Every week, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 41-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
For a long time, “Throw Silver” loomed large as our most popular song, which was somewhat irritating because we are primarily a more political band. More political than what “Throw Silver” offers in its understated reaction to the end of a romantic relationship.
With “I Walk Alone” recently being included in a long list of best songs from the 80s, I’m happier to see our feminist anthem defining Mecca Normal’s legacy, yet I appreciate “Throw Silver” for its melancholic description as it might apply to other kinds of endings, for the bittersweet sense of moving through life without one of those partnerships that did not work out. Bringing us back to a renewed meaning for “I Walk Alone.”
“Throw Silver” from Dovetail (K, 1992) (download):
