Big Stretch
Bear Quartet · Family Affair [1993]
of anybody else's life
That's why you stay,
That's why I won't say:
"you don't fit in elsewhere anyway babe"
It's a big stretch
into nothingness
Tracing for something else
Something that doesn't hurt
or stain your heart
Never mentioned in kind words
but oh, so often heard
Not even dwarfed
by our helplessness
In a garbage filled apartment
Where all your time got spent
and the smell from decades away
Couldn't help you around the bend
It's a big stretch
into nothingness
not slowed down
by our littleness
Big Stretch
Released on the 1993 album Family Affair, "Big Stretch" stands as a defining track in the discography of the Bear Quartet. The song exemplifies the group's signature blend of punk energy and experimental electronic textures, characteristic of their work during the early 1990s. Produced by the quartet themselves, the recording features a driving rhythm section that supports the band's distinctive vocal delivery and melodic structures. As part of their broader body of work, "Big Stretch" reflects the raw, unpolished aesthetic that became central to their identity. It remains a notable example of their ability to merge aggressive instrumentation with introspective songwriting, contributing significantly to their legacy in the alternative rock and electronic scenes of that era.