After I discovered Paul Westerberg via the Singles soundtrack, I went to a friend who loved The Replacements and said, "Give me their albums. I want to see what they're all about." The legendary back catalogue of PW did not disappoint.
"Can't Hardly Wait" is one of those perfect little hooked-filled pop rock songs that Paul Westerberg can throw off the top of his head at any time. It's one of the more produced songs he ever recorded too, complete with strings and horns. An original stripped-down version of this song appeared on a remastered version of this album recently and some say that what you hear on this track is the more polished record-executive version. Honestly, I like them both.
I love when a song stops and starts within itself... when the players are all in such great time that they can stop on a dime and begin again in perfect unison. I can think of an old Led Zeppelin song, "Wearing and Tearing," that does it. I'm sure there are some AC/DC tunes that do it too. "Can't Hardly Wait" does it twice, once before the horns get a little solo in the middle and once more near the very end, after the song builds and builds to a wonderful crescendo. There's also this great part right near that last stop when Westerberg sings "I'll be home when I'm sleepin'" and the intense strum of the acoustic guitar is turned up, all of the cymbals stop as drummer Chris Mars thumps his deep toms, and the strings kick in. It's almost like the dramatic finish to The Beatles "A Day In The Life" summed up in just two seconds. It's awesome and is the part of the song I always look forward to... that and the ridiculous line "Jesus rides beside me. He never buys any smokes."
"Can't Hardly Wait" is from the album "Pleased to Meet Me." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.
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