Guadalcanal Diary - Flip-Flop (1989)

Guadalcanal Diary is an alternative jangle pop group from Marietta, Georgia. The band formed in 1981 (originally as "Emergency Broadcast System") and disbanded in 1989. They reformed in 1997 and toured without a new album. The band originated in Marietta, a suburb of Atlanta, but they were often billed as being "from Athens, Georgia" in the early 1980s.

The group's music was characterized by clear, bright guitar sounds, upbeat rhythms, and Murray Attaway's clear, high tenor. Lyrically, the band mixed absurd, punk humor ("I Wish I Killed John Wayne," "I See Moe," "Watusi Rodeo," "Cattle Prod") with melancholy and spiritual themes ("Lewa Wechi," "Always Saturday," "3:00 AM," "Litany"). In liner notes for a Rhino Handmade re-release of Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man, Attaway described the group's sound.

Always Saturday is the standout single from this album which can be found also on The Best Of New Music Album, also heard on 89.1 DMZ on Sunday's Wave180.

Flip-Flop
1989
GUADALCANAL DIARY
Murray Attaway (v/g), Jeff Walls (g), Rhett Crowe (b), John Poe (d)

Track listing

1."Look Up!"
2."Always Saturday"
3."The Likes of You"
4."Barometer"
5."Happy Home"
6."Whiskey Talk"
7."Pretty Is As Pretty Does"
8."Everything But Good Luck"
9."Ten Laws"
10. "Fade Out"
11."...Vista"

Always Saturday (Lyrics)

Waterfall pavement shimmering
Sunshine washes everything
A basket of light, I am trusting
To water the lawn is a wondrous thing

If I could have it this way I know I'd
I'd wanna live where it's like today
I'd wanna live where it's always this way
I wanna live where it's always Saturday

A chorus of laughter fills the air
Everyone's going everywhere
So many choices it's not fair
I hop in the car and I just sit there

I don't need, need to think about how much I
I wanna live where it's all the same
I wanna live where it's all just like today
I wanna live where it's always Saturday

In the shops are shining things
I can I can see them glittering
I wish that I could buy them all
I wish I lived in a shopping mall

Shady back yard afternoon
Summer clothes and tennis shoes
When the light begins to fade
A porch swing creaks with lemonade...

A shower of whispers glow and bloom
Late night movie fills the room
Streetlights twinkling like dew
I close my eyes, it ends too soon

All in dreams, I can dream now oh how I
I wanna live where it's like today
I wanna live where it's always this way
I wanna live where it's always Saturday