It’s likely that if you spend any time listening to the type of somber introspective Elliot Smith-Esque indie-folk Straight White Teeth is putting out you have the deep cut of heartbreak. From the opening notes of “I Cut My Fingers Off” Patrick McGuire’s chunky but gently reverberated guitar begins to drag you into the sweet melancholy that only a true breakup song can. McGuire’s gentle vocals deliver an all too relatable notion of beautiful moments in the past, the severed love of the present, and a future where it might all be ok. Culminating with the closing line “I still think about the ending, but I think I’m on the mend.” With a little time to recover; we’ll be ready to hear another heart wrencher from Straight White Teeth.
This is a difficult song for me personally. The cutting the fingers off thing can be thought of as exiting a close but unhealthy relationship, with one party severing and the other suffering. The big backing vocals are inspired by 60’s pop music pinned to something rooted in 90’s indie; think Elephant 6 stuff,” says songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Patrick McGuire.
