(The) Harvey Danger Database

Meet me up on 99
Beneath the Marco Polo sign
I’ll be the one with a box of wine
And a hundred-dollar car

We could talk about the lives we’ve led
And count the reasons we’re not dead
Or maybe we could talk instead
About the ways in which we are

Always nothing or too much to say
Only so many sides of a record to play
And the song that got stuck in my head said:

“You die by what you live by
You will die by what you live by
You will die by what you live by
Every time”

Like carnivores to carnal pleasures
So were we to desperate measures
Melting into stagnant puddles
Beat down by the sun

I went to school
I didn’t stay
Spoke right up when I had nothing good to say
And I said it to anyone who would listen

Lay me down in the bed that I made
Starved for sleep by the shrill serenade
Singing over and over:

“You die by what you live by
You will die by what you live by
You will die by what you live by
Every time

"You die by what you live by
You will die by what you live by
You will die by what you live by
Every time”

Aaron: "What You Live By" is a sentimental favorite of mine, having been written during a difficult time in 2001 when everything seemed to be ending. During recording it became something very different than I would have ever imagined (somehow I always pictured it being played on a beat up old acoustic guitar; sitting on a back porch at dusk), but it's still one of the best things on the album.^10A

Sean: Aaron and I wrote "What You Live By" during the wilderness years and performed it several times at little cabaret and club shows that were attended by few; of all the things we tried, that one stuck around; Jeff liked it too, and heard the jazzy piano rhythm that dominates the recorded version; in effect, the recorded version of "Live By" is two songs in one—Aaron's take and Jeff's interpretation; I just like the line about the Marco Polo motel on Hwy 99; I remember playing an early demo of this song to HD's former manager when he asked to hear what I was up to; he heard the words about dying and despair and melting into stagnant puddles and so forth and just laughed, "Not looking to get back on the pop charts, are you?" Well...^10A