2020-08-04 18:55:09 ¶ ●

## the favour of the chain: a harrow the ninth fst

My first readers made me soundtracks for Gideon when it came out. When A.K. Larkwood’s book came out, in thanksgiving, all I did was make her and her wife some beautiful original placemats (”Love Means Never Having To Say You’re Csorwe”) and in return they have spent the last few days texting me pictures of a young dog who is good at sitting. You don’t get those: they are mine. I will give this instead, in my generosity, created by my very first reader: the remarkable pT.

I realise that today everybody is very busy nose-deep in the newest dark book about anxious goths having the mopes (Midnight Sun) but if you enjoy these tunes even a fragment of what I enjoyed them, a fun time is in store for you. There are no spoilers, but there is no point in listening to this unless you have read the newest book about navel-gazing vampires with commitment issues (Harrow the Ninth).

1. introduction
2. Placebo - ’Meds’

passers-by were looking at me
as if they could erase it

3. Al Stewart - ’Marion The Chatelaine’

when the great collector found her, she was just a girl
she rang a chord inside him, and he stole her to the centre of his world

4. Jim White - ’Ghost-Town Of My Brain’

girl listen here
you’re just a leaf caught in God’s secret hurricane

5. Chumbawamba - ’Amnesia’

burns are red, bruises blue
out with the old, cheated by the new

6. Kevin Ayers - ’Lady Rachel’

now nothing can harm her
at least, not very much

7. Eels - ’Friendly Ghost’

last night I heard someone walking
through my bedroom door

8. Gorillaz - ’Every Planet We Reach Is Dead’

what are we going to do?

9. The Mountain Goats & Kaki King - ’Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is In Another Castle’

I wondered if I’d wake to find myself in flames

10. Linkin Park - ‘Crawling’

against my will I stand beside my own reflection

11. Johnny Cash - ’The Mercy Seat’ (Nick Cave cover)

and in a way I’m yearning
to be done with all this weighing of the truth

12. Lady A - ’What If I Never Get Over You'

what if I’m trying, but then I close my eyes
and then I’m right back, lost in that last goodbye?
13. Meatloaf - ’It’s All Coming Back To Me Now’

there were nights when the wind was so cold
that my body froze in bed

14. The Dandy Warhols - ’Sleep’

well, I could sleep forever

15. conclusion

16. album-only bonus track