the premier fan site giving you detailed info on The Gaslight Anthem's recordings, boots, collectibles, etc.
 

www.gaslightanthem.org

About this site

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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The Gaslight Anthem Record is a fan site based in England and maintained by Alexander, who came across the band in early 2009.

As information on the Gaslight Anthem was at that time not just spread far and wide, but also incomplete, he decided to gather what he could and put a lot of it on one handy site, not least as a 'thank you' to the band.

When he isn't engrossed in all things Gaslight Anthem, Alexander earns his living as a professional historian.  That's one reason why he likes facts and lists.

Alexander posts on Dimestoresaints.com, the Gaslight Anthem forum, under the name 'steady now steady now'.  He is also on Facebook and on MySpace, but doesn't use either much.
 

From Brian (London, 4 June 2009):

with the Gaslight Anthem, 26 June 2010:
 

Since 1980, when I discovered Bruce Springsteen, I have never come across a band whose work made such a profound and immediate impact on me.  It's as if these songs had been in my life all along, I just hadn't heard them played.  This is not least because Brian Fallon's lyrics are more than just lyrics, they are great poetry; the kind that is very personal, yet captures greater truths.  It is a privilege to be able to share in these songs.  The Gaslight Anthem are also the most genuine and non-contrived band you will ever find.
 
 

How I discovered the band:

 
Someone mentioned the Gaslight Anthem and the '59 Sound on BTX, the Springsteen forum. I looked up the album on Amazon, but saved it for later in my basket. This was in mid/late 2008. 

I only actually bought the album in March of 2009. I had not heard the band before then. I liked what I heard, thought the refs. to Bruce and Tom Petty were fun, but the song I really got to love was the '59 Sound. I got the chords, played it on the guitar. 

I went back on Amazon and listened to the brief clips from Sink or Swim and thought it sounded similarly good (sometimes first albums are quite different), so I ordered that and the EP. I got Sink or Swim, I listened once and ... I knew this was the best band I had come across in 29 years (since I discovered Bruce). I think Sink or Swim is a masterpiece; awards should have been rained down upon it. 

I couldn't believe I had waited that long. I looked for info, boots, interviews etc., and as it was all so scattered, I put it on a Gaslight Anthem website of my own, partly as a 'thank you' to the band, and to help spread the news. 
 

My favourite Gaslight Anthem song and video and why? :

 
Song: 'We Came to Dance'. 

For one thing, it's a song about music itself, about music in action, and about the role that music can play in people's lives. It is also about the redeeming qualities of music and about everyone's ability to make things better, to reinvent the good times and bring it all back home again, no matter how bad things might be(come). It's also about community, about the songs "we" sing, as emphasised by the band's background vocals. Musically, it is superb. The apparent changes in tempo, in rhythm, in volume. It is played superbly, with all four band members at their very creative best. It goes all out, yet it's not arrogant. It's 'Born to Run' and 'Rosalita' and 'Mary's Place' rolled into one, yet it's much more than a combination of these. It's as good as it gets. It's one of those very rare songs that actually moves me to tears, both for its sentiments and for the simple privilege of being able to share in it.
 

Video: 'I'da Called You Woody, Joe'

It's got energy, it's funny, and it doesn't wreck the song by adding a story line. It also shows a young band, still a little awkward, not aware how great they really are. I love the moment when Brian realizes that Benny is up to something (it doesn't look rehearsed) ... and Benny then pushes him aside and appears to take over on vocals. And the gig segment is fantastic. The whole video is unpretentious, it's genuine, it's what the guys are about. 
 

My seven favourite Gaslight Anthem songs:

 
We Came to Dance
I'da Called You Woody, Joe
Miles Davis & The Cool
Old Haunts
Stay Lucky
High Lonesome
I Coul'da Been a Contender

I collect Gaslight Anthem CDs (incl. promos, compilations and cover CDs), as well as vinyl (but not colour variants).
 

July 2010
 
 

Favourite lines:
 

We came to sing out a chorus, reinvent the good times
And to bring it all back home again [...]
Cause you ain't never had a night on the town
Like I could show you such a night on the town
You ain't never had a song you could sing
It's a deep dark night, I hear you, I've been there
and these are the songs that we sing
and these are the songs that we sing

(The Gaslight Anthem, from 'We Came to Dance')
 
 

This was the sound of the very last gang in town.
As heard by my wild young heart, like directions on a cold dark night, 
Sayin', 'Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doin' all right.' 
And I heard it in his chain gang soul. 
It wasn't just the same sad song. 
Sayin', 'Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doing all right.' 
And I'm doing all right, are you doin' all right? 
And I carried these songs like a comfort wherever I'd go. 

(The Gaslight Anthem, from 'I'da Called You Woody, Joe')
 
 

Don't wait too long to come home
My have the years of our youth passed on
Don't wait too long to come home
I will leave the front light on

(The Gaslight Anthem, from 'Miles Davis & The Cool')
 
 

So don't sing me your songs about the good times
Those days are gone and you should just let them go
And God help the man who says
If you'd have known me when
Old haunts are for forgotten ghosts
Old haunts are for forgotten ghosts

(The Gaslight Anthem, from 'Old Haunts')
 
 

And Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
Always kinda sorta wished I looked like Elvis
And in my head there's all these classic cars
And outlaw cowboy bands
I always kinda sorta wish I'm someone else
When our boots they hit the ground
They made a high and lonesome sound
When our boots they hit the ground
They made a high and lonesome sound ...

(The Gaslight Anthem, from 'High Lonesome')
 
 

And if you're scared of the future tonight,
We'll just take it each hour one at a time.
It's a pretty good night for a drive,
So dry up those eyes, dry up those eyes.
Because the radio will still play loud,
Songs that we heard as our guards came down.
Like in the summertime when we first met,
I'll never forget, don't you forget,
These nights are still ours.

(The Gaslight Anthem, from 'Boomboxes and Dictionaries')

This site is not for profit.  If you hold the copyright to any material on this site and consider its use here an infringement of those rights, ie. as being outside fair use provisions, then please contact webmaster@gaslightanthem.org and the material in question will be removed.

Site based in England and maintained by Alexander.

Page updated: 6 July 2010