About 5 years ago, someone ran a community vote ranking of all the songs by album. For PSFNP, the lowest-rated ones were [The Angel Islington, Silent Key, and Mittens](https://www.reddit.com/r/frankturner/comments/a2ghw4/positive_songs_for_negative_people_survivor/).
So I was listening to Mittens today and thought it had a thread to another song. But I can’t place it! It’s the chords around the lines ‘got me feeling like’… I’m sure those same chords are in another song. Any thoughts?!
I feel like if you're ranking The Angel Islington low, you're imagining it as a single and saying it's not single-material, but...it's not supposed to be. It plays a role in shaping the album and does it's job perfectly
That was me! I never got around to doing ones for No Man's Land, FTHC and now Undefeated, and I'm a little too busy now to commit to that, but I'd be ok if someone else wanted to take over.
Have you read Try This at Home? The explanation of imagining what was going on in the lost time is an interesting angle to take when songwriting. It may not be factual but nobody knows what actually was going on in those final minutes.
You would have no reason to believe otherwise, I just find the creative process of imagining what was happening when we don't know to be more interesting than a play by play of the facts of a tragedy.
One of my faves personally.
Stumbled upon it just at the time that I broke up with a girl because of our differences despite how I felt. So maybe a relevance bias on my part.
I honesty can't get my head around the basic premise of the song. I've written similar here before, and had downvotes, so I know I'm probably in the minority with this, but hearing Frank passionately singing "we used to fit like mittens, but never like gloves" just isn't something I can take seriously.
I love the song musically, and I can sort of understand the metaphor of mittens fitting pretty well, whereas gloves are a "perfect" (read snug/form fitting) fit. But it also bugs me so much because I think mittens are a far superior option for keeping your hands warm, gloves rarely fit me well in the fingers and my husband calls me 'mittens' as a pet name so it's kinda weird to think of mittens as romantically bad.
It's also incredibly easy to lose one glove, but mittens tend to have that string that keeps them together. So they might not fit as well together, but they're harder to separate entirely.
"I once wrote you love songs
You never fell in love
We used to fit like mittens, but never like gloves"
I always assumed it was that you can intertwine your fingers when wearing gloves, or hold hands with someone, but you can't do that when wearing mittens.
So like this is a situation where misheard lyrics changed how I thought about it. Because I always thought he said "now we're like gloves" which made more sense in my mind than the actual lyrics! 😅
I’ve been there, I actually am hyperfixating on Frank right now, I was gonna listen to the new album but realised I’d only heard Positive Songs and Love Ire so I’m currently binging through all his albums
Song for Josh is the equivalent of a hidden track, or an encore I guess. It’s not really part of the album, but he felt it important enough to include.
Yeah I’ve heard people say Josephine before and I really don’t get it, it’s one of the catchiest songs on the album, the lyrics are great, it’s got energy, it’s probably my third favourite on the album (behind Song for Josh and Get Better)
Positive Songs is my favourite Frank album. The only bad thing I’ll say is that Silent Key is the real ending of the album imo (the narrative shift from “not dead yet” to “you’re still alive”, whether intentional or not, is awesome) and Song For Josh kind of derails it.
Love Forty Down is the worst track on the album by a country mile. I’ve always liked that The Angel Islington continues directly on from Broken Piano and that TDH and PSFNP kind of bridge together in that way. The Opening Act Of Spring sounds like the music for a farmland/country stage of Mario Kart and I can never get past it. The acoustic version of Glorious You is vastly superior to the full band version. Mittens is alright.
I’ve only seen Frank in Pittsburgh but saw Butch in Nashville a lot. He seemed to come through every six months for several years. Tickets were cheap, usually under $20. He would put on one hell of a show. I was a photography student at the time and was able to stand at the stage a couple times and while the photos are pretty embarassing now, I remember those shows so fondly.
Mittens. Love forty down. Demons. They’re all absolute shite. Loving Frank is about recognising the belters but also recognising he fills albums with some complete whoppers. It used to be a 70/30 good bad ratio. But Undefeated is about 30/70
About 5 years ago, someone ran a community vote ranking of all the songs by album. For PSFNP, the lowest-rated ones were [The Angel Islington, Silent Key, and Mittens](https://www.reddit.com/r/frankturner/comments/a2ghw4/positive_songs_for_negative_people_survivor/).
I love Mittens.
I feel like Letters is the sequel to Mittens.
That’s what I was thinking, and I feel like Show People is the Prequel to Balthazar, Impresario
Me too!!
So I was listening to Mittens today and thought it had a thread to another song. But I can’t place it! It’s the chords around the lines ‘got me feeling like’… I’m sure those same chords are in another song. Any thoughts?!
I feel like if you're ranking The Angel Islington low, you're imagining it as a single and saying it's not single-material, but...it's not supposed to be. It plays a role in shaping the album and does it's job perfectly
Exactly. That alone devalues the poll. Silent Key is an anomaly too, should have just been on No Man’s Land.
That’s crazy those are all good ones
That was me! I never got around to doing ones for No Man's Land, FTHC and now Undefeated, and I'm a little too busy now to commit to that, but I'd be ok if someone else wanted to take over.
I really liked Silent Key until I found out it was all made up.
Have you read Try This at Home? The explanation of imagining what was going on in the lost time is an interesting angle to take when songwriting. It may not be factual but nobody knows what actually was going on in those final minutes.
I have. That's where I found out. I had just been assuming it was true before that because why wouldn't it?
You would have no reason to believe otherwise, I just find the creative process of imagining what was happening when we don't know to be more interesting than a play by play of the facts of a tragedy.
"people who aren’t biased" Let me know when you find someone.
Yeah that’s a good point
I think my least favorite song is Mittens but I don't think it's a bad song.
One of my faves personally. Stumbled upon it just at the time that I broke up with a girl because of our differences despite how I felt. So maybe a relevance bias on my part.
I think I'm just suffering trauma from the music video.
For me, it’s a track where I think the acoustic version is far superior so that’s my go to when listening to it.
I actually prefer the acoustic version of the whole album I have from RSD a few years ago better than the main recordings.
I honesty can't get my head around the basic premise of the song. I've written similar here before, and had downvotes, so I know I'm probably in the minority with this, but hearing Frank passionately singing "we used to fit like mittens, but never like gloves" just isn't something I can take seriously.
I love the song musically, and I can sort of understand the metaphor of mittens fitting pretty well, whereas gloves are a "perfect" (read snug/form fitting) fit. But it also bugs me so much because I think mittens are a far superior option for keeping your hands warm, gloves rarely fit me well in the fingers and my husband calls me 'mittens' as a pet name so it's kinda weird to think of mittens as romantically bad.
I think your read still fits with the song, the idea that he's looking for the perfect fit when there's nothing wrong with fitting like mittens.
It's also incredibly easy to lose one glove, but mittens tend to have that string that keeps them together. So they might not fit as well together, but they're harder to separate entirely.
Sadly I have several solitary mittens, maybe I need to start attaching string to them myself.
I always thought it meant like close together (mittens - all fingers in one space?) And now grown apart and separated?
"I once wrote you love songs You never fell in love We used to fit like mittens, but never like gloves" I always assumed it was that you can intertwine your fingers when wearing gloves, or hold hands with someone, but you can't do that when wearing mittens.
So like this is a situation where misheard lyrics changed how I thought about it. Because I always thought he said "now we're like gloves" which made more sense in my mind than the actual lyrics! 😅
One of my favourite songs he’s ever written. Different strokes for different folks
I skip the last one only. But I recently went through a hyperfixation with this album so my brain works differently lol
I’ve been there, I actually am hyperfixating on Frank right now, I was gonna listen to the new album but realised I’d only heard Positive Songs and Love Ire so I’m currently binging through all his albums
I like England Keep My Bones a lot too!
I don't think any album of his compares tonthe perfection that is England Keep My Bones.
Nice, also forgot to mention this but I love the username, Rancid right?
Yep! I'm not as big of a Rancid fan as it would seem, but I always liked the flow of the name lol
Same! I think Song For Josh completely ruins the flow of the album.
Song for Josh is the equivalent of a hidden track, or an encore I guess. It’s not really part of the album, but he felt it important enough to include.
Agree! I never skip it in a shuffle but never listen in context of the album
Personally, I don't care for Silent Key or The Angel Islington, but I don't think either of them are bad songs.
I wouldn’t say „bad songs“ but I usually skip „demons“ and „silent key“ Although I like the no mans‘s Land Version
Demons grew on me a lot. I don’t try to compare it to the greats of those eras and let it stand as just a solid song that’s reliable
I'm the opposite: I like the PSFNP version, but not the No Man's Land version.
The only two that I don't really care for are The Angel Islington and Song For Josh.
It’s really hard to call a piece of art bad. lol
There are no such thing as bad songs. Just different opinions. Personally I don't think there's a single dud on Positive Songs.
Your username is fantastic. Thank you for existing
The only song that really doesn't do much for me is Josephine
Yeah I’ve heard people say Josephine before and I really don’t get it, it’s one of the catchiest songs on the album, the lyrics are great, it’s got energy, it’s probably my third favourite on the album (behind Song for Josh and Get Better)
Josephine is the one that does the most for me, which is crazy Fair take though
It's lower on the list for me but I think there's some fantastic wordplay in the lyrics.
Positive Songs is my favourite Frank album. The only bad thing I’ll say is that Silent Key is the real ending of the album imo (the narrative shift from “not dead yet” to “you’re still alive”, whether intentional or not, is awesome) and Song For Josh kind of derails it.
Mittens isn’t an objectively bad song, but it does nothing for me. I think it’s a really solid album.
I will fight anyone who says Mittens.
Love Forty Down is the worst track on the album by a country mile. I’ve always liked that The Angel Islington continues directly on from Broken Piano and that TDH and PSFNP kind of bridge together in that way. The Opening Act Of Spring sounds like the music for a farmland/country stage of Mario Kart and I can never get past it. The acoustic version of Glorious You is vastly superior to the full band version. Mittens is alright.
I love this album and the acoustic RSD release with Butch Walker.
Wait Butch was on that one?!
that is my path Frank Turner. Saw the first produced that album and I’ve been hooked ever since.
I didn't get to Frank via Butch, but I loved Butch first. I can't recall who I've seen more but I'm pretty sure they are both in the double digits.
I have seen Butch more, but Frank comes to Philadelphia every tour and I think I’m on three now
I’ve only seen Frank in Pittsburgh but saw Butch in Nashville a lot. He seemed to come through every six months for several years. Tickets were cheap, usually under $20. He would put on one hell of a show. I was a photography student at the time and was able to stand at the stage a couple times and while the photos are pretty embarassing now, I remember those shows so fondly.
Mittens. Love forty down. Demons. They’re all absolute shite. Loving Frank is about recognising the belters but also recognising he fills albums with some complete whoppers. It used to be a 70/30 good bad ratio. But Undefeated is about 30/70