We’re on the party boat for track 4 as the Hold Steady brings listeners down to Ybor City for the first time. Mike has been to Ybor City, so we talk about why it’s the perfect setting for Hold Steady style bacchanalia. We also get into why this is a lighter and more fun song, and which lines really work well on the track. Also, that guitar solo that just keeps going? We get into that.
Most People Are DJs is another statement of purpose, but the Hold Steady manage it without getting too heavy. Just a little light in the head-y. Meta references and porn stars crop up, jet skis and girls wearing berets, and by the time you finish listening to this episode you’ll be stumbling but still in it.
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Here are a few categories and things to listen for, in the song itself and in our podcast:
Best Line in the song: Gotta be the finish to the song: Two thousand kids won’t get all that much sleep tonight / Two thousand kids they still feel pretty sweet tonight / Yeah, and I still feel pretty sweet.
Top 3 Potential meta Hold Steady references:
- The song starts “Hold Steady” – there’s an interview out there that says the song came before the band name, but we can’t find it right now.
- Slipping Soft Rock into the setlist – Soft Rock was a compilation Lifter Puller put out after the band broke up and before Craig Finn and Tad Kubler (Lifter Puller alums) started the Hold Steady.
- They’ve got a new guy that looks just like Phil Lynnot – as discussed on the podcast, Phil Lynnot looks kind of like if not just like Franz Nicolay, soon to be a full member of the band and a guest on this album.
- Bonus – the whole song is about that heavy DJ scene in New York that in part inspired The Hold Steady’s formation, as a reaction.
Best musical moment: Either the phrase in the solo that starts at 4:17 or the phrase that starts at 4:30, because those are the turning points where a first-time listener realizes, ‘This isn’t going to stop!” And there’s still more than a minute of phrases to roll on top of it.
Billy Joel/Bruce Springsteen or AC/DC/Thin Lizzy?: Every Hold Steady track seems to exist on this spectrum. It’s a contrast between loud, guitar-driven rock that takes no prisoners and more of a soulful, troubadour lyricism both in the melody and the lyrics themselves. Like any band, the Hold Steady is at their best when they forge their influences into a unique sound. But it’s still fun to try to rank their songs by which side of the line they’re closer to, so we do that frequently on our podcast’s episodes. And even if we don’t remember to do so live, we can revisit here thanks to our handy graphics department.
“Most People Are DJs” is about as set on the AC/DC and Thin Lizzy end of the spectrum as it gets. The lyrics are steeped in debauchery, the guitars are indulgent and righteous, and there’s not really a soft side here, unless you want to nod to the final line. They even name drop Phil Lynott, lead singer of Thin Lizzy! We promise there are more left side of the scale songs to come, but this isn’t one of them.
Fun fact about Ybor City: The neighborhood in Tampa, known as a party district and a favorite of Hold Steady fans thanks to Finn’s namedrops over the years, is named after Vicente Martinez Ybor, a Spanish native who immigrated to Cuba and founded a cigar company in the 19th century. After supporting Cubans rebelling against Spanish rule, he fled to Florida, first starting a factory in Key West and then moving up to Tampa. He appears to have popularized the ‘Cuban’ cigar in American culture. Quite a guy!
(Bonus fun fact – he was born in Valencia, Spain, which is where A Positive Jam co-host Daniel Shvartsman currently lives).
Also: If you listen to The Hold Steady’s podcast, Positive Jams, which features Craig talking with the members of the band and producers about Almost Killed Me and Separation Sunday, you’ll find them talk about the guitar solo at the end of the song. Apparently, Tad Kubler was not in his full conscious state, and just kept going and going. No one got in his way, until the after the fact cut.
Biggest question: What do Craig Finn’s porn star references mean?
Review of the week: We have to give it up for bland4life, who left this spicy review:
Thanks, bland4life, let’s hope you’re calling us 5 Alive by the time this all ends because no one dies listening to A Positive Jam!
Key Episode Insight: Ybor City lives up to its reputation, but it’s also ok to grow out of visiting Ybor.