Matthew Sweet – Evangeline ….Power Pop Friday

When I heard the song”Girlfriend” for the first time on the radio I liked it right away. Matthew Sweet is a great contemporary power pop artist that doesn’t get played enough.

The album peaked at #100 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1991. The album was ranked number 61 on Paste magazine’s list of “The 90 Best Albums of the 1990s.”

He was a huge fan of R.E.M in high school and began a pen-pal correspondence with Michael Stipe that brought him to Athens, GA. He ended up meeting Stipe’s sister Lisa through that relationship. Both Sweet and Lisa were students at the University of Georgia and he formed his first band with her. Sweet and Lisa eventually married after he was divorced from his first wife.

Sweet is also known for his Under the Covers series, done in collaboration with Susanna Hoffs, lead singer of Bangles. The series features the pair covering classic songs. The first Under the Covers focuses on music from the ’60s, while the second draws from the ’70s. They also made a third entry which was comprised of ’80s music.

Evangeline is not your average boy-girl song. It’s about a girl, but not a real one. The song is set in the realm of the comic book series Evangeline, which was published from 1987 to 1989. The comic is set in the 23rd century after humans colonized space. The character Evangeline is a weapon-wielding nun out to avenge those who have been victims of religious persecution on behalf of the Vatican.

Evangeline

She’s on another planet
She’s in my dream
She’s some kind of angel
If you know what I mean
Try her on
She fits like a glove
Too bad she only thinks about
The lord above

Evangeline Evangeline
I think I love you
But Evangeline Evangeline
I want you

Now if I called you up
Do you think you
Could deliver my soul?
Won’t you take a drink
Little darlin’
The cup is full

And every night I bow to pray
But I’ll feel a whole lot better
Once you’re coming my way

Evangeline Evangeline
I think I love you
But Evangeline Evangeline
I want you

So come on down

So tell me how you want it
Come on, tell me how you want it
Just tell me how you want it

Just tell me how you want it
We won’t be seen
You can tell your father
It was all a dream
[try her on she fits like a glove]
Too bad the only man you trust
Is god above

Evangeline Evangeline
I think I love you
But Evangeline Evangeline
I want you

Now Evangeline Evangeline
I think I love you
But Evangeline Evangeline
I want you

She’s some kind of angel
If you know what I mean
Evangeline