The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill // Hüsker Dü

There's a girl who lives on heaven hill
I go up to her cabin still
She keeps a lantern lit for me
And a bottle up on her mantelpiece

She's the girl who lives on heaven hill

She's got a big room and it's always a mess
Worn out shoes and a worn out dress
A worn out smile that she'll wear some more
And a worn out welcome mat by her door

I'd trade big mountains and rooms full of gold
For just one look at the beauty of this woman's soul
Up on heaven hill is where I wanna be
That girl that bottle that mattress and me

I was going to post another song from the album because it’s a Celebrated Summer kind of day today, but see that I had posted that a while back already. That’s quite all right, because it is also a Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill kind of day as well.

I cut my hardcore/punk teeth firmly on the Minneapolis/Saint Paul scene, which some college radio stations knew about while almost everyone else was more gaga for the Prince and His Entourage scene (The Time, Jimmy Jam, Terry Louis, Vanity Six, Jesse Johnson’s Review, etc.), which was more dance and funk. Don’t get me wrong, Little Red Corvette and the rest of 1999 and Purple Rain were on heavy rotation along with New Day Rising, Zen Arcade, Stink, Mortal Fear and others, but part of me always preferred the hardcore/garage/punk bands in town that ended up regularly be mentioned as influences for the grunge bands of the 90s.

Hüsker Dü are an acquired taste — less so on Zen Arcade through their breakup, but Bob Mould’s drone distortion can be off-putting to listeners unfamiliar with the sound.

This song, hell, this whole album, has a special place in my heart, as it reminds me when I was mostly okay with the person this mind inhabits. And, this not-quite-summery-autumn-day and the accompanying mental thoughts fit the tune.