"We're rolling." "Rolling, Richie." "Rolling, Danny." "Did we not just pull off a high school play at Madison Square Garden?" "It was awesome." "Dude." "That was the last show." "You have 15 messages." "James, it's Keith." "Well, you knew that, didn't you?" "Um..." "So, uh, I guess you're sleeping." "Well, I hope to fuck you're sleeping after last night, man, that..." "Do I have to get up?" "Do you wanna go out?" "My guest tonight... is the leader of the band LCD Soundsystem." "Please welcome James Murphy!" "Whoo!" "Whoo!" "Boom!" "Hey, Mr. Murphy." "Thanks so much for coming on." "Seriously?" "I got a beef to pick with you here." "Can I get up front at the top?" "You ready for this?" " Yes." " Okay, you are a pretty successful rocker." "Moderately successful." "Moderately successful rocker." "Still." "You're walking away from fame." "This is your last appearance on television, correct?" "Yes." "As LCD Soundsystem." "Yes." "Okay." "No, that's all right." "I'll have another show tomorrow." "It's all right." "And your last show is coming up at Madison Square Garden." "Yes." "Why walk away from the rock world?" "You didn't start until you were in your 30s, right?" "But you've never been, like, "youth rocker."" "You've always been kind of doing your own thing." "I mean, you're popular, man!" "Because it started later, I had a life beforehand... and there's a lot of things I want to do." "Like what What do you want to do afterwards?" "I really like..." "I like making coffee." "There are only three ways to end your career as a rocker... overdose, overstay your welcome... or write Spider-Man:" "The Musical." "I didn't think rockers get to walk away like that." "Jesus-fuckin'" "Christ." "We're just doing this for sound check, so..." "Sounds really good." "Maybe we play without?" "How you doing, Nancy?" "I'm okay." "How are you?" "Good." "Good." " When's doors?" " I don't know. 7:00." "It's not gonna be possible." "We want some of this time back." "Yeah, I know." "And I feel like we were told something, and we were not allowed to make it go faster, so they gotta take responsibility." "I think we can push it till, I think, like, 6:30 or something." "It's kind of a bit close to doors." "It's just, like, gettin' it goin'." "You know, I..." "All right." "Christina?" "Nancy, did you get a bracelet?" "No." "Do you want one?" "Of course." "Do you want one now?" "Do I?" "Yeah." "Are you wearing one now?" "Yeah." "This is all right, you know." "This is our time." "... a couple of things clear" "If you're afraid of what you need" "If you're afraid of what you need" "I'm afraid my children are gonna think... because this is the first time they've seen me doing anything musical, 'cause they're so young..." "that they're gonna think that now when I go away, what I do is I come to a place like this." "I get painted white and I go up in a fucking, like... talking to a guy in a spaceship." "There's gonna be a lot of people here." "I think there's going to be, like, 18,000 people here." "Hello." "Hey." "Hi." "I'm not late, am I?" "No." "I got lost coming here." "Welcome to weird." "Ah." "You've got a tie on today, I see." "I'm wearing..." "I didn't anticipate that." "I'm making an attempt to, uh..." "Is that okay?" "Yes." "Making an attempt to dress better in my retirement." "In your..." "Uh, is it okay if I tape-record this?" "Yes." "Okay." "Huh." "Well..." "Uh..." "Is it okay if I take notes?" "You're taking notes as well?" "I'm kidding." "No, I'm kidding." "Well, you can if you want." "Working on my..." "on my stuff." "Well, tell me this then..." "This might be a good way to start." "This is the end of LCD Soundsystem." "Yes." "And it's ending in a strangely controlled manner." "It's, like, there was a record." "There was an announcement." "There's a last show." "Everyone's aware that it's ending." "When you start a band, do you imagine how it will end?" "I didn't start a band." "I made a record, and then we had..." "People were asking us to play, and it seemed like a cool opportunity... to go to London and play this cool gig." "I mean, we'd always call ourselves the LCD Soundsystem cover band." "We were the best LCD Soundsystem cover band in the world." "Because we were doing essentially what a cover band does." "There was a record made and then we would listen to it." "In fact, I was very adamant about, I will never tour, will never do the bullshit, like, you know, go away for a really long time... and tour and all the stuff that everybody else does." "'Cause I didn't want to." "It seemed stupid." "So there was no conception of, like, "We're starting a band." "Will it end?"" "And at that time, you're playing to how many people in most shows" "I mean, our first show was a couple thousand people." "Like, who..." "I mean..." "Was it here?" "That was in London." "We started by playing parties." "We didn't want to play shows." "We'd all been in..." "Pat and I and Tyler, we'd been in punk bands... and didn't want to go fuckin' play shows." "We wanted to play at dance clubs." "We wanted to play to people who were having fun." "We didn't want to do anything to do with, like, the whole, like, you know, standing-around bit." " Hey!" " We gotta rehearse." "Quick hug." "How's it going?" "You gonna rehearse?" "Yeah, we got to rehearse." "We're doing a show in between when we go on and now." "Hi." "Did you guys just get here?" "We just got here, yeah." "Awesome." "We just ate dinner down the street while everyone in their white suits was walking by." "It was pretty awesome." "Yeah, this is what I'm talking about." "Jeremy showed me his." "You look so dashing, Keith Wood." "But no tie though, Keith?" "No, because I haven't had time to go and fucking buy one, have I?" "I wanted a black and white tie or even a bow tie, right?" "But I haven't had a fucking minute." "And then, check it out." "Rattlesnake, rattlesnake, rattlesnake, rattlesnake, rattlesnake" "I'll see you guys later." "How much time do we have?" "Not very much." "About five minutes." "Five minutes." "Ow." "Let's try and enjoy this." "Are you guys good?" " Do we have everybody?" " Yeah." "We were just saying that, right?" "Has anyone looked round?" "We have everybody?" "All right, let's go." "Don't you want me to wake up" "So give me just a bit of your time" "Arguments are made from make-outs" "Then give me just a bit of your time" "You've got to bring the results in" "You're gonna play it till the time comes" "Forget your string of divorces" "?" "Just go and throw your little hands up" "It's like" "No" "Honey, it's me" "No" "I miss the way the night goes" "With friends who always make it feel good" "This basement has a cold glow" "Though it's better than a bunch of others" "So go and dance yourself clean" "Hey, go and dance yourself clean, yeah" "You're throwing marks into pieces" "You're winning arguments to pieces" "Oh" "It's your show" "It's your show" "It's your show" "It's your show" "Put your little feet down" "Hey, oh-ho" "We should try a little harder" "In this tedious march of the few" "Every fucker's getting younger" "And there's a part of me hoping it's true" "Thanks very much." "So, this is... this is a very weird experience for us." "Uh, in keeping with the history of our band, we're hoping it will be a relatively weird experience for everybody." "Uh..." "We do..." "We..." "It feels weird 'cause we were gonna play this one..." "We played four shows last week, and they were really good for us and fun and important, so..." "And it's sort of like we just have this one big last party, and it's just gonna keep going." "This is kind of a pretentious question, but I think I'd be interested in your response." "When does art begin?" "Okay, this is a constructed interview." "All interviews are construction." "Right." "You can say that all conversation is a construction." "Yeah, that's okay." "So at what point does something start becoming art?" "When do you feel like you are making art and not just making something?" "Um..." "That is a pretentious question." "No, but it's like..." "I know you're a fan of pretension, so I thought I could ask pretentious questions..." "No, totally." "Because you like pretentious ideas, right?" "Pretension is, like, a way to not just play football." "Like if I think about myself as a kid, I was kind of a pretentious kid." "I read so much shit just because I wanted to seem cool." "So I would read all these books, and as I got older, I'd be like..." ""These books were great," and they actually informed my world view... and, you know, like, became part of my personality in a totally different way... once I got older and was not so, like," "panicking about image maintenance and all that sort of stuff." "So, like, if being pretentious got you to read Gravity's Rainbow, you still read Gravity's Rainbow, and as, like, an older dude, that's part of your makeup." "When you're reading Gravity's Rainbow as a 16-year-old to seem cool, who are you attempting to seem cool for?" "Who, in your mind, is the audience for you as a person..." "Right." "that would be impressed or somehow changed... or would appreciate the fact that you were reading this difficult book?" "Was that even something you're conscious of?" "I don't think you're conscious that you're trying to impress anybody." "You know the guy who... dressed like he was in The Clash... in, like, Louisville..." "You know what I mean?" "The guy who says, like," ""Everyone here is an idiot." "I gotta get out of here where it's real."" "So you were that person?" "You hated where you were at?" "I hated where I was." "I wanted to just bomb it." "I was, like, "Man, if I lived in London, I could go see these bands all the time."" "Or, "If I lived in New York, I could meet Andy Warhol."" "But here it's, like, you know, kids calling kids faggots and stuff like that." "You just feel like you live in hell." "I guess a lot of kids feel that way, but you were actually projecting a life in London for yourself... and you thought..." "you were constructing in your mind what that would be like, and it seemed completely alien from the life you were having." "Yes." "It's just like when you think about rock stars and you'd think about, like, David Bowie." "You'd be like, "He's from fuckin' Mars."" "In my mind, he was from outer space." "Like he's not a person." "This isn't a person that would, like, wake up and whose foot would hurt... because they kicked a couch the night before." "What I liked about these guys, and thought they were just unattainable... and that the best you could get was just to act like them." "And you'd never be like them." "It was impossible." "But you could, like, if you liked Lou Reed, you could wear sunglasses and a leather jacket... and not talk much." "But, like, you couldn't be that." "It's like a movement from a small place to a bigger city?" "Or it's a bigger bag to strap the ego of a tiny baby?" "It's like a discipline without the discipline" "Of all of the discipline" "It's like a movement without the bother of all of the meaning" "But you're history, and I'm tapped" "Yes, sir, I'm tapped" "You're pillaging, and I'm tapped" "You're so chic, I'm tapped" "It's like a rock show without the rock and all of you show up" "Or it's a cum shot without the cum and all the inevitable throw up" "It's like a fat guy in a tuxedo doing all the singing" "Or it's a couple of dads and a few friends trying hard to...?" "Stay in, and you know, you're history, and I'm tapped" "You're history, and I'm tapped" "You're history, and I'm tapped" "You're pillaging, and I'm tapped" "Here come the rich now and the rich start singin' 'bout how poor they is" "It's like a disciple without the discipline" "Of all the discipline" "It's like a fat guy in a tuxedo doing all the singing" "It's like a couple of dads and a few friends" "Trying hard to stay in" "You're history, and I'm tapped" "You're history, and I'm tapped" "You're history, and I'm tapped" "You're so chic, and I'm tapped" "It's like a rock show without the rock and all of the show" "It's like a discipline without the discipline" "Doin' all the discipline" "It's like a culture without the culture of all the culture" "You're history, and I'm tapped" "You're history, and I'm tapped" "You're history, and I'm tapped" "You're history, and I'm tapped" "I forgot to turn my phone off." "Since 7:30 this morning, I've been having people calling... saying how much they loved it, um, saying how come they got such crap seats, they couldn't get into the party." "You know, listen, I couldn't even get into the party." "Anyway, listen, are you coming into the city later on?" "If you do, it would be really nice to see you, see if you've survived." "Um, there was an e-mail here from Matt Thornley saying, um, did you want to see the gear... which they put out in the middle of last night in the storage place." "Did you want to see the gear before it gets sold off... and dispersed to the winds kind of thing." "I think he thought that you might like to do that." "So, look, drop by the apartment later on and I'll see you then." "Bye." "What's the difference between who you are and the perception of you?" "From what you can tell from talking to others." "People seem to think that me or we..." "the people in the band... like, we're exceptional, differently exceptional in some way... or, like, more talented... or... there's something special." "Where, for me, the whole goal of the band, a big, huge point of the band was just, like, being very, very... getting rid of as much of that as possible." "French bulldog..." "whatever the hell you are." "Yes." "French bulldog?" "Yes." "How you doing there, baby?" "She's good." "Rather than being a bad person, you're just, like, "I can't be David Bowie." "That's crazy."" "People are, like, "Well, I can fucking be that dude."" "But I don't think that's how it works though." "I know." "It's not the character that makes people feel that." "It's the place they are in the culture." "That's what I've come to realize." "That's, like..." "That's the wildly, significantly..." "We were really ambitious and competitive, but that wasn't the ambition." "What was the ambition?" "I don't know." "To be like..." "To leave a mark, I guess..." "To leave a stain." "That's how it starts" "We go back to your house" "We check the charts" "And start to figure it out" "And if it's crowded, all the better" "Because we know we're gonna be up late" "But if you're worried about the weather" "Then you picked the wrong place to stay?" "And so it starts" "And so it starts" "You switch the engines on" "We set controls for the heart of the sun" "One of the ways we show our age" "And if the sun comes up, if the sun comes up" "If the sun comes up and I still don't wanna stagger home" "Then it's the memory of our betters" "That are keeping us on our feet" "You know, you spent the first five years just as fast as you can" "And the next five years trying to be with your friends again" "You're taking 45 turns just as fast as you can?" "Yeah, I know it gets tired, but it's better when we pretend" "It comes apart" "The way it does in bad films" "Except the part" "When the moral kicks in" "And we're running out of the drugs" "And the conversation's winding away?" "I wouldn't trade one stupid decision" "For another five years of life" "You know, you drop the first 10 years just as fast as you can" "And the next 10 fuckers who are trying to be polite" "You know, when you're blowing 85 days in the middle of France" "Yeah, I know it gets tired" "Only where are your friends tonight" "To tell the truth" "This could be the last time" "So here we go" "Like a sales force into the night" "Night" "Yeah, if I made a fool, if I made a fool" "If I made a fool on the road" "There's always this" "Yeah, and if I'm sewn into submission" "I can still come home to this" "And with a face like a dad and a laughable stance" "You can sleep on the plane or review what you said" "When you're drunk and the kids leave impossible tasks" "You think over and over, "Hey, I'm finally dead."" "Oh, if the trip and the plans come apart in your hand" "You look contorted on yourself your ridiculous prop" "You forget what you meant when you read what you said" "And you always knew you were tired, but then where are your friends tonight" "Where are your friends tonight" "Where are your friends tonight" "Tonight" "If I could see all my friends tonight" "If I could see all my friends tonight" "If I could see all my friends tonight" "If I could see all my friends tonight" "Thanks very much." "Let me just quickly explain how this is going to work." "We, uh..." "We have a..." "We have a really long show tonight." "And to do that for us and for you, we're just gonna take a couple of breaks." "Last one keep me going" "Lars." "Jesus, I called you Lars." "Jesus Christ." "You know what?" "That's what playing in a big place does..." "it makes you into Metallica." "I'm not done." "I mean, we're done as LCD, but we need to do some amazing shit." "It will be tremendous, yeah." "Arcade Fire is wondering which mike they go to." "The singer is gonna go to the far... that side, the singer side." "Horns here, singers there." "The same way it has been?" "Yes." "Okay." "Have you met Keith?" "Yeah, yeah." "We have." "Hello." "Thank you." "I'm just saying that when you signed up and then when Spike signed up, it made me so happy." "Right on." "Oh, my gosh!" "Hey, little man." "Hi." "Can I get a high..." "Oh." "Yeah, you don't care." " Hey." " Hi." " Nice seeing you." " So nice to see you." "Wait, wait." "You need a wristband." "You need a special wristband." "You guys sound so fucking good out there, man." "I'm so honored." "We're just standing around like 20-year-olds losing their minds." "We have the background singers' stand with two mikes, and then we have the band..." "They're gonna share." "They're gonna be on the vocal mikes." "The horns are playing the horns." "Right, but..." "There's three mikes." "The background singers have..." "There's three mikes." "And then we have Reggie and Nancy's if they need it." "Where do you want them to be?" "Background, Reggie, background." "The time has come, the time has come" "The time has come today?" "The time has come, the time has come" "The time has come today?" "Bells." "The time has come, the time has come" "The time has come today?" "The time has come, the time has come" "The time has come today?" "And all the good people wanna rescue" "From all the terrible people who wanna talk to you" "And all the smart people wanna tell you" "That all the little people wanna dance, it's true" "So the time has come, the time has come" "The time has come, the time has come" "The time has come, the time has come" "The time has come, the time has come too" "Shit." "The time has come, the time has come" "The time has come today?" "The time has come, the time has come" "The time has come today?" "And all the good people wanna rescue" "From all the terrible people who wanna talk to you" "And all the smart people wanna tell you" "That all the little people wanna dance, it's true" "So, cloud" "Block out the sun" "Over me" "Over me" "And spoil" "Spoil all the fun" "Won't you please" "Yeah" "Cloud" "Block out the sun" "Over me" "Over me" "And spoil" "Spoil all the fun" "Won't you please" "Yeah" "If you please" "Please anyone" "Talk to me" "Talk to me" "All you boys" "Lonely and drunk" "On your knees" "Yeah" "Us v. them" "Over and over again" "Us v. them" "Over and over again" "Us v. them" "Over and over again" "And again" "All the good people wanna rescue" "From all the terrible people who wanna talk to you" "And all the smart people wanna tell you" "All the little people wanna dance, it's true" "Us v. them" "Over and over again" "Us v. them" "Over and over again" "Us v. them" "Over and over again" "Us v. them" "Over and over and over again" "Us v. them" "Over and over again" "Because you had mentioned, you know, if you liked Lou Reed, you could wear sunglasses or whatever and all these things." "So how did that apply to LCD Soundsystem, in the sense that when people who are fans of your band are at your show, is the experience mostly musical with just a little bit of cultural, sort of," "kind of melded through?" "Or is it sort of a shared 50/50 thing... where the culture is as much as the music?" "It's gotta be a 50/50 thing." "I think, experientially, it's gotta be a division between those things... because I didn't go to shows that I loved..." "I've never gone to a show and loved it... without believing something about the people that are doing it... whether it's belief that I carried in and they confirmed by their performance, or a belle fin them that they got me straight from the performance," "I didn't know them." "Like, if you go see Nick Cave..." "He's one of these last sort of mythic guys." "He's like a real mythical guy to me." "Like, growing up, listening to The Birthday Party, like, he was terrifying to me." "And in becoming a recording artist, whatever, and getting older, I'm starting to realize, there's no way..." "I'm still in this position where I'm, like," "I have to let go of some..." "I have to recognize he's just a dude." "He's gotta go check his e-mail, and he's gotta check in for the plane." "Um, but up there, there's just something else happening... that, like, I, as, you know, not a 16-year-old, am still transported by." "Ooh" "Ooh" "Shame on you" "Shame on you" "Hey?" "Your love away from me" "You can't hide it" "Hey?" "Your love away from me" "Shame on you" "Hey?" "Your love away from me You can't hide it" "Hey?" "Your love away from me" "Shame on you" "Your love away from me" "You can't hide it" " Hey?" " Ooh" "Your love away from me Shame on you" "Your love away from me" "You can't hide it" "Hey?" "Your love away from me" "Shame on you" "Oh, no" " Still you can" " But I'll be lonely?" "Oh, no" "Still you can And I'll be lonely?" "Hey?" "Your love away from me" "You can't hide it" "Hey?" "Your love away from me" "Shame on you" "Your love away from me" "You can't hide it" "Hey?" "Oh, no" "Still you can tell by the way I walk" "New situation" "Got your love light" "Swing to and fro" "It's a love that can never hold me" "No time" "I'm gonna do what it takes" "To be lovin' like you do" "Not what you told me" "But I've got to let you know" "But can lead me through lovin'?" "I don't feel like it's one note" "And I know that it's in me" "Symphony, symphony?" "All by myself?" "It's lucky?" "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh" "Givin' you some information But I'm done tryin' to move" "Yeah, oh, oh" "Sound of silver, talk to me" "Makes you want to feel like a teenager" "Until you remember the feelings of?" "A real, live emotional teenager" "Then you think again" "Come on." "Hello." "Hello." "Hello?" "I'm at the office." "Well, I have a bunch of shit." "I have, uh..." "Nancy left clothes at the, um, Tribeca Grand at the after party, and, uh, I left my computer at the..." "Yeah, I put it in a record bag." "I'm a fucking idiot, so I deserve it." "It feels disturbingly normal." "No, I don't feel, uh..." "I haven't had time." "I'm still running around like crazy." "I know." "Dude, I haven't been here in a year." "We're gonna have dinner at Marlow." "I hope." "I can't get in touch with Al." "I can't get in touch with Tyler." "That's why I'm trying to see everybody, before everybody just disappears." "Hello." "You're awake." "I..." "I got your thing." "No." "I just..." "I'm at the office." "I know." "I know." "I'm trying not to think about it." "I have to fucking go to the storage space and look at all the shit." "I mean, it's, like, a fortune to store it there." "Well, just look at the list." "I don't have to look at the fucking funeral pyre." "Okay." "I'll see you in a little bit." "I know." "I just have to go deal with the gear." "Okay." "All right." "I love you." "Bye, little person." "I don't know if you'll take this as a compliment or as a negative thing, but sometimes I do think "Losing My Edge" is the most brilliant thing you've done... and that that might stand alone separately... not because it's the greatest song you ever made," "but it seems like the ideology and the sentiment of that song... is not only very timely for what was happening in the world, but I don't really think..." "I can't think of any other songs like that." "But I'm losing my edge" "The kids" "Are coming up from behind" "Yeah, I'm losing my edge" "And I'm losing my edge" "And the timing of it was really good... because the Internet was causing people to have a different relationship with history." "And a young person could suddenly be as fluent..." "didn't have to have the life experience." "And I feel like that song..." "which is why it's so interesting to me... is that your awareness that this was happening to you, I think, was very unique." "Yeah, I'm losing my edge" "I'm losing my edge" "I can hear their footsteps" "When they get on the decks" "I never took exception, but I always found it very funny... that people saw this like... you have these funny songs, "I'm Losing My Edge." Then you'll be serious." "I was, like, that song is as serious as a heart attack." "That song is really sad." "There's funny parts in it." "Yeah, of course." "But there's funny parts at a funeral." "Yeah, I'm losing my edge" "To the Internet seekers" "Who can tell me" "Every member of every good group" "From 1964 to 1978" "Y'all wake up Losing my edge" "At that moment, I was, like, very aware that that was, like, a really weird place to be... to be 30... and have never really succeeded at being cool, and then suddenly it's like the world slowing down," "and me seeing my way in it... and realizing how easy things are, just playing the music that I like." "All these other deejays are playing all this boring shit, and they're terrified..." "they're terrified to mess up their mix or lose the dance floor." "And I can come out and, like, already be on Ecstasy before I'm playing... and just start playing, like, The Stooges." "And all it would take is there to be a couple people that were just, like, "This rules." "This person's insane."" "Now I'm losing my edge" "The first inkling of, like, the sun going down on that moment..." "I was going to see a band at the Brownies, and I looked over, and someone's playing "Mind Your Own Business" by Delta 5." "And I'm, like, "What Wait a second."" "Then they played Liquid Liquid, and I'm, like, "Wait. "These people are playing my fucking records."" "And I suddenly got panicked that all my great new life would come..." "It's like a sad hipster deejay Revolutionary Road." "Right I'm, like, "This little dream is gonna come to an end."" "And I..." "I wrote a song from it." "Whoo... hoo... hoo" "I heard that you have a compilation" "Of every good song ever done by anybody?" "Every great song by The Beach Boys" "All the underground hits" "All the Modern Lovers tracks" "I heard that you have every seminal Detroit techno hit 1985, '86, '87" "I heard you have every Niagara record on German import" "I heard that you have" "A CD compilation" "Of every good '60s cut" "And another..." "a box set from the '70s" "And I hear you're buying a sequencer" "And an arpeggiator That's the best move" "And throwing your computer out the window" "Why Because you'd like to make something real" "What would you like to make?" "Like to make a Yaz record" "I hear that you and your friends" "I hear that you and your friends" "I hear that you and your friends have sold your guitars" "You bought turntables" "I hear that you and your friends have sold your turntables and you bought guitars" "I hear that everyone that you know" "Is more relevant" "Than my favorite fuckers I know" "Have you seen my records" "This Heat, Pere Ubu, Outsiders" "Section 25, Mars, The Black Dice" "Did you ever hear of these records I know" "Sexual Harassment" "Dorothy Ashby, PiL Fania All Stars" "The Human League The Monks" "Lou Reed, Scott Walker" "Joy Division, 10cc" "Eric B. and Rakim" "Index, Basic Channel" "Soul Sonic Force Just hit me" "Juan Atkins, David Axelrod Electric Prunes" "Gil Scott-Heron" "You can't hide" "Your love away from me" "You can't hide" "Hey?" "Your love away from me" "But shame on you" "Oh, I love the unity, man." "Unity!" "Unity!" "The knuckle that Juan has." "Are we on?" "Am I here?" "Over here, spotlight." "Hi, everybody." "Well, well, well." "Madison Square Garden." "Guess who I'm here with." "This is James Murphy... his older brother Tom." "Everybody say, "Hi, Tom."" "Hi, Tom!" "Tom, how do you think your little brother is doing tonight?" "I'm not gonna be critical." "I think he's doing pretty well." "How about you?" "That was..." "That's pretty good." "I think that was a pretty good response." "So you're enjoying the show so far, everybody?" "Good." "I think what we should do now is thank LCD Soundsystem... for making all this amazing music for us." "So, on the count of three, let's all say, "Thank you, LCD Soundsystem."" "One, two, three." "Thank you, LCD Soundsystem!" "And now back to you, gentlemen." "It's all yours." "Thanks, guys." "Have a good night." "Something really quickly." "You might think this is a big show and we're putting on a big show." "Um, there's a lot of people who just volunteered to do this with us, like, flew themselves here and performed with us... and who live here and just put their time in." "And I want you to know that there's a lot of people... who just dedicated themselves to doing this, to put this weird thing on in this totally... in a boxing arena, basically." "We had a tour a couple years ago... with our friends, with a band... who is, I mean, technically from Canada, but there's two Americans." "North and south." "There's two Americans." "North..." "Southern..." "Well, you guys are like..." "You guys are like Bush." "You know, you've got the Maine..." "Texas..." "There's Central America too, technically." "Yeah, you've got both." "So we did a..." "We did a tour, and weirdly, there was a song that thematically worked... as well as musically worked to have people play with us." "Shut up and play the hits!" "Ladies and gentlemen, for our live record called Shut Up and Play the Hits..." "Whoo!" "Nah, I'm not going to..." "Fuck you guys." "Know what I mean?" "And we have two..." "Aw, man, this is like a history trip." "Two horny horns, one kind of flatulent drummer... and three troubled souls." "Three troubled..." "Four troubled souls." "Huh, huh, huh" "It's Australia, 2008!" "Huh, huh, huh, huh" "Huh, huh, huh" "Huh, huh, huh, huh" "Oh, I don't know, I don't know" "Oh, where to begin" "We are North American" "And for those, for those who think that we're from England" "We're not" "We've been on planes and on trains till we think we might die" "Far from North America" "Well, your buildings are old and you might have lots of mimes" "I hate the feeling when you're lookin' at me this way?" "'Cause we're North American" "But if we act all shy it'll make it go away?" "Makes it okay?" "Oh, I don't know, I don't know oh, where to begin" "'Cause we're North American" "But in the end make the same mistakes all over again" "Come on, North Americans" "Fuck, yeah, North American scum" "Yeah" "We are North American" "Shout, shout, shout it" "And all the kids, all the kids they want to make the scene" "Here in North America" "And all your kids get to read it in your magazines" "We don't have those" "So where's the love, where's the love where's the love" "Where's the love Where's the love tonight" "But there's no love, man" "There's no love when the kids are uptight" "Uh, uh, so" "So throw a party till the cops come in and bust it up" "Check outta of?" "North America" " Oh, you were planning it I didn't mean to interrupt" " Sorry?" "I did it once and my parents got pretty upset" "Freaked out in North America" "And then I said the more I do it the better it gets" "Check out North America" "We are North American scum" "We're from North America" "We are North American scum" "Check out We are North American" "New York's the greatest if you've got someone to pay for it" "North America" "And it's the furthest you can live from the government" "Some proud American Christians might disagree" " Hah!" " North America" "New York's the only place we're keepin' them off the street" "Oh!" "We can't have parties where they go all night" "Shut down in North America" "Or like Berlin where they go another night" "All right!" "Uh, uh" "You see, I love this place that I have grown to know" " Come on" " North America" "And, yeah, I know you wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole" " Come on" " North America" "We are North American scum" "We're from North America" "We are North American scum" "We are North American" "Take me back to the States, man" "North American scum" "Where we can rock" "To North America" "Where the deejays are so much fun" "Spinnin' North American scum" "And don't blame the Canadians" "Let's go, North America" "So you strike me as somebody who is acutely aware of your age, that your age seems to play a role in a lot of the things you think about." "Not just the years themselves, but the amount of experience and stuff like that." "And, you know, if you were a writer, you would still be young." "That's why I've always wanted to get into that." "And if you were an actor, you'd be kind of right in the sweet spot." "Yeah." "But when you're a musician, a rock musician... or an athlete or, like, a mathematician... the assumption seems to be you have to succeed early." "So how much is your motive for quitting the band... solely a product of, you feel too old to be doing it, and it feels weird?" "I was 38 years old and I said, "I'm going to make a record."" "Um, you know, "Going to make another record."" "And then I blinked and I was 41." "And I don't have any kids, and I want to have kids and I want to have a life." "And I feel like that's, like, a genuine thing." "It's, like, I can't..." "I blink twice more and I'm 50." "Every time I go on tour, I get new gray." "When I don't go on tour..." "I didn't go on tour for two years..." "I got no extra gray." "I didn't age at all in two years." "I saw pictures." "When I got home from Sound of Silver tour... and when I got ready to go on tour, and it's the same." "And then a month or two into tour, you know, a big patch on my neck." "And I'm like, "Well, that's the visible, funny sign."" "Like, I'm getting gray hairs on my face." "But what the fuck's going on inside?" "What's going on in my liver or in my lower intestine, or..." "You know, I don't want to die." "I don't want to die." "How you feelin'?" "I'm fucked." "Fucking hell." "What..." "I am absolutely fucked." "Smells a bit like gas." "It does." "Actually, it's this..." "It's this new addition and it's, like..." "It's spewing gas, but not enough to kill you." "Is that bad?" "I feel like somebody put my head on the desk... and hit me with six bottles of champagne." "That was me." "I think it was me, actually." "Good champagne though." "Yeah, I'm absolutely whacked." "I spent the whole morning just staring at the wall." "Kind of like, "Am I here?" "Am I there What the hell?"" "You know, 27-hour day and all that." "But seriously, how fucking amazing was that?" "How fucking amazing was that?" "I feel great." "I feel super weird, but I feel good." "It is super weird, it's completely weird, but it's, like, we fucking went out on a total fucking high." "I didn't feel great this morning... but I feel pretty good now." "There was backstage booze, I think, that I want to make sure..." "Believe me, you..." "From what I saw, you had your fair share, dear boy." "It's a long show." "It's a long show." "Thank God you weren't drinking Irish cunt, is all I can say." "Exactly." "Oh." "Uh, London." "Don't recognize it." "Uh, I think we'll say bye-bye." "Just wait till you see this." "You now have a weird one for me?" "This is kinda like Monty Python meets LCD Soundsystem... at Madison Square Garden." "I'm going to leave this with you... and go to the little boys' room and have a pee-pee." "Dude, what is this thing?" "It's your trophy, mate." "This is a sad object, dude." "There it is." "LCD Soundsystem sells out." "It literally says "sold out."" "Sold out." "I've got a perfect solution for your giant bottle of Scotch." " What?" " Bring it to Marlow tonight for dinner." "Ahh." "Well, here's the thing." "I'm trying to keep my marriage happy and intact." "Um, Laurie has to go away tomorrow." "Right." "And I need to be upstate to look after the dogs, take care of the farm." "Keep the serfs in line?" "And to be fair, Marlow's is kind of a young person's hangout." "You know..." "You kind of..." "You dress them up, you put them on fucking Madison Square Garden's stage, you sort it all out, and what do you get Abuse." "Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah" "Whoo!" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" "The red place used to be a..." "It was something else, wasn't it?" "Yeah, it's a French restaurant, and it's been, uh..." "But all these places, they've all changed." "It's New York." "Everything changes." "What?" ""It's New York, darling." "Everything changes."" "Well, it does." "Perpetual state of flux." "Including us." "Including you." "So this is weird, but I've got to roll." "I've got to go." "Take care of yourself, huh?" "Love you, dude." "Love you, James." "I'll give you a call tomorrow, all right?" "Yes, boss." "Look after yourself." "Yes, boss." "Drive safe." "I'm retired." "Do you like talking about yourself?" "Like, is it fun to have someone ask you these questions... and basically say, "Consider your life and put your life in a context..." ""that other people will understand"?" "I wish I could say, like, "No, I find it so hard."" "Why would you want to say that?" "I would think you'd want to say, "I love it."" "No, because it just seems like, again, you know..." "I know you think that you should say you don't like doing it..." "I don't like... but you seem very comfortable with it." "I don't like boring interviews." "So when I have to do interviews and it's just like," ""So did Daft Punk really play in your house?" Yeah." "And it's, like, you know what..." "And we call that talk..." "You gonna go talk about yourself?" "That's what we always joke." ""I gotta go talk about myself for a half an hour."" "Um, that I find really boring." "But I think that underlying loneliness, or that underlying desire to be understood, like to clarify, you know, this endless kind of like... is pretty real." "And... explaining..." "I want to..." "You know what I mean?" "I want to explain sometimes." "Like, not everything." "I don't want to get into, like, "What's that song mean?"" "That stuff drives me a little bit crazy, but explaining why, explaining the position..." "I'm obsessed with the position, like where this stuff is coming from." "Like songs I like..." "I like when songs are from a place." "Not about something, but from a place, from a moment." "I wake up and the phone is ringing" "Surprised, as it's early?" "And that should be the perfect warning" "That something's a problem" "To tell the truth, I saw it coming" "The way you were breathing" "But nothing can prepare you for it" "The voice on the other end" "The worst is all the lovely weather" "I'm stunned it's not raining" "The coffee isn't even bitter" "Because what's the difference" "There's all the work that needs to be done" "It's late for revision" "There's all the time and all the planning" "And songs to be finished" "And it keeps coming And it keeps coming" "And it's keeps coming till the day it stops" " And it keeps coming" " And it keeps coming" "And it keeps coming till the day it stops" "And it keeps coming And it keeps coming" "And it keeps coming And it keeps coming" "And it keeps coming And it keeps coming" "And it keeps coming till the day it stops" "I wish that we could talk about it" "But there, that's the problem" "With someone new I could have started" "Too late for beginnings" "You're smaller than my wife imagined" "Surprised you were human" "There shouldn't be this ring of silence" "But what are the options" "When someone great is gone" "When someone great is gone" "When someone great is gone" "When someone great is gone" "When someone great is gone" "When someone great is gone" "When someone great is gone" "When someone great is gone" "We're safe" "For the moment" "Saved" "For the moment" "I've always had this belief that people or bands... or whatever entities, whatever you want to look at... they're sort of remembered for their collection of successes, but they're sort of defined by whatever is their singular failure." "This is kind of a sports example, but Michael Jordan is remembered... for all these great things he did as a basketball player..." "Right." "but I feel like his singular failure was, you know, his inability to distance himself from competition." "That led to his gambling problem, and it's led to his inability to have a good life after basketball." "Right." "So I'm curious." "When you look at LCD Soundsystem, or even just the trajectory of your life, sort of, what were the successes, and what do you feel might be the defining thing you failed at?" "You can climb a mountain" "You can swim the sea" "You can jump into the fire" "But you'll never be free, no" "You can shake me up" "And I can tear you down?" "You can jump into the fire" "You can jump into the fire You can jump into the fire" "You can jump into the fire" "We can make each other happy?" "We can make each other happy?" "We can make each other happy?" "We can make each other happy?" "You can climb a mountain" "You can swim the sea" "You can jump into the fire" "But you'll never be free, no" "You can shake me up" "And I could tear you down" "You can climb a mountain" "You can swim the sea" "You can jump into the fire" "But you never will be free, no, no" "You can shake me up" "And I can tear you down" "You can jump into the fire" "You can jump into the fire" "You can jump into the fire" "You can jump" "Into" "The fire" "You didn't answer the last part of my question though, which is, if you were..." "I'll just ask the question." "What was the biggest failure..." "What's the biggest failure?" "of LCD Soundsystem?" "Aside from like, you know, when the volcano hit." "We didn't make it to Dublin for the opening shows." "I felt really bad about that." "Yeah, that can't be your biggest mistake." "You can't blame a volcano for your biggest mistake." "I think the biggest failure..." "I don't know if it's a failure." "I don't know yet." "Uh, stopping." "I've been a little obsessed with, like..." "Okay." "You see these Kanye tweets." "People will be like, "You're"..." "People call him ridiculous, or..." "You know, make fun of him for being egotistical and all this other shit like that." "But I saw a quote where he was just, like," ""Nobody's being a rock star." "None of you people are doing it." "Everybody is chicken." "Everyone is scared." "Like, scared to fail."" "Scared..." "You know, and it'd be, like, I'm doing it." "And I feel that if there is anything that is going to be our great failure, it's that... even though I think I'm getting out for what I think are not those reasons, fear of failure or fear of the responsibility of getting bigger," "it makes me suspicious, because these other reasons happen to also... serve that potential fear." "Just the way it sounds to me as you're talking, that actually, if... if my theory is true... that people are remembered for their multiple successes, but they are defined by a singular failure... it would seem your singular failure... would be an inability to stop being self... conscious." "The fact that you're saying that the problem might be quitting the band, but what it really is, is you're already thinking what quitting could mean... or could be perceived to mean, or what your real motive might be." "It's more inside." "I want to look back and be very, very proud of everything that we did." "And I feel like right now I'm..." "with a couple of snafus here and there..." "I'm very, very like..." "I like the way we've handled ourselves and I'm proud of that." "Oh, yeah, yeah." "But this quitting stuff, even though I'm, like, it's the right thing," "I wonder if me saying, like," ""I don't want to be a famous person because I like riding the subway." ""I like eating food." "I like being a normal person." ""I like it." "I'm 41." ""I don't think I could adjust to the kind of weird dichotomy."" "But is that a good enough reason?" "If you believe in your band... and you claim to like music and you claim to like making music for people, is that a good enough reason to quit?" "The lead-up to it was so excruciating, but I promised myself that I was going to enjoy it..." "Oh?" "and I did." "Hello." "Very good." "Williamsburg, please." "Second exit off the bridge." "Williamsburg, second exit off the bridge, please." "Williamsburg." "Hey, hey!" "Yeah, I guess we can..." "This is our last song." "Okay, let me point this out, that even now, at the end of our band," "I fucking didn't say that so you would say "Oh, no."" "It wasn't the false..." "It wasn't, like, "This is our last song." "Oh."" " This is our last song!" " No!" "And..." "There's a lot of people here that we don't know... that came and put a lot of effort into coming to see us, and we want to thank you very much." "Everybody..." "And the people who are sitting up there who have a hard time seeing, I'm sorry." "Thank you so much for coming and doing this with us on both sides." "And all of our friends, a few that we know, are in this little area here, so give them a wave." "They're good people." "They're not shitty people who wanted free tickets." "They're good people." "And my family, hi." "And my sister and brother are here, and their kids." "And hi, you guys." "And..." "Um, I hope it's okay." "I'm wearing my dad's watch, so..." "Tonight." "New York, I love you?" "But you're bringing me down?" "New York, I love you" "But you're bringing me down" "I only get to pause an interminable amount once more." "This is my last endless pause." "Like a rat in a cage" "Pulling minimum wage" "That's very..." "That's very dramatic, Nancy." "New York, I love you" "But you're bringing me down" "New York, you're safer" "But you're wasting my time" "Our records all show" "You're filthy but fine" "Oh" "But they shuttered your stores" "When you opened the doors" "To those cops who were bored" "When they ran out of crime" "New York, you're perfect" "Oh, please, don't change a thing" "Your mild billionaire mayor's" "Now convinced he's a king" "Yeah" "Oh, the boring collect" "And I mean all disrespect" "In the neighborhood bars" "I once dreamt I would drink" "New York, I love you" "But you're freaking me out" "New York, I love you" "But you're freaking me out" "Like a death in the hall" "That you hear through your wall" "New York, I love you" "But you're freaking me out" "New York, I love you" "But you're bringing me down" "New York, I love you" "But you're bringing me down" "Like a death of the heart" "Oh, Jesus, where do I start" "But you're still the one pool" "Where I'd happily drown" "And oh" "Take me off your mailing list" "For kids who think it still exists" "Yeah, for those who think it still exists" "Maybe you're right and maybe I'm wrong" "Maybe you're right and maybe you're wrong" "Maybe you're right" "Maybe you're right" "And just maybe you're wrong" "And oh" "Maybe Mother told you true" "And there'll always be somebody there for you" "And you'll never be alone" "But maybe she's wrong" "Maybe I'm right" "And maybe she's wrong" "Maybe I'm wrong Maybe I'm right" "And if so" "Is there" "Standing in the door of the Pink Flamingo?" "Crying in the rain?" "It was a kind of so-so love?" "And I'm gonna make sure it never happens again?" "You and I" "Had to be the standing joke of the year?" "You were a sleep-around, a lost and found?" "And not for me?" "I fear?" "I tried to make it work?" "You in a cocktail skirt and me in a suit?" "Well, it just wasn't me?" "You're used to wearing less and now your life's a mess" "So insecure, you see?" "I put up with all the scenes" "And this is one scene that's going to be played my way?" "Take your hands" "Off me?" "I don't belong?" "To you?" "You see?" "Take a look?" "At my face?" "For the last time?" "I never knew you You never knew me?" "Say hello, good-bye?" "Say hello?" "Wave good-bye?" "Under the deep red light?" "I can see the makeup sliding down?" "Hey, little girl?" "You will always make up?" "So take off that unbecoming frown?" "What about me?" "Well, I'll find someone?" "That's not going cheap in the sale?" "A nice little housewife?" "Who'll give me a steady life?" "And won't keep going off the rails" "Take your hands" "Off me?" "I don't belong?" "To you?" "You see?" "Take a look?" "At my face?" "For the last time?" "I never knew you You never knew me?" "Say hello, good-bye?" "Say hello?" "Wave good-bye?" "We've been involved for?" "Quite a while now?" "And to keep you secret?" "Has been hell?" "We're strangers meeting?" "For the first time, okay?" "Just smile and say?" "Hello?" "Say hello?" "Then wave good-bye?" "Say hello?" "Then wave good-bye?" "Say hello?" "Then wave good-bye?" "Say hello?" "Then wave good-bye?" "Say hello?" "Wave good-bye?" "Say hello?" "Then wave good-bye?" "Say hello?" "Say good-bye?" "Good-bye?" "Say good-bye, say good-bye?" "Good-bye?"