“Come Back from San Francisco” – The Magnetic Fields
(Words/music: Stephin Merritt, available on 69 Love Songs, Merge 1999)
As lovely as Shirley Simms sounds here (and good lord, does she have a beautiful voice), the electric guitar strikes me every time. Whether it’s the melody or the bass notes, the strings resonate with a rich tone and just enough reverb. I find guitar sounds incredibly fascinating – and sometimes more fascinating than technique (which probably explains why I’ve spent more time playing around with the knobs on my guitar than getting any better at playing it). When the sound and technique dovetail and complement each other, I tip my hat out of respect. In “Come Back from San Francisco,” the electric guitar acts as the song’s skeleton, holding together the different vocal lines and giving Simms’ lead vocal somewhere to rest. The melody, when coupled with the finger-picked bass notes and ringing just long enough, balancing the heartbreak and hope in Merritt’s lyrics.
Like Merritt’s finest lyrics, “Come Back to San Francisco” navigates through sweetness, humor, love, and heartbreak. A few lines always make me smirk, particularly the “kiss me, I quit smoking” declaration that only a non-smoker could love. I’m always fascinated by the first simile in the chorus: “You need me like the wind needs the trees to blow in.” I’m drawn into the elusiveness of the image; I read it different ways depending on my mood. It could be the recognition that the two need a little friction in their relationship to get by. At other times, it’s a statement of dependence – after all, one can’t tell if it’s windy outside unless the branches of a tree are moving around, giving the otherwise invisible wind visibility. Still, it might just be designed to evoke the simple, peaceful image of a breezy spring day. Either way, it’s the link that matters most, even if it means late night, transcontinental phone calls until the lease runs out.
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