My Top 1000 Songs #414: One More Hour

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Another outstanding track from Sleater-Kinney's 1997 powerhouse Dig Me Out, "One More Hour" shows the trio's facility not just with visceral punk through a feminist lens, but more emotionally grueling interpersonal exposure. The music is relatively restrained here, traded guitar licks over Janet Weiss' almost military-precise, staccato drumming, backing what could either be a bare-knuckled, universal break-up song, or perhaps something more specific to the fraught romantic relationship between band members Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein. It's utterly relentless from the get-go--"In one more hour, I will be gone"--and the longing even amidst the heartbreak is palpable ("Oh, you've got the darkest eyes"), one partner's perspective brushing up against a two-person dialogue in the chorus.

As a window into a couple's most vulnerable moments, real or imagined, the song is simply devastating.

1998 in-store appearance:

Live in 2015:

Spectacular Wilco cover (with lyrics):