Girls' singer/songwriter Christopher Owens wrote a letter the other day to the ellusive genius behind Felt, Denim and currently of Go Kart Mozart; Lawrence. It reads like this:
“11.1.11
Dear Lawrence,
I wonder who will be writing me in twenty years, and what they'll be looking for. Don't worry, I'm not writing to talk about the things I'm looking for in life, I'll spare you that. I'm writing to FINALLY be able to send you a song that I wrote in 2008. When I wrote this song I was the guitarist in a band called Holy Shit, Matt Fishbeck (our fearless leader) was the one who turned me on to Felt. I fell in love with your songs, I wouldn't stop listening, I loved you and Maurice.
To make a long story a shorter story, I once wrote this song and wondered what you would sing to it, I could sometimes hear your voice but I didn't dare write down any words. I never thought for a second you would ever hear it, I wondered if you would like it, all that. I called it Lawrence, after you. To send it to you now is incredible for me, I want to show you I'm thankful. You gave me something to love, or in other words you gave me love itself. You took something that can sometimes feel so common and dull and brought it back to life with so much beauty and verse. You gave me happiness, and you still do.
Anyway, I'd just like you to have it, it's yours, take it as yours. Do anything you want with it. I hope you enjoy listening to it. And all the best to you forever and ever.
With love – Christopher Owens”
The single “Lawrence” will be released on heart-shaped red vinyl limited to 1,000 copies with word of no repressings, and will also be available digitally on December 6 via True Panther Sounds. Like MGMT's tribute to Television Personalities frontman, “Song for Dan Treacy,” Girls are joining the indie crusade to recognize the enigmatic old dudes that have provided the foundation of song books, templates and styles that have been recycled over and over for the past 25 years with typically little to no acknowledgement (although Cobain was a huge TVPs fan and even invited them to open for Nirvana – with disastrous results).
Good news and all, but we are still waiting with bated breath for a wide release of the Paul Kelly documentary Lawrence of Belgravia that is currently making the British film festival rounds. Until then we have Chris's love notes and tributes (come to think of it, his song “Honey Bunny” does echo the Felt years) and hopefully by the single's release date we can at least enjoy a trailer for this long awaited biopic about the man whose talent and ego eclipses both Morrissey, Oasis and Girls combined.
UPDATE
Got our hands on a stream of “Lawrence,” an instrumental of all the emotion you would expect from the Girls. Bonus points for the Maurice Deebank guitar homage licks.
