Camper van Beethoven is a good band. Their biggest hit was probably "Take the Skinheads Bowling," which is a pretty good song. But, I've been digging (a little at a time, for a very long time) deeper into their 5-disc set Carrot Juice and Cigarettes: The Santa Cruz Years and I think they actually have better stuff (though "Skinheads" is a fantastic pop song). Probably their most powerful is the version of "All Her Favorite Fruit" (from the live album Greatest Hits Played Faster) which always succeeds in making me a blubbering pile of mush and is probably #1 on my Saddest Songs of All Time list. Somewhere between the disjoint, surreal-pop of "Skinheads" and "Fruit" (but nearer to "Fruit") is the song "Sweethearts", also from Greatest Hits Played Faster. Go give it a listen. Here's the lyrics:
Because he's always living back in Dixon
Circa 1949
And we're all sitting at the fountain, at the five and dime
Because he's living in some B-movie
The lines they are so clearly drawn
In black and white, life is so easy
And we're all coming along
On this one
Because he's on a secret mission
Headquarters just radioed in
He left his baby at the dancehall
While the band plays on
Some sweet song
And on a mission over China
The lady opens up her arms
The flowers bloom where you haved placed them
And the lady smiles
Just like mom
Angels wings are icing over
McDonnell-Douglas olive drab
They bear the names of our sweethearts
And the captain smiles
As we crash
Because in the mind of Ronald Reagan
Wheels they turn and gears they grind
Buildings collapse in slow motion
And trains collide,
Everything is fine
Everything is fine
Everything is fine