From the recording Under the Lamp Moon and Bittersweet - 1997
Nice, crunchy rock groove.... not too bad for something with a - shudder - programmed rhythm section.
I like the lyrics. They are ambiguous, yet somehow make one think. Universal truths, anyone?
The guitar onslaught, especially in the run out, was totally inspired by Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd as I channeled Television's seminal 'Marquee Moon' LP.
I laugh about the fact that some people have read into the meaning of the line "I've been X. I've been Y. Been in between, don't ask me why." C'mon people, they're used here as MATHEMATICAL variables.
'The Winds' refers to my eden, the Wind River Mountains in WY where I would go backpacking with my father and brother between 1991-2016
PS - This was recorded on 4-track reel-to-reel. The tape literally ran off the spool at the end of this song, that's why it fades at the end!
PPS - 2020 Update: You know what else has 'always been the best and the worst rolled into one'? AMERICA.
Lyrics
I've been up
And I've been down
Been in the Winds
I've been in town
I've been here
Been over there
Been in between
Been everywhere
Always been the best and worst
Rolled into one
Into one
I've been so low
I've been so high
Been submarine
I've been the sky
I've been so strong
I've been so weak
Couldn't shut up
I couldn't speak
Always been the best and the worst
Rolled into one
Into one...
I've been X
And I've been Y
Been close to Z
Don't ask me why
I've been humble
And I've been so proud
I've run and hid
And I've touched the shroud
I've been the lover
I've been the loved
I've been the pusher
I've been the shoved
Been in the pocket
Been out of time
I wrote like Whitman
I butchered rhymes
Always been the best and the worst
Rolled into one