Saturday, 2:30am

I lied. It's you.
Todd Rundgren, “Hello it’s Me”
La Roux, “Reflections are Protection”
Cat Power, “Rambling (Wo)man”
Hall and Oats, “Maneater”
The Beatles, “She Came in Through the Bedroom Window”
Ben Folds Five, “Selfless, Cold, and Composed”

Hey y'all

The Rolling Stones, "Get Off of My Cloud"

On: December's Children (and Everybody's) (1965)

What the song is about: Apparently, there are a lot of people sucking the air out of Mick Jagger's room. Salesmen ask him which laundry detergent he uses. Neighbors ask him to turn down his party music. A policemen visually assaults him by leaving a parking ticket on the windshield of his car. But Mick rises above these adversaries in the form of song. Eff them!!!!!!

Why I'm listening to it: Just wanted to dance around for a few minutes. I air drummed a bit in the middle and ended with some leg thrashing.

Today I learned... that one should always clear coffee tables and small dogs from the room before leg thrashing.

Some YTer messed up the title, but oh well. Enjoy.

Is it 4:30 yet?

Madonna, “Papa Don’t Preach”
On: True Blue (1986)
Gee whiz: This song is almost as old as I am….
What the song is about: SHE’S KEEPING HER BABY!!!!! And that’s about all you need to know. There is enough estrogen-fueled determination in the that line to start a movement…In fact, if Madonna hadn’t been the 80’s poster child for blasphemy (“Like a Prayer”) and whoredom (“Like a Virgin”), I bet this track would have served (and actually, still could serve) as a the definitive theme for pro-life rallies nationwide.
Why I’m listening to it: This is usually the Madge track I cite when I have to defend her vocal capabilities to someone (like today). She can sing dammit! She can! Seriously, listen to her shred her cords when she throws her song dad the line “the one you told me all about, the one you said I could do without”. And next time you are singing in your shower, try to hit the high notes in, “but I made up my miiiiiiinnnndddd, IIIIIIIII…….” I’ve tried and failed, and I bet you will too. But, as my friend Lynn would say, Madonna raped those notes!!!. Bitch has got skills. Not legendary skills, but skills nonetheless. It’s just hard to notice them because, you know, her coochie is always hanging out.
Best line: “WE ARE IN LOVE!!!!! SO PLEEEEAAAASEEE!”

Guess who's not working?

Hall & Oats, “Nothing at all”
On: Daryl Hall and John Oats (1975)
What the song is about: D-Hall (I can call him that, right?) and his woman are sooooo over it. In fact, they’ve become so dispassionate about their relationship that they can’t even fight anymore. Oooh…time to bounce.
Why I’m listing to it: H&O are my personal standard for blue-eyed soul. I enjoy their music—honest and truly, without an ounce of hipster irony. If I go along with popular theory, DH&JO is the duo’s most famous album, probably due to the inclusion of the classic track “Sara Smile” and the “oh my God, are those trannies?” cover art. But “Nothing at all” is the real gem to me. It's such a glorious kiss-off song. Hall is pretty much giving his woman the middle finger, but his sweet, velvety vocals make it seem like a hug.
Best lyric: “Tiiiiiiiiiime has a way of lessening lo-o-ove/You know that's truuuuuuuuue/So don't bother listening anymore darling/ (CUE FALSETTO) 'Cause I'm writing my last song about youuuuuuuuuuu” Yet another case of trite lyrics going from 0 to 100 because of awesome vocals.

Best. Article. Ever.

I stumbled upon this last night...It's from 2008, and it coincided with the release of JH's How to Walk Away...Reading it was a good way to kill 20 minutes.

http://popdose.com/the-popdose-guide-to-juliana-hatfield/

I am a walking epic fail

Playlist: C=Crap
Lee Michaels, "You are what you do"
The Who, "I can't explain"
David Bowie, "Oh! you pretty things"
Joe Jackson, "You can't get what you want til you know what you want"
Goodie Mobb, "Beautiful skin"
Phil Collins, "I missed again"
Traffic, "Sometimes I feel so uninspired"
The Smiths, "The headmaster's ritual"

Oh my damn where have I been?

Nine Inch Nails, "We're in this together now"

On: The Fragile (1999)

A bit of a back story...I'm pretty sure that I bought The Fragile so that I had something to talk about with the goth chicks in my high school gym class (they were so cool! I was so not!). I think I listened to it once to get the gist of the album--which at the time I thought was simply loud noises and screaming--and then immediately went back to listening to Silverchair (don't judge me). I guess it took me a a decade to catch up, because I f-ing love this album now, namely the title track and "We're in this together now."

Why this song surprised me...I was in fourth grade when I first heard of NIN, and like most people is was because Trent Reznor was screaming through my stereo speakers that he wanted to f*ck me like an animal. Since it's kind of difficult for a nine-year-old to appreciate the poetry in that, I never really thought much of the band lyrically. Shortly after I bought The Fragile, I bought the Lost Highway soundtrack, to which Reznor contributed largely. The combination of the two made me a fan of NIN's beats, however, if you held a gun to my head, I still couldn't sing along to any of the songs. It's wasn't until about a month ago that I broke out The Fragile again and, well, actually listened to the words behind the screaming...and I was pretty impressed. "We're in this together now" stuck out for me because it had a (non-carnal/sexual) lyrical intensity that I wasn't expected. There is no shock value...it's just a damn good love song.

Best lyric: "The farther I fall, I'm beside you/As lost as I get I will find you/The deeper the wound I'm inside you/For ever and ever I am a part of/You and me, We're in this together now..."