"Ritchie SacrAmento" is Mogwai's poignant yet anthemic tribute to lost friends, including David Berman of Silver Jews and Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit.
Rise crystal spear, fly true over me Suddenly gone from here, left alone on the road A story Bob Nastanovich of Silver Jews put online on the anniversary of the death of Dave Berman in 2019 inspired the bleak lyrics. Nastanovich recounts how when they were students, Berman threw a shovel at a sports car. Mogwai frontman Stuart Braithwaite explained to NME: "Obviously Dave was an amazing poet, songwriter and musician. I took the lead from there. I wouldn't pretend to be able to write songs as good as him, but he's definitely a huge inspiration." "It's been a hard few years," Braithwaite continued. "There are a lot of people that we played with and were friends with that just aren't around now. This song is about those people, imagined conversations… and Dave Berman throwing a shovel at a sports car!"
Mogwai's song names often come from things people say that are misheard or otherwise memorable. The "Ritchie Sacramento" title came from a misunderstanding a friend of the band's had about how to pronounce "Ryuichi Sakamoto."
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