In this episode, Eugene, Oregon’s “The Stagger and Sway’s” lead singer, Mike Last, shares the story behind their eponymous song “Stagger and Sway.”

This song was written on the tail-end of a LONG drive from Chicago to Eugene, Oregon, in a rattle-trap of a box-van. This was the kind of drive where the beginning marked the end of one journey, and the end-of-the-road marked the start of a whole new adventure.

But in between, there was a long drive, with plenty to think about.

This song nearly wrote itself, like a reconciliation of my own personal, if very common, “better-to-have-loved-and-lost” type of story. Phone conversations had begun to reveal more and more in the fuzzy line-hum between our sentences; a quiet staggering off of “the straight and narrow” that didn’t seem to fit our steps anymore.

This long drive ended with a peaceful resolve, where I could tell myself, “Here is a very good person, who’s been a good friend … so let’s nevermind all that other bs, okay?”

I hope that feeling of resolution resonates with people; of putting aside whatever past grievances — not out of spite, or attrition, or for the sake of being right — but out of being just ready to actually move on.

Stagger and Sway

So far gone, escape Cook County crimes;
they say a good friend is hard to find.
Okay, oh well, nevermind.

Valleys crossed to face steep canyon climbs,
they say a good friend is hard to find;
okay, oh well, nevermind.

Now whatcha doin’,
since the stagger and the sway
came across the static on the phone?

No regret in placing second bets;
lift a smile through embarassment,
like a bumbershoot in the cold
and in the wet.

Clutch in coast down a slow decline,
they say a good friend is hard to find.
Okay, oh well, nevermind.

Now whatcha doin’,
since the stagger and the sway
came across the static on the phone?

In this episode, Portland, Oregon’s The Dimes share the story behind their song, “Paul Kern Can’t Sleep.” (As told by lead singer, Johnny Clay.)

“Paul Kern Can’t Sleep” is the story of a WWI vet who was shot in the head in battle. Doctors were able to save him, but the bullet struck the part of the brain that controls sleep and he never slept again for the rest of his life. I read about Paul Kern in an old newspaper from the late 1920s, and at the time of the article he’d been awake for 15 years straight. In fact, the article was written about the fact that he couldn’t pay his tab at a local night club. It seems that he’d been spending his nights at the local bar, looking for someone to talk to since everyone else was asleep. There’s not much information about Paul Kern after that article, but hopefully he was able to get some shut eye.

The Dimes – Paul Kern Can’t Sleep from grammar school on Vimeo.

Paul Kern Can’t Sleep

The year was 1915,
when Regret won the Derby,
and the war was on…

They say it must have struck a vein,
the bullet lodged in his brain,
and he’ll never be the same

Paul Kern can’t sleep,
and he can’t afford his whiskey neat
Paul Kern can’t sleep a wink

The year, 1930,
and Paul made the dailies
for 15 years he’d been awake,
and it’s earned international fame

and by 1945, 30 years without shut eye,
if Paul was still alive then,
would fatigue have finally set in?

Paul Kern can’t sleep,
he can’t afford his whiskey neat,
and Paul Kern can’t sleep a wink

Paul Kern can’t sleep,
for 15 years he counted sheep,
and Paul Kern can’t sleep a wink

Words and Music by Johnny Clay
C, P HursterSongs (ASCAP)

The Dimes are playing a New Year’s Eve show at The Mission Theatre in Portland, Oregon. This show and the video above both feature appearances by sometimes-Dime Ehren Ebbage.