Sonic Youth - "Diamond Sea" (forgotten song)

"Time takes its crazy toll
And how does your mirror grow
You better watch yourself when you jump into it
Cause the mirror's gonna steal your soul"

I'm not sure how I've managed to blog this long and not really mention Sonic Youth.  I've been reading "Our Band Could Be Your Life", and this has caused me to go back and rip all the various SY cds that I somehow had failed to in the past.  I have a significant portion of their considerable discography, and while I'd love to tell you that my favorite song is "Teen Age Riot", "Kill Yr. Idols", "Death Valley '69", or something like that, the truth is my favorite SY song is actually "Diamond Sea", the first single from their 1995 LP "Washing Machine". 

I was surprisingly disappointed when in late 2011 it was announced that after 27 years of marriage SY founders Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon were splitting up, effectively ending the 30 year career of Sonic Youth in the process.  Individually, Thurston & Kim are the epitome of cool and their long-standing rock-n-roll marriage was even cooler.  Less than a month ago, Kim revealed in an interview that the marriage ended because of Thurston's mid-life crisis.  Shortly thereafter the identity of the "other woman" was revealed, and then the inevitable back-lash for "shaming" the woman while more or less giving Thurston a pass.  I guess marriages break up every day, but most don't claim the careers of seminal bands like Sonic Youth.

"Time takes its crazy toll
Mirror fallin' off the wall
You better look out for the looking glass girl
Cause she's gonna take you for a fall"

"Diamond Sea": 5:45 radio edit, 19:36 LP version, 20 min live version (1996), 1995 live (on "The State")


Although I'm ashamed to admit it, I frequently prefer the radio edit to the freak-out LP version.