“Somebody to Shove”
by Soul Asylum
from the album Grave Dancers Union
1992
Buy the album on Amazon
Soul Asylum is one of those bands that I never normally think about; they don’t really orbit in my 90s universe of music. But occasionally a song of theirs will come up on the local 90s station or Pandora/Spotify/iTunes and I gotta give it up to them. They’ve got some great tunes, and this is definitely one of them.
This track got added to my library only in the past couple of years because Chris tossed it out one night at karaoke and we quickly adapted it as a duet. Like we do. And it’s a fun fucking track to belt out while tossing some chairs around, politely. Like we do.
Since it came in as a single, I had to look up what album it was spawned from. All these memories started flooding back when I saw it was Grave Dancers Union. I suddenly remembered seeing them on that tour when they came to Nashville with the Lemonheads and Freedy Johnston and how I walked away thinking Freedy was the most amazing part of the show (Can You Fly is a phenomenal album). It was one of the many shows I witnessed with my friends Heather and Brandon at 328 Performance Hall back in high school. I even sported a really cool Grave Dancers Union t-shirt for years after that, although I always remember it smelling funny because of the screen printing ink they used. Looking at the track list for that album, there are other great songs like “Black Gold” and “Runaway Train.” I might need to grab that album.
Grandfather watches the grandfather clock
And the phone hasn’t rang for so long
And the time flies by like a vulture in the sky
Suddenly he breaks into songI’m waiting by the phone
Waiting for you to call me up and tell me I’m not alone
I’m waiting by the phone
Waiting for you to call me up and tell me I’m not aloneHello, speak up, is there somebody there?
These hang-ups are getting me down
In a world frozen over with over-exposure
Let’s talk it over, let’s go out and paint the townI’m waiting by the phone
Waiting for you to call me up and tell me I’m not alone‘Cause I want somebody to shove
I need somebody to shove
I want somebody to shove meYou’re a dream for insomniacs, prize in the cracker jacks
All the difference in the world is just a call awayAnd I’m waiting by the phone
Waiting for you to call me up and tell me I’m not alone
Yes, I’m waiting by the phone
I’m waiting for you to call me, call me and tell me I’m, tell me I’m not alone‘Cause I want somebody to shove
I need somebody to shove
I want somebody to shove meYes, I want somebody to shove
I need somebody to shove
I want somebody to shove me
“we quickly adapted it as a duet. Like we do. And it’s a fun fucking track to belt out while tossing some chairs around, politely. Like we do.”
THIS.
This song is so fun to sing, and is always used at the perfect moment when we perform it. Full credit – your friend Stephanie sang it at karaoke once, and I decided to rip it off from her since she and I weren’t often at karaoke together.
I never had Grave Dancers Union, but I had one or two friends who were really into Soul Asylum (like this cute girl Shea in my friend circle) and I’m more like you – I like Dave Pirner’s voice and a few of their songs quite a bit (actually just the ones you already mentioned, plus Misery and the Summer of Drugs cover), but wouldn’t call myself a Soul Asylum fan.