nights are crystal clear but tonight it's like he's stuck between stations

These Twin City kisses They sound like clicks and hisses We all come down and drowned

Peter T.