In MKE Music Rewind we revisit notable Milwaukee music that was released before Milwaukee Record became a thing in April 2014. This week: Violent Femmes’ “I Held Her In My Arms,” from 1986 (and 1993).
One of the most unassailable facts in all of music is that the Violent Femmes‘ eponymous 1983 debut absolutely rules. “Blister In The Sun”! “Add It Up”! “Gone Daddy Gone”! There’s not a bad tune in the 10-song bunch! Hell, even casual fans are likely familiar with at least 70% of the album.
But there’s more to the Violent Femmes than that first record. A lot more. Even the band itself is digging deeper into its back catalog these days. Past tours have featured the 1983 debut played in full, but a current tour features full performances of that record and its 1984 follow-up Hallowed Ground. Progress!
But what about the Violent Femmes’ third album, 1986’s The Blind Leading The Naked? You know, the one produced by Jerry Harrison? And the one that contains one of the band’s all-time bangers, “I Held Her In My Arms”? Yeah, that album. And yeah, that song.
Hell yeah. The song practically explodes when you press play. The horns are outrageous. Victor DeLorenzo’s drums are relentless. Brian Ritchie’s bass is unstoppable. Gordon Gano’s vocals and lyrics are wonderfully desperate:
I can’t even remember if we were lovers, or if I just wanted to
But I held her in my arms, I held her in my arms
I held her in my arms, but it wasn’t you
My preferred version of “I Held Her In My Arms” is the alternate version from the Add It Up (1981–1993) compilation. The album version is fine, though it’s lacking the reckless punch of the alternate take:
And don’t forget a third version of the song! It sounds like an alternate mix of the alternate take. There’s a drum intro, the guitars drop out during the first half of the first verse, and, oh yeah, there’s a video. (The noticeably DeLorenzo-less video was apparently filmed in 1993, after the drummer had briefly left the group.)
Happily, even if the Femmes never get around to playing The Blind Leading The Naked in full, “I Held Her In My Arms” is a staple of their live show—sometimes even leading off the encore.
What else can you say about the Violent Femmes? They were/are fantastic. They were/are Milwaukee. To quote the intro track from Add It Up (1981–1993): You can’t fuck with the Violent Femmes. You cannot fuck with this band.
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