as previously promised, here is the mp3 to the song from which Look at My Hands takes its title. this song has a few of my favorite guitar riffs ever. in particular, i love the one that first starts at about 0:31 and repeats several times throughout the song.

right- or ctrl-click to save / 320kbps mp3 / ~9MB

Green Grow the Rushes by R.E.M.
on Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985 / lyrics

extra photograph
Michael Stipe 2002 -->

file under; male beauty; photographed; r.e.m.; sung
link / 2 have made it up

the title of Long May It Last comes from one of my favorite songs ever, i could listen to it every day

Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself by Morrissey [320kbps mp3 / around 8MB]
on Vauxhall + I, 1994 / lyrics

the album title is one of my favorite puns. Vauxhall is all kinds of things, including a make of car, a district of London, a British bar someplace [maybe also London], and a Tube stop. but also: Vox, Hall and I. yeahhh. go Moz.

also, the phrase 'Long may it last' is the best tattoo i've ever seen on anyone. if you're out there, Mary of Los Angeles [you know who you are], i would love to draw your tattoo if you would like to send me a picture of your arm.

file under; male beauty; morrissey; sung
link / 1 have made it up

San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)
sung by Scott McKenzie / written by Michelle Phillips
single, 1967

The Killing Jar [original album version]
by Siouxsie + the Banshees
on Peepshow, 1988

naturally, you can right- or ctrl-click to save.

file under; san francisco; sung
link / 0 have made it up

One of my favorite Lou Reed songs, from 2000's Ecstasy. I'll label it an 'overlooked' masterpiece because no one has ever spoken to me about it.

Rock Minuet
by Lou Reed / lyrics
on Ecstasy, 2000

file under; lou reed; male beauty; sung
link / 1 have made it up

And, most days, I still kind of do.

Michael Stipe, 2003, photographed by?

One of the best live versions I have ever heard of ANY song by ANYONE is Harborcoat by R.E.M. from the 'Bochum 1985' bootleg. It makes me wish I could be Bill Berry as well, or rather play the drums the way he did back in 1985.

Harborcoat live in Germany, 1985
by R.E.M. / lyrics
album version on Reckoning, 1984

Too bad, isn't it, that the most recent R.E.M. album, Around the Sun, was such crap? Given that it was an overt response to 9/11 and the Iraq war, the impression I got was, 'OK, the war has creatively destroyed R.E.M.' I have high hopes for the next R.E.M. album, though. I found New Adventures in Hi-Fi and Up both subpar (the former, dreadfully so - why in hell does everyone call it their 'return to form'? it's SHIT!). But after those records, they made Reveal, their best album since Murmur.

Beat a Drum
by R.E.M. / lyrics
from Reveal, 2001

file under; hero worship; male beauty; photographed; r.e.m.; sung
link / 8 have made it up

Their talent is not in music making, but in physical beauty.

Martin Tomlinson, Selfish Cunt

Authority Confrontation live in London, c. 2004
by Selfish Cunt / lyrics coming
album version on No Wicked Heart Shall Prosper, 2004

Tom Atkin, The Paddingtons

Tommy's Disease live in London, c. 2004
by The Paddingtons / lyrics coming
album version on First Comes First, 2005

-
photos by Andrew Kendall

file under; male beauty; photographed; sung
link / 4 have made it up

art not meant to be seen or heard by anybody

self-portrait by Robert Mapplethorpe
Polaroid, 1973

Honey You Know Where to Find Me
rough demo by Morrissey / lyrics
Southpaw Grammar sessions, c. 1995

file under; hero worship; male beauty; morrissey; photographed; robert mapplethorpe; sung
link / 1 have made it up

Carl Barât and Pete Doherty, 2003

photographs by the peerless Andrew Kendall

My favorite track by The Libertines, one of the best songs ever written, is Last Post on the Bugle from their second and final album.

Last Post on the Bugle
by The Libertines / lyrics
from their 2004 self-titled album

file under; disbanded; male beauty; photographed; sung; the libertines
link / 3 have made it up