In 1985, the Replacements were at their peak. After the breakthrough success of the brilliant Let It Be, the band’s follow-up album was arguably a more consistently excellent release and stands today as the pinnacle of the Replacements catalog. Tim was the first Replacements album on Sire Records, and sadly the last album with original guitarist Bob Stinson. Two years later, Pleased To Meet Me was a clear step down from Tim. The band’s final three albums each represented a decrease in quality from the previous one, so that by the time the Replacements broke up in 1990, their creative output was spent.
Among the best of the current list of bands that exhibit a clear Replacements influence are Titus Andronicus and Deer Tick. Ian O’Neil is a former member of Titus and current guitarist for Deer Tick, and on Wednesday night with Deer Tick, Ian and John McCauley traded vocals on “Waitress in the Sky”. While several other tracks from Tim are clear standouts, “Waitress” is a short number with a bunch of earworm lines. Paul Westerberg is said to have written this from the unsympathetic perspective of the nasty passengers with whom flight attendants have to deal.
The Deer Tick performance took place at Mulcahy’s in Wantagh Long Island. The show was a benefit for the Tommy Brull Foundation. If you download this song, please proceed to the Foundation’s website and Donate [HERE].
Stream “Waitress in The Sky”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/D4545DeerTick3030/01.%20Waitress%20in%20the%20Sky%20%5bReplacements%5d.mp3]
Download MP3 [HERE]
We recorded the entire Deer Tick performance and will post the complete show on Monday.
I dunno about the perspective you offer. I think the line
Treat me like a bum
don’t wear no tie
suggests Westerberg wrote it from the perspective of someone like himself, a regular/coach class passenger, watching the stewardess sucking up to First Class tie-wearing bozos. Most stewardesses I’ve encountered on the few occasions I’ve flown were haughty, self-impressed, pseudo-sophisticates who thought they were doing a “glamourous” job because of the “travel.” But maybe that’s because I always flew like a bum and wore no tie.
^^^ maybe 30 years ago. I think most flight attendants nowadays would be lucky if people were as courteous to them as they are to your overage restaurant waiter. I haven’t encountered any who are confused into believing the job is glamorous.
But I don’t claim to know what Westerberg intended.
Well, the song is 25 or more years old, isn’t it? And I have not flown for a decade.
When I was a college-aged late teen/early 20s person, to a person every girl I knew who wanted to be a stewardess said it was “glamourous” because it included “travel.” To a person. They used different wording, but the sentiment was consistent.
Not coincidentally, that was 25 years ago. I have no clue what motivates Waitresses in the Sky today, but I do know that there remains a strong current of Noble Savage sentiment among “progressives” and other liberal-ish people who themselves would never drop to the level of working as a waitron in the sky.
And yes, I’m being sarcastic here. As I’m pretty sure Westerberg was being when he wrote the song.
No doubt. Like I said, not claiming to know the intent of the song, just defending the honor of (today’s) flight attendants :) (I’m not a flight attendant, but I do travel for work, etc. a good bit, so I see the BS these poor folks go through on every single flight…)
Westerberg’s sister was a flight attendant. My understanding is that he wrote it as a bit of a joke with her in mind.
In case you come here directly, the whole show is now posted here:
http://www.nyctaper.com/?p=6896