“Queens of the Breakers” is a reference to a gang of seven adolescent friends who used to dress up in their mothers' clothing on any carefree summer afternoon and waltz through expensive hotels, museums, restaurants, etc. They were a tight band of confederates then. Now most of them hardly speak. This was, without a doubt, the easiest and the hardest song to record for this album, with at least five fully realized versions tracked in four different studios. Easy, because the version here, the original, took barely an evening to record and finish. Hard because we were compelled to re-record it and re-record it again…and again and again, for reasons too ridiculous to explain. The original always had the best vibe. FUN FACT: This version was produced by overdubbing a full band live electric take on top of a full band live acoustic take. This is the only song that inspired an all-in dance party in the control room. - Brad Barr
lyrics
---Lyrics---
It'll never come easy
Babe if it don't come clean
And if it won't come sweet, babe
Sometimes it comes mean
Its like trying to put a fire out
With matches and gasoline
We've been going around and around
But how have you really been?
You know we were good friends
Its funny how we don't talk
I flew over your city last night
On a red-eye flight from New York
I was looking for you down on the ground
Wondering if you still remember
The way that we just walked around
Like the Queens of the Breakers
I've been making up time
I've been borrowing it too
I've been taking advice that I
Threw off in my youth
Should have left it right there where you found it
Instead of picking it up
You wanted the world, but you drowned it
At the bottom of the blues
Its a reckoning feeling
At the bottom of the blues
We're begging and stealing
You were ready to confuse
Knowing and believing
But you were right about the blues
You were wrong about the meaning
Talked with your mother
We remembered when you were sick
Felt like no one could help you
You were falling and falling quick
And it made a very heavy sound
Like thunder on the mountain
We were waiting for you to come around
With the Queens of the Breakers
I've been making up time
and borrowing it too
and I’ve been taking off disguises
that I know are not true
Should have left it right there where you found it
You had to pick it up
You wanted the world, but you drowned it
At the bottom of the blues
Is your arbitrator giving up
At the broken alter of your love?
Took the sugar out of your coffee cup
Every sulfur morning, waking up
At the bottom of the blues
At the bottom of the blues
At the bottom of the blues
But you were right about the blues
supported by 12 fans who also own “Queens of the Breakers”
This is undoubtedly my single favorite album of all time. It feels like such a perfect culmination of all the themes and ideas Fleet Foxes has been working with since 2008. It answers many of the questions found on both Helplessness Blues and Crack-Up, and represents an incredible maturation and growth in Robin Pecknold's perspective. Their other albums are certainly masterpieces, but this, in my opinion, is their magnum opus. I doubt it will be recognized as such in its time. isaiah_stuart
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Thin Lear's sophisticated rock music is tempered with soaring chamber pop accents and an undeniable gift for melody. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 30, 2020
supported by 9 fans who also own “Queens of the Breakers”
I can sadly only choose between anything and dragon eyes for my favorite track, but then I realized it probably is anything. The rest of the album and its instrumental sister album are both amazing and imo her best release thus far. 9/10 angrypizza98