Well hey! Welcome back. Here we are for our SECOND Top 5 Tuesday topic. This week we decided to broaden our scope a little bit and talk about TV. Sara and I have been following SNL quite a bit as of lately, and while it's not the best cast ever, it's certainly passable.
Anyways, our SNL watching got us thinking. What are the TOP 5 SNL CHARACTERS, in each of our humble opinions. Mind you, neither of these lists will have anything Kristen Wiig has ever done. She's not funny. I really don't get it. Also, I've personally decided to keep it down to characters who don't have a movie, leaving out some more obvious choices.
#5. Mr. Robinson - Eddie Murphy
Remember WAYYY back when, when Eddie Murphy could be really funny? Yeah, I vaguely have that recollection too, despite only having seen his SNL work on DVD. Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood was a perfect Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood parody, set in the slums, with Eddie Murphy as the perfect ghetto alternative to Mr. Rogers.
All The Mr. Rogers Neighborhood catchphrases and touches were there (taking off his jacket, changing his shoes, etc.). But instead of teaching about sharing, caring, and being a friend; we learned about the price of Puerto Rican babies on the black market, or what a "scumbucket" is, and how to spell it. (Note: it's his landlord. Affectionately known is "Mr. Landlord" in the most fantastic Mr. Rogers tribute ever.)
#4. Tim Calhoun - Will Forte
I always felt that Will Forte was really underutilized on SNL. His characters always seemed to be too weird for SNL, and for film, for that matter. But he did have a couple of hits. MacGruber, of course is the one everyone looks to, but I always preferred The Falconer, or even more, Tim Calhoun.
Tim Calhoun, always came off as a soft-spoken political candidate. The kind of guy who you expect to be a town selectman. However, Will Forte's delivery is what made it. Speaking extremely quietly and slowly, while reading his exact speech from notecards (pausing to look at the camera and give an almost Clinton-esque thumbs up motion, while reading his cues on the cards).
Honestly, it's just a string of semi-political one liners that Forte found a clever way to string together. But it lucked out by being amazing because of his delivery. "I propose starting a cow college so they can learn to talk….I think we should start with 'Moo' so they can gain some self-confidence…"
#3 - B-Boy Dancer - Jason Sudekis
I'm not going to lie, there's no depth to this character at all. But whenever he comes out during "What's Up With That?" I can't help but to laugh my ass off. The goofy smile that Sudekis has during this is amazing, as are the Adidas tracksuit and 80's dancing.
#2. Debbie Downer - Rachel Dratch
Always a favorite of mine, Debbie Downer's (obvious) saying a pessimistic downside of every situation almost never gets old. The best part, like many SNL sketches, is the fact that the majority of the actors can't keep it together during the sketches.
The obvious shticky "wah-wah" trumpet makes the sketch that much better. When Debbie discusses the plight of Feline Leukemia, and its effect on the feline population, that stare she gives in the camera is just unbeatable. Maybe it's just growing up loving the straight look into the camera and the almost obvious "you should laugh here", mixed with the awkwardness of the entire situation just did it in for me.
#1. Matt Foley - Chris Farley
It's a goddamn shame that Chris Farley died. Sure, the strong majority of his movies were crap, but he was great on SNL, especially as motivational speaker Matt Foley. His hyped up rants to (supposedly) drug addled and disobedient teens is still as funny today as they were in the early 90's.
We all had these kind of people come to our High Schools and tell us about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, but the way Chris Farley personified it, along with the ever present shout of "I LIVE IN A VAN…DOWN BY THE RIVER!" (or to the Spanish speaking family he talks to: "YO VIVO EN EL COCHE….DOWN BY THE RIO!", possibly my most quoted SNL line of all time.) Anyways, Chris Farley kills it. Few people could take a prat fall as well as he could, going through a table in every sketch, and few people had the charisma and balls to do an entire sketch like this, just going over the top every single time, but still making it real. Needless to say, Matt Foley was his masterwork as a performer, and in my opinion, the best SNL character.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wasn't Rock and Roll Dangerous Once?
Wasn't Rock and Roll supposed to be dangerous and exciting? It's hard to think back to a day where artists such as Elvis, Johnny Cash, and the Beatles were something that parents could be terrified of. It was the outsider's music to start with, the stuff you would see in a bar room filled with hicks and bikers (and often times hick-bikers). Rock and Roll became mainstreamed though, and we lost that sense of danger somewhere. As rock music got more intense and more socially accepted, we forgot how terrifying an assault it could be.
However, yesterday I found the above linked video of the Tielman Brothers playing in 1960. Now I completely understand what parents were afraid of. This is some intense shit. I expect that every girl who saw this live was instantly pregnant with the local ruffian's kid, and that all the boys were engaged in knife fights.
The early rockabilly stuff could get incredibly intense in its performance. Look at these Tielman Brothers videos, or even old Jerry Lee Lewis videos. It's as if lightning is jumping out of everyone's shoes, and they're just shooting around the stage in absolutely no control of what they're doing.
Damnit, we need someone to bring back this kind of intensity. Who's going to step up first?
However, yesterday I found the above linked video of the Tielman Brothers playing in 1960. Now I completely understand what parents were afraid of. This is some intense shit. I expect that every girl who saw this live was instantly pregnant with the local ruffian's kid, and that all the boys were engaged in knife fights.
The early rockabilly stuff could get incredibly intense in its performance. Look at these Tielman Brothers videos, or even old Jerry Lee Lewis videos. It's as if lightning is jumping out of everyone's shoes, and they're just shooting around the stage in absolutely no control of what they're doing.
Damnit, we need someone to bring back this kind of intensity. Who's going to step up first?
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Top 5 Tuesday: Track 1/Side 1
Constructing this list was an interesting experience. It actually didn’t turn out how I thought it would at all, but it is a good representation of me and my musical path through life. A few classics. Some pop-y stuff. A strange—for me—indie song.
A lot of people are going to hate my some of my picks. I understand that. I never said I had what can be described universally as “good” taste in music. I just like what I like because I like how it makes me feel. And sometimes there’s just a memory involved, and that memory is why I like that song.
I can’t talk about why I like certain songs in a highly intelligent way. I can just tell you how they make me feel. That’s what music is to me. A feeling.
So here is my Top 5 Best Side One/Track One list. And I don’t apologize for a single thing on it.
#5: "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" by Wilco off Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
The first time I saw Wilco, I knew nothing about them. I think I may have listened to them once or twice, but other than that, they were a clean chalkboard for me. They’re now one of my favorite bands.
Now, here’s something important to note: I don’t like experimental music. I don’t like random noises mixed in with my music. I hate when lyrics don’t make any sense. I don’t want to read into music; I just want to experience it.
But I love Wilco.
I know I don’t make sense.
I am an American aquarium drinker
I assassin down the avenue
I'm hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you?
I assassin down the avenue
I'm hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you?
This song makes me want to lie on my bed and stare at my ceiling and let my mind wander. Half the time I don’t even know what Jeff Tweedy is saying, but I just tap my foot, play drums with my fingers, and nod my head back and forth.
It’s a cloudy Sunday with nothing to do.
I want to hold you in the Bible-black predawn
You're quite a quiet, domino, bury me now
Take off your band-aid 'cause I don't believe in touchdowns
What was I thinking when we said hello?
You're quite a quiet, domino, bury me now
Take off your band-aid 'cause I don't believe in touchdowns
What was I thinking when we said hello?
If you must know what I think this song is about, for me, it’s about knowing the relationship is going to fail, but you dive into it anyway. And it slowly deteriorates around you, until there’s nothing left to do but end it.
# 4: “No Such Thing” by John Mayer off Room For Squares
Why? 'Cause fuck you, that’s why.
True story: At my high school, seniors graduated a month before school ended for the summer. The building itself was basically a giant square with the library in the very middle and classrooms and offices of either side of the hall. Seniors were done. Finals were over. So, there was one last thing to do: sign out of high school. We all showed up at the cafeteria, we signed out of high school, and then we ran around the halls of the high school, banging on doors, screaming. It’s a tradition.
I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
just a lie you've got to rise above
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
just a lie you've got to rise above
That’s the number one reason I love this song. My life, for one moment, was a song.
Now, I saw John Mayer once. I don’t think I would do it again, unless he starts playing much smaller venues, because arenas are not worth the price of admission. However, I still think he is one of the most underrated guitarists and I also think that the John Mayer Trio needs to happen again, because he is meant to be like his idol Stevie Ray Vaughn. That’s when he’s truly at his best.
#3: “Help!” by The Beatles off Help!
I’m currently going through a quarter life crisis. Actually, that’s been going on for a while now. So I understand this song now more than ever. “Help!” has always been my favorite Beatles song, which I now find amusing, since the lyrics seem to correlate with my current situation in life.
When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.
I should have been in my early twenties back in the sixties. My soul wants to fight for something, but my brain can’t think of anything worth fighting for anymore. I also want to sit in a small, smoky basement club and listen to songs like this.
And now my life has changed in oh so many ways,
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.
But every now and then I feel so insecure…
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.
But every now and then I feel so insecure…
I also have a perverse fondness for songs that are happy sounding, but have depressing lyrics. I love the contrast.
#2: “Stuck Between Stations” by The Hold Steady off Boys and Girls in America
I didn’t want to include this song, because I didn’t want to copy Matt’s article. But, in the end, I had to include it because I am obsessed with this song. (I won’t tell you what song I originally had in this place, but I will say that when I realized that I had nothing to say about that song and everything to say about this one, I knew I would make a mistake by using that one.)
There are nights when I think Sal Paradise was right.
Boys and Girls in America have such a sad time together.
Sucking off each other at the demonstrations
Making sure their makeup’s straight
Crushing one another with colossal expectations.
Dependent, undisciplined, and sleeping late.
Boys and Girls in America have such a sad time together.
Sucking off each other at the demonstrations
Making sure their makeup’s straight
Crushing one another with colossal expectations.
Dependent, undisciplined, and sleeping late.
I want to include every lyric of this song here. There’s something about these lyrics that I love.
She said, "You're pretty good with words, but words won't save your life."
What I like best about this song is that it tells a story, but it’s written like a rock anthem.
He said, "I surrounded myself with doctors and deep thinkers
But big heads with soft bodies make for lousy lovers."
But big heads with soft bodies make for lousy lovers."
There’s a moment that throws back to classic rock songs. There’s suddenly a piano solo that builds to the next lyric: “We drink and we dry up and now we crumble into dust” (right?). Then a head banging guitar solo, then “We get wet and we corrode and now we’re covered up in rust” (right?), and back to the solo. And your arms are in the air and you’re a part of something magical.
I was only gonna post a video for the number one song, but I can’t help it:
#1: “Baba O’Riley” by The Who off Who’s Next
The indie kid in me needs to make something perfectly clear: I have loved this song and all song by The Who since WAY before any CSI show aired. I loved Tommy when I was too young to actually understand what the songs were talking about. (I think I once told my mom I wanted to perform Acid Queen for a school talent contest. When I was in elementary school. Needless to say, my mom said no.)
I don't need to fight
To prove I'm right
I don't need to be forgiven.
To prove I'm right
I don't need to be forgiven.
I think I first started appreciating this song when The Who performed it on the concert for New York City after 9/11. I don’t normally like synthesizers, but the moment the piano and bass kick in (a resounding “BUHH!! DAH-BUHH!!” when I sing it alone in the car), I find myself wanting to get in a fight. In a good way.
Then Roger Daltrey starts singing and you just want to pump your arm with him, because, fuck you all, he has the best rock and roll voice ever. I don’t care who else you bring up. No one is better than him. I will never, ever back down on that one.
Its only teenage wasteland
They're all wasted!
They're all wasted!
Plus, come on, there’s a wicked violin solo. And, yes, in concert, Daltrey plays harmonica, but either way, this song is awesome.
This is one of those few songs that are not really about the lyrics for me. This is all about the bass. This is all about the power cords. This, my friends, is an anthem!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Enter the Haggis
I know that we've talked only about music so far, but in honor of St Paddy's, I thought it would be apropos to post this.
Being from Massachusetts, most people would assume my favorite Celtic Rock band would be Dropkick Murphys. That's not true. Anyone who knows me knows that Enter the Haggis is my favorite band. I first saw them on a whim the summer before I went away to college. It's my mother's fault. She told me about it, convinced me to go. I vaguely liked Flogging Molly at the time and the concert was free, so I decided to grab a few friends and go. It's the first time I remember actually dancing at a concert. At the time, I could care less about bagpipes--and I'm still pretty ambivalent about them, to be honest--but I quickly fell in love with the fiddle and the commanding drums.
That was back in 2005. I've seen them well over a dozen times by now. I lost count. I became the Concerts Chair for my college's Student Activity Council solely for the purpose of bringing Enter the Haggis to my college. I brought my residents to see them when I was an RA.
For a while, you could have used the term "obsession." Now, though the obsession has faded, I still love them. They're still my favorite band. Why? They make me smile. They make me feel good. And that's really what music is all about.
Slainte!
Being from Massachusetts, most people would assume my favorite Celtic Rock band would be Dropkick Murphys. That's not true. Anyone who knows me knows that Enter the Haggis is my favorite band. I first saw them on a whim the summer before I went away to college. It's my mother's fault. She told me about it, convinced me to go. I vaguely liked Flogging Molly at the time and the concert was free, so I decided to grab a few friends and go. It's the first time I remember actually dancing at a concert. At the time, I could care less about bagpipes--and I'm still pretty ambivalent about them, to be honest--but I quickly fell in love with the fiddle and the commanding drums.
That was back in 2005. I've seen them well over a dozen times by now. I lost count. I became the Concerts Chair for my college's Student Activity Council solely for the purpose of bringing Enter the Haggis to my college. I brought my residents to see them when I was an RA.
For a while, you could have used the term "obsession." Now, though the obsession has faded, I still love them. They're still my favorite band. Why? They make me smile. They make me feel good. And that's really what music is all about.
Slainte!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
TOP 5 TUESDAY: SIDE 1 / TRACK 1
Well, here we are. The first in a (hopefully) long running weekly segment, we're going to call Top 5 Tuesdays. How it's going to go is that we'll have two topics a month, and then one week I'll write my Top 5, with nice little explanations, and then the next Sara will present hers. Before everyone asks; yes, we really like High Fidelity. Yes we're both geeks. Yes, we're stealing our first Top 5 list FROM High Fidelity.
This week's Top 5 topic: TOP 5 SIDE ONE - TRACK ONE's of all time.
This is the kind of question I beg for when it comes to music geekery, because I can go for the really obscure choices, or I can make the safe ones. While the obscure ones are more fun, I strangely enough found myself veering back towards a couple of the classics despite wanting to go off the deep end.
The classics tend to be classics for a reason, I found out. Anyways. On to the inaugural TOP 5 TUESDAY LIST.
#5. The Flaming Lips - "The Abandoned Hospital Ship" - Off of Clouds Taste Metallic
The song starts out sounding the like the last ever radio transmission of a spaceship, the tape starts rolling, and a distant beep is heard. Wayne Coyne's warbly voice carries over a sparse slide guitar / acoustic guitar / piano arrangement, singing, "And sure, it seems easy now, but I tell you what / We were perplexed. Finding the Needle / In the needle's disguise."
The tiredness and distance carries through Coyne's voice, not only the production makes the song sound distant, but Coyne's tone, one of the calm after the storm, the relief that comes after an endeavor. "But I'm sorta relieved / I'm getting over it now," Coyne ends with.
Ronald Jones' distant guitar funnels in, covered in a lush reverb, letting the listener float out in space for a little bit longer before Steven Drozd's drums bash in, kicking the listener in the side of the head, knocking them into seemingly a cartoon world. The skronking guitars and church bells make me imagine someone slowly sitting up, little cuckoo birds flying in circles around their heads.
All in all, the song is the perfect beginning to what I believe is The Flaming Lips' masterwork. It's the point where they balanced the Butthole Surfer acid-rock with their later more symphonic and orchestral arrangements.
#4. The Clash - "Know Your Rights" - Off of Combat Rock
"THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT *GUITAR CRUNCH* WITH GUITTAAARRR!"
Goddamnit Joe Strummer, why'd you have to be the one to die? Take Topper Headon, hell, even Mick Jones could die, I could do without a Big Audio Dynamite reunion.
Let's lay the facts down, Combat Rock is a good album. Not great, not terrible. It's not as good as London Calling (being one of the greatest albums ever made…don't fight me on this), but far better than Sandinista! (Jesus god make it end. Even Joe Strummer said it'd be better as a Double CD, or Single CD, or even an EP…). Where Combat Rock hit, it really hit, and "Know Your Rights" is one of those places.
The entire song just drives, it's as if the best parts of The Clash's influences came together for it. We have Joe Strummer's overtly political lyrics ("Murder is a crime! Unless it is done by a Policeman!"), thumpy dub bass, driving drums, and Rockabilly / Spaghetti Western guitars.
People said that The Clash were the "Only band that mattered". Those people were probably right. The Clash extended the grip of what "punk rock" could be. They didn't let themselves be put in a box, and songs like "Know Your Rights" emphasize just that point.
People live and die by the first Clash album and "London Calling", and I don't blame them. Those are the pinnacles of their discography, but Combat Rock really supports itself too for the most part. It takes the sprawl of "London Calling" and "Sandinista!" and just edits them down to their basics, and brings the rock back into them from the Dub overload of "Sandinista!"
#3. The Hold Steady - "Stuck Between Stations" - Off of Boys And Girls In America
To anyone who knows me, this isn't much of a surprise, but to those of you who don't, welcome, for one, and secondly, I've seen The Hold Steady over a dozen times live. If you haven't, I immediately recommend finding where they're touring, fly out, and see the show.
The Hold Steady took me a while to get in to. I came into hearing the band right after the release of their second album "Separation Sunday", and while Craig Finn's sing-talking isn't the easiest thing to grasp a hold of, I eventually did. As I kept on listening to Separation Sunday I realized that I had become slightly obsessed. The songs kept on repeating and repeating on my CD Player (remember those?). When The Hold Steady announced their third album, "Boys and Girls in America", I was extremely excited. Eventually, the day came around where I got to hear the album (early at that! Hooray for working in Radio at the time.) I popped the CD into my computer and fired it up.
"There are nights where I think that Sal Paradise was right, 'Boys and Girls in America, they have such a sad time together.'"
The song started with Finn's trademark drawl, backed by Tad Kubler's classic rock guitar riffing. The song is plenty catchy, and features Finn at some of his name dropping best, bringing up Minnesota's Golden Gophers and John Berryman by name, while referencing Jack Kerouac in the first line. Needless to say, it's a fantastic rock and roll track.
However,the point that really caught me was the bridge, it's the game changer. It begins with a slow Springsteen piano riff, and builds up to a proclamation of drunken desperation which is shattered with a guitar solo.
When I first put on the album I listened to "Stuck Between Stations" at least five times before FINALLY moving on to the second track, it's just that good.
#2. Bruce Springsteen - "Thunder Road" - Off of Born To Run
This is one of those classics I was talking about earlier. One of those picks that is just so rudimentary, so definite that I wanted to NOT put it on here. What can I say, I couldn't help myself. If you were born in the United States, this should be on your list of top ten songs of all time.
It's the perfect cinematic song. It's singing about the American dream, escape, freedom, and love. What more could anyone want? It's really though to think that Springsteen wasn't much older than I am when he wrote it. He was going through many of the same things that people in my current generation do, he was just able to verbalize it. Wanting to be saved from the suburbs, from wanting to see something else, go on an adventure, be free, and be sure of one thing: love will get you through.
It's the romanticized image of America and of twenty-something life that we all wish we could have. Disregard any real needs, just get on your motorcycle and get going across the country. Play some music, get the pretty girls, live without any real regrets. Hell, even if the music on the song was awful (it's not) the lyrics would make it one of the greatest songs ever written.
The fact that it starts out one of the perfect albums just helps it that much more. It's the inspirational start to a record that lives in celebration, desperation, and the wanting to be free. It's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" of Rock 'n Roll, the album that will be passed down to generations, and they'll get it. Some of the references may be lost, but they'll understand that this means something. The flow of the river under Huck's feet can be felt in the book, and the air rushing through your hair on the back of Bruce's bike can be felt in the song.
#1. Tom Waits - "Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)" - Off of Small Change
Possibly one of the most beautiful songs ever written. It quite perfectly shows that feeling of complete desperation after your heart's been torn out by a woman. That feeling of unrequited lust that never really goes away, even after you've been told "no." It's the burning in your heart you feel for someone, completely doused in water afterwards, and the heartbreak that follows.
The sparse piano + strings arrangement is classic for early Tom Waits, this is the end of his troubadour days, and the beginning steps of his experimental era. We still get the ballads that Waits was known for, but also the hoarse voice that so many people are unable to get past. If only they were able to get past it for this song.
The feeling of a drunken kiss that wasn't meant to be, a hope for so much more but taken away immediately by the feeling of "that wasn't right." That is the heart of the song. That is the moral message. Trying to continue to drink your way out of the situation, then considering running away and traveling the world. But knowing that there's really no escape from yourself that will save you here. The moment happened, the action occurred, and it can't be taken back. The heartbreak is permanent.
I honestly can't choose just one lyric from the song to put up, so I'll just put the entire thing.
Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did, I've got what I paid for now
See you tomorrow, hey Frank, can I borrow a couple of bucks from you
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
And I'm tired of all these soldiers here
No one speaks English, and everything's broken, and my Stacys are soaking wet
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
Now the dogs are barking and the taxi cab's parking
A lot they can do for me
I begged you to stab me, you tore my shirt open,
And I'm down on my knees tonight
Old Bushmill's I staggered, you'd bury the dagger
In your silhouette window light go
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
Now I lost my Saint Christopher now that I've kissed her
And the one-armed bandit knows
And the maverick Chinamen, and the cold-blooded signs,
And the girls down by the strip-tease shows, go
Waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
No, I don't want your sympathy, the fugitives say
That the streets aren't for dreaming now
And manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories,
They want a piece of the action anyhow
Go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
And you can ask any sailor, and the keys from the jailor,
And the old men in wheelchairs know
And Mathilda's the defendant, she killed about a hundred,
And she follows wherever you may go
Waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
And it's a battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace,
And a wound that will never heal
No prima donna, the perfume is on an
Old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey
And goodnight to the street sweepers, the night watchmen flame keepers
And goodnight to Mathilda, too
This week's Top 5 topic: TOP 5 SIDE ONE - TRACK ONE's of all time.
This is the kind of question I beg for when it comes to music geekery, because I can go for the really obscure choices, or I can make the safe ones. While the obscure ones are more fun, I strangely enough found myself veering back towards a couple of the classics despite wanting to go off the deep end.
The classics tend to be classics for a reason, I found out. Anyways. On to the inaugural TOP 5 TUESDAY LIST.
#5. The Flaming Lips - "The Abandoned Hospital Ship" - Off of Clouds Taste Metallic
The song starts out sounding the like the last ever radio transmission of a spaceship, the tape starts rolling, and a distant beep is heard. Wayne Coyne's warbly voice carries over a sparse slide guitar / acoustic guitar / piano arrangement, singing, "And sure, it seems easy now, but I tell you what / We were perplexed. Finding the Needle / In the needle's disguise."
The tiredness and distance carries through Coyne's voice, not only the production makes the song sound distant, but Coyne's tone, one of the calm after the storm, the relief that comes after an endeavor. "But I'm sorta relieved / I'm getting over it now," Coyne ends with.
Ronald Jones' distant guitar funnels in, covered in a lush reverb, letting the listener float out in space for a little bit longer before Steven Drozd's drums bash in, kicking the listener in the side of the head, knocking them into seemingly a cartoon world. The skronking guitars and church bells make me imagine someone slowly sitting up, little cuckoo birds flying in circles around their heads.
All in all, the song is the perfect beginning to what I believe is The Flaming Lips' masterwork. It's the point where they balanced the Butthole Surfer acid-rock with their later more symphonic and orchestral arrangements.
#4. The Clash - "Know Your Rights" - Off of Combat Rock
"THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT *GUITAR CRUNCH* WITH GUITTAAARRR!"
Goddamnit Joe Strummer, why'd you have to be the one to die? Take Topper Headon, hell, even Mick Jones could die, I could do without a Big Audio Dynamite reunion.
Let's lay the facts down, Combat Rock is a good album. Not great, not terrible. It's not as good as London Calling (being one of the greatest albums ever made…don't fight me on this), but far better than Sandinista! (Jesus god make it end. Even Joe Strummer said it'd be better as a Double CD, or Single CD, or even an EP…). Where Combat Rock hit, it really hit, and "Know Your Rights" is one of those places.
The entire song just drives, it's as if the best parts of The Clash's influences came together for it. We have Joe Strummer's overtly political lyrics ("Murder is a crime! Unless it is done by a Policeman!"), thumpy dub bass, driving drums, and Rockabilly / Spaghetti Western guitars.
People said that The Clash were the "Only band that mattered". Those people were probably right. The Clash extended the grip of what "punk rock" could be. They didn't let themselves be put in a box, and songs like "Know Your Rights" emphasize just that point.
People live and die by the first Clash album and "London Calling", and I don't blame them. Those are the pinnacles of their discography, but Combat Rock really supports itself too for the most part. It takes the sprawl of "London Calling" and "Sandinista!" and just edits them down to their basics, and brings the rock back into them from the Dub overload of "Sandinista!"
#3. The Hold Steady - "Stuck Between Stations" - Off of Boys And Girls In America
To anyone who knows me, this isn't much of a surprise, but to those of you who don't, welcome, for one, and secondly, I've seen The Hold Steady over a dozen times live. If you haven't, I immediately recommend finding where they're touring, fly out, and see the show.
The Hold Steady took me a while to get in to. I came into hearing the band right after the release of their second album "Separation Sunday", and while Craig Finn's sing-talking isn't the easiest thing to grasp a hold of, I eventually did. As I kept on listening to Separation Sunday I realized that I had become slightly obsessed. The songs kept on repeating and repeating on my CD Player (remember those?). When The Hold Steady announced their third album, "Boys and Girls in America", I was extremely excited. Eventually, the day came around where I got to hear the album (early at that! Hooray for working in Radio at the time.) I popped the CD into my computer and fired it up.
"There are nights where I think that Sal Paradise was right, 'Boys and Girls in America, they have such a sad time together.'"
The song started with Finn's trademark drawl, backed by Tad Kubler's classic rock guitar riffing. The song is plenty catchy, and features Finn at some of his name dropping best, bringing up Minnesota's Golden Gophers and John Berryman by name, while referencing Jack Kerouac in the first line. Needless to say, it's a fantastic rock and roll track.
However,the point that really caught me was the bridge, it's the game changer. It begins with a slow Springsteen piano riff, and builds up to a proclamation of drunken desperation which is shattered with a guitar solo.
When I first put on the album I listened to "Stuck Between Stations" at least five times before FINALLY moving on to the second track, it's just that good.
#2. Bruce Springsteen - "Thunder Road" - Off of Born To Run
This is one of those classics I was talking about earlier. One of those picks that is just so rudimentary, so definite that I wanted to NOT put it on here. What can I say, I couldn't help myself. If you were born in the United States, this should be on your list of top ten songs of all time.
It's the perfect cinematic song. It's singing about the American dream, escape, freedom, and love. What more could anyone want? It's really though to think that Springsteen wasn't much older than I am when he wrote it. He was going through many of the same things that people in my current generation do, he was just able to verbalize it. Wanting to be saved from the suburbs, from wanting to see something else, go on an adventure, be free, and be sure of one thing: love will get you through.
It's the romanticized image of America and of twenty-something life that we all wish we could have. Disregard any real needs, just get on your motorcycle and get going across the country. Play some music, get the pretty girls, live without any real regrets. Hell, even if the music on the song was awful (it's not) the lyrics would make it one of the greatest songs ever written.
The fact that it starts out one of the perfect albums just helps it that much more. It's the inspirational start to a record that lives in celebration, desperation, and the wanting to be free. It's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" of Rock 'n Roll, the album that will be passed down to generations, and they'll get it. Some of the references may be lost, but they'll understand that this means something. The flow of the river under Huck's feet can be felt in the book, and the air rushing through your hair on the back of Bruce's bike can be felt in the song.
#1. Tom Waits - "Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)" - Off of Small Change
Possibly one of the most beautiful songs ever written. It quite perfectly shows that feeling of complete desperation after your heart's been torn out by a woman. That feeling of unrequited lust that never really goes away, even after you've been told "no." It's the burning in your heart you feel for someone, completely doused in water afterwards, and the heartbreak that follows.
The sparse piano + strings arrangement is classic for early Tom Waits, this is the end of his troubadour days, and the beginning steps of his experimental era. We still get the ballads that Waits was known for, but also the hoarse voice that so many people are unable to get past. If only they were able to get past it for this song.
The feeling of a drunken kiss that wasn't meant to be, a hope for so much more but taken away immediately by the feeling of "that wasn't right." That is the heart of the song. That is the moral message. Trying to continue to drink your way out of the situation, then considering running away and traveling the world. But knowing that there's really no escape from yourself that will save you here. The moment happened, the action occurred, and it can't be taken back. The heartbreak is permanent.
I honestly can't choose just one lyric from the song to put up, so I'll just put the entire thing.
Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did, I've got what I paid for now
See you tomorrow, hey Frank, can I borrow a couple of bucks from you
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
And I'm tired of all these soldiers here
No one speaks English, and everything's broken, and my Stacys are soaking wet
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
Now the dogs are barking and the taxi cab's parking
A lot they can do for me
I begged you to stab me, you tore my shirt open,
And I'm down on my knees tonight
Old Bushmill's I staggered, you'd bury the dagger
In your silhouette window light go
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
Now I lost my Saint Christopher now that I've kissed her
And the one-armed bandit knows
And the maverick Chinamen, and the cold-blooded signs,
And the girls down by the strip-tease shows, go
Waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
No, I don't want your sympathy, the fugitives say
That the streets aren't for dreaming now
And manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories,
They want a piece of the action anyhow
Go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
And you can ask any sailor, and the keys from the jailor,
And the old men in wheelchairs know
And Mathilda's the defendant, she killed about a hundred,
And she follows wherever you may go
Waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me
And it's a battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace,
And a wound that will never heal
No prima donna, the perfume is on an
Old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey
And goodnight to the street sweepers, the night watchmen flame keepers
And goodnight to Mathilda, too
Monday, March 14, 2011
Passions and Points
Some people have one passion in their lives. Maybe it's the cello. Maybe it's comic books. Maybe it's collecting 2-dollar bills.
Some people have a few things their passionate about. Maybe they collect 2-dollar bills AND play cello.
But then there are some people who just really like a lot of things. Maybe they're passionate about something, but maybe they also like other things, though not as much that thing they're passionate about. Let's call it a "mini-passion."
Likewise, some people have direction, a reason--or, raison d'etre, if you will. They have a plan. They know what they are going to do tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.
Don't those people just suck?
What's wrong with losing a little direction sometimes? What's wrong in going with the flow?
Not all things have to have a point.
Maybe some things can have many points.
Some people have a few things their passionate about. Maybe they collect 2-dollar bills AND play cello.
But then there are some people who just really like a lot of things. Maybe they're passionate about something, but maybe they also like other things, though not as much that thing they're passionate about. Let's call it a "mini-passion."
Likewise, some people have direction, a reason--or, raison d'etre, if you will. They have a plan. They know what they are going to do tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.
Don't those people just suck?
What's wrong with losing a little direction sometimes? What's wrong in going with the flow?
Not all things have to have a point.
Maybe some things can have many points.
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