Random Rules
The opening track of American Water, 4:00, with a trumpet by Chris Stroffolino.
Silver Jews, from American Water (1998)
- Written by
- David Berman
- Released
- 1998
- Length
- 4:00
- Album
- American Water
"Random Rules" opens American Water, 4:00, written by Berman, with Chris Stroffolino on trumpet. Critics read it as a meditation on chance, and Far Out reads it as Berman proclaiming adult life is chaos. Stereogum says its opening lines have been echoed many times and that it is widely regarded as iconic, and Treble calls it the breeziest song on the album, with Malkmus's guitar matching Berman's delivery. No statement from Berman on its meaning was found. Pitchfork ranked it 103rd among the top 200 tracks of the 1990s.
Setlist.fm counts 37 performances, tied for the most played, and it was recorded live in Montreal on September 3, 2008 and at WFMU on September 8, 2008. No covers, samples, charts or video were found, and the upload is presumably the studio recording.
On stage
- 2008-09-08, WFMU, Benjamin Walker's show A live session on the Internet Archive.
More songs by Silver Jews
Where to go next
Writing and criticism
- Stereogum: American Water turns 20 On the album.
- Far Out: Silver Jews guide, six best songs On the song.
Sources
- American Water (album), Wikipedia
- Silver Jews song statistics, setlist.fm
- Celebrate the catalog: Silver Jews discography, Treble