"That's the POLL of the law...." a poll of Painful by Yo La Tengo

"Sudden Organ" was my #2, it does not belong at the end.

Inspired by the YLT lyrics thread, I looked up the lyrics to "Motel 6" where someone had posted the last 2 lines of this verse:

In the passing lane on 1 and 9
Stuck in sad, car stuck in drive
Oh well, your heart is broken
Well, you can have what's left of mine

I had never known (or heard correctly) the first line of this verse!

Just a theory but here goes:
Where Highway 1 (famously known as Pacific Coast Highway or PCH) & Highway 9 intersect in Santa Cruz, there is a tangled maze of exits/entrances and lanes (including a passing lane) and also, motels (there's not currently a Motel 6 there, but not to say there has never been one there as these properties tend to change hands often).

https://i.imgur.com/50VZcCt.png

One wrong move and you could be faced with getting on a mountainous highway with nary an exit for several miles so I can imagine this could be a source of stress for a touring band rolling through town, possibly looking for their accommodations very late at night after a gig in SF (90 minutes away).

Interesting to note: they opened a show in Santa Cruz with that very song in 2009:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/yo-la-tengo/2009/rio-theatre-santa-cruz-ca-73d7e605.html

I've cracked the code!

https://yolatengo.bandcamp.com/releases they quietly released a new album of drones over the course of this week

they should have kept it for themselves...