BILLY LIAR

This is basically a little promo CD single that includes “Billy Liar” and “Los Angeles, I’m Yours” from the “Her Majesty” album along with a couple of rather forgettable b-sides – “Everything I Try To Do, Nothing Seems To Turn Out Right” and “Sunshine”, The Jealous Butcher vinyl version leaves off “Los Angeles, I’m Yours”.

“Sunshine” appears to be a little ditty about staring at someone’s ass. Typical Decemberists bawdy humor, but not much musically really. The subject matter fits well with “Billy Liar” though, since that one is also a coarse tale about a peeping Tom who seems to be pleasuring himself while peering in some young lass’s window, mostly because his life sucks so much that he doesn’t have much else to do.

“Los Angeles, I’m Yours” is a strange choice since it is probably the weakest track on the “Her Majesty” album, and is little more than a decent pop tune.

In all this is a little bit of a weird collection for a single. I would have thought “Shanty For The Arethusa”, “The Soldiering Life”, “I Was Meant for the Stage”, or even “Red Right Ankle” would have made for much stronger promo singles. All told this is just an interesting curio for collectors, so don’t expect any more of it than that. Two stars.

peace