Ragged tires burn for miles, I ran until it hurt: Beirut’s Perth
Beirut is the band in which Zach Condon expresses his ideas, or gets a few things out of his system. Like, say, divorce.
Perth is a song released on Beirut’s album No No No in 2015; hard to believe a decade (and more) has gone by. It’s a song Condon said was inspired by being in Australia, and feeling like he needed to get out of his head.
Last night I combed the earth
You saw me at my worst
Ragged tires burn for miles
I ran until it hurt
Serious stuff (Condon was admitted to hospital in Australia for exhaustion), and yet the song has such an upbeat vibe.
It also features, in the best of Beirut fashion, a lot of horns. Take a look at how a multi-tasking ensemble plays:
The official video is also colourful; it features dancer Maceo Paisley in simultaneous, contrasting scenes (I’ve wondered if this was inspired by being Beirut experiencing the seasons differently in Australia).
I’ve started a playlist of songs featured here on Dot Dot Dot; you can find the posts in this thread.
Some other posts about songs that you may enjoy: