Why "The Boy With The Arab Strap" Might Be Better Than "If You're Feeling Sinister"

Whether you prefer "If You're Feeling Sinister" or "The Boy With The Arab Strap," the two records Belle and Sebastian made at the height of its powers, is revealing about who you are. Do you prefer consistency, which is on remarkable display in the first, particularly from the lovely acoustic guitar strums of "Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying" on through the record's second half? Or do you prefer that your high marks be higher, even if the lower points are lower, which happens on the second, with the witty, melancholic send-up of the biz in "Seymour Stein" and the devilishly delicate romp in "Dirty Dream Number Two"? Clearly, the implications are more profound than a simple musical choice.

Obviously, these two records are only one example of the dilemma, but they're a touchstone reference for me and my fiancee. These days I think I take "The Boy With The Arab Strap" -- but for a different reason: Its second and last songs are substantially better than their predecessor's counterparts. Those two songs are the most important on every record; they separate the great records from the good ones. The second track proves the band didn't waste all of its hits with the opening number -- a tacky strategy -- and that it has enough in reserve to sustain a whole record. The last track summarizes an album the way any good concluding statement should. On "The Boy With The Arab Strap," "Sleep the Clock Around" and "The Rollercoaster Ride" hit both notes perfectly.

In fact, "Sleep the Clock Around" has been one of my favorite songs for a decade now. I used one of its lyrics, "There's a lot to be done while you're head is still young," in my high school yearbook and still use it on my Facebook profile. It motivates me like little else. Anyway, to try to tip your scale the way mine does, here's Belle and Sebastian performing that song: