semisonic

Playlist #188: Name Dropper

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Happy Monday! It’s December, and the weather over the weekend turned decisively cold. I’m down with it, or would be if our thermostat was working and we could actually turn the heat on. Here’s a list of songs that reference other musicians in the lyrics.

  1. Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Sweet Home Alabama”: “Well I heard Mr. Young sing about her/And I heard ol’ Neil put her down/Well I hope Neil Young will remember/A southern man don’t need him around anyhow.” Obvious digs at Neil Young’s songs “Alabama” and “Southern Man” aside, Young apparently agrees that “Southern Man” in particular maybe took things a little too far.
  2. The National, “So Far Around the Bend”: “You’ve been humming in a daze forever/praying for Pavement to get back together.” Leave it to a band like the National to name check Pavement in a song.
  3. The Replacements, “Alex Chilton”: It’s a whole song about Box Tops and Big Star singer Alex Chilton! And it’s awesome.
  4. The Animals, “Story of Bo Diddley”: Not just about Bo Diddley, but also a brief history of rock and roll and the British Invasion, complete with Beatles and Rolling Stones references. I could do without Eric Burden’s impressions of Bo Diddley and his entourage at the end, though.
  5. Elliott Smith, “Baby Britain”: “The light was on but it was dim/Revolver’s been turned over/And now it’s ready once again/The radio is playing ‘Crimson and Clover.'”
  6. Van Morrison, “Whatever Happened to PJ Proby?”: This one’s a three-for-one: the reference to American songwriter PJ Proby in the title, and further references to “Scott Walker” and “Screaming Lord Sutch”, all bizarre niche musicians from the 1960s.
  7. Counting Crows, “Monkey”: “Got nowhere but home to go/Got Ben Folds on my radio right now,” and now we know how I came to find out about Ben Folds.
  8. Taylor Swift, “The Tortured Poets Department”: While “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith” only references one musician (Dylan Thomas is a poet, not a songwriter, rage against the dying of the light), the song also references Charlie Puth later (“We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist”), and I have it on good authority from my students that Charlie Puth is, indeed, a musician.
  9. Bob Dylan, “I Feel a Change Comin’ On”: “I’m listening to Billy Joe Shaver/And I’m reading James Joyce/Some people tell me/I’ve got the blood of the Lamb in my voice” is just such a perfect Dylan line.
  10. Semisonic, “Gone to the Movies”: “And it covers up the cars/And the Wallflowers CD ended half an hour ago.” This is just such a sad song, largely about the a guy who wants to go out looking for his lady but he can’t or won’t because it’s snowing like crazy out there and his car probably won’t start.

Playlist #132

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Happy beginning of November, folks! The days are shorter, the nights are longer, and the sun sets at 5:00 now. These tunes ought to keep you going through the darkness, though.

  1. Golden Earring, “Twilight Zone”: I guess I’d never really thought much about the chorus to this song, but holy crap did I apparently not know, like, any of it. “It’s just like steppin’ into the Twilight Zone/This is a madhouse, feels like bein’ cloned/My beacon’s been moved under moon and star/Where am I to go now that I’ve gone too far?” Like, I had never in my life parsed even half of those lyrics. This song is just wild, man.
  2. The Beatles, “Now And Then”: Anyone with even a passing interest in my writings or who I am as a person knows that the Beatles are my all-time favorite band. Sure, it’s a cliché, but when your father is a Boomer, you have to expect things like this. And this is billed as the “final” Beatles song. Well, the last one made featuring original work from all four Beatles, I’m sure. And it’s not bad! Like “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love,” it was made using an old demo Lennon made that the other three built around, but they had to use Peter Jackson’s AI unmixer to isolate Lennon’s vocals on the track. The result is that he comes through real clear, more so than on the two Anthology songs. Is it the best Beatles song? No, far from it. Is it still pretty damn good? Yes.
  3. The Rolling Stones, “Bite My Head Off”: Everything old is new again. The Stones put out a new album (only their second or so of the 21st century?), and it’s not bad. It’s not essential, but they left that behind decades ago and are mostly coasting on cool factor now. And that’s okay. If I were in the Rolling Stones, I’d be coasting by on having written some of the best damn rock’n’roll songs of all time, too, by the time I hit my 80s. Not working on new material. This one features Paul and Ringo from the Beatles, even! Pauls’ bass riff at the end is nasty stuff, and I love it.
  4. P!nk, “Who Knew”: Why does she spell her name with an exclamation point? I have no answer. But I kinda dig this song anyway.
  5. Semisonic, “Only Empathy”: Semisonic always hits a bright, warm spot in my heart, and their new album positively glows with energy and love. I particularly like this song.
  6. Tom Petty, “There Goes Angela (Dream Away)”: I always have a place in my heart for Tom Petty music, especially from the Wildflowers/She’s the One era. This particular demo/home recording is simple and gorgeous.
  7. Josh Ritter, “Getting Ready To Get Down”: If I understand the lyrics to this one correctly (and I’ll be the first to admit that my literary analysis skills have waned over the years), I’m pretty sure this is the story of a young woman who discovers she’s a lesbian, gets sent to Bible college, and comes back even more lesbian. Hey, even some of those “little Bible college[s] in Missouri” will teach you something about the world if you’re not careful!
  8. Cory Branan, “When In Rome, When In Memphis”: I absolutely love the chorus and coda to this song. “When I go, I ghost” is just a great lyric.
  9. The National, “Wake Up Your Saints”: High Violet is still the best the National album and even its outtakes and bonus tracks prove that.
  10. Bob Dylan, “False Prophet”: For a while there, I was concerned that Dylan had lost a step or two. I mean, I get one album of Sinatra covers, but three? And one of them was a freakin’ triple album? That seems excessive. But Rough and Rowdy Ways was a fun album full of the Dylan lyricism and in-jokes I’ve come to expect from the man, and I just have to stand in awe that even as he eases into his 80s he’s still releasing exciting and interesting new stuff. The Stones could probably take a tip or two.

Playlist #131: My Alternative Heart

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Happy Monday, folks! Or as I like to call it, “Dear God, why did I think owning that many books was a good idea?” Moving is hard, y’all. But hey, I have a new book coming out Wednesday, and a new playlist featuring some great songs from the ’90s for you today, so it can’t be all bad, right?

  1. Eve 6, “Inside Out”: These guys were apparently barely out of high school when they recorded this album. Their Twitter feed is still pretty damn solid to this day.
  2. Better Than Ezra, “Desperately Wanting”: Still really digging on this song and it’s still a helluva lot of fun to play.
  3. Bush, “Everything Zen”: Why is this song so long? Why did it need to keep going on and on? I think that everything time I listen to the song. “Oh, it’s still happening? I thought this song would’ve been over after the first two and a half minutes.” But no. It goes on for a full four and a half minutes. Unbelievable.
  4. The Cranberries, “Zombie”: Still just one of the best anti-war songs I’ve ever heard.
  5. Everclear, “I Will Buy You A New Life”: I will maintain for the rest of my days that this guy just needs therapy rather than to write another song about how daddy didn’t love him or he was poor or whatever.
  6. Foo Fighters, “Monkey Wrench”: Nothing really gets your blood pumping like a Foo Fighters song.
  7. Gin Blossoms, “Found Out About You”: For the life of me, I will never understand how I did not instantly grasp this band with both hands when their first album came out. Why I waited until nearly three decades later to even begin to appreciate their stuff is a question for the ages.
  8. Semisonic, “California”: My wife said, “Oh, I’d forgotten they did this song.” I sang along to the course, with the weird (and weirdly unnecessary) pronunciation of “Californ-i-uh.”
  9. Spacehog, “In The Meantime”: Can we stop for a second and talk about how this band’s name is basically “Intergalactic Penis?” Because that is all I can ever think of when I see their name.
  10. Primitive Radio Gods, “Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand”: And the award for most awkward song title goes to…

Playlist #88

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Happy New Year! In addition to the playlist this week, I have CD’s for sale! That’s right, I put together the EP that I released last January and the two singles I released over the course of the year. For $10, you can have a copy of it all for yourself! Email me at crookedhalo42 [at] gmail dot com and we can set it all up.

And now, on with the playlist!

  1. The English Beat, “Save It For Later”: Who doesn’t love some second-wave ska? I know I do.
  2. Loreena McKennitt, “The Mummer’s Dance”: Celtic electronica? In this economy?
  3. Jason Isbell & Elizabeth Cook, “Pancho & Lefty”: Gotta love a Jason Isbell cover of a Townes Van Zandt song.
  4. Fleetwood Mac, “Little Lies”: Only recently discovered that this song was a Fleetwood Mac song.
  5. America, “Ventura Highway”: I just want to drive along the coast with this song cranked way up.
  6. XTC, “Dear God”: A song that demands God explain why bad things happen to good people.
  7. Wilco, “Say You Miss Me”: The yearning and pleading in this song get me every time.
  8. Van Morrison, “I Love You”: I’ve had a difficult time listening to Van Morrison the past few years. His weird anti-vaccine views and his persecution complex have kinda gotten on my nerves. But this song is still tremendously sweet.
  9. Tom Waits, “Jockey Full Of Bourbon”: I’m not really sure what good a jockey full of bourbon would do, unless this is really a song about peeing ’cause you had too much bourbon.
  10. Semisonic, “Never You Mind”: I love this song for nothing else if not the reference to Spock’s brain.

Playlist #10

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This past weekend was my mother’s birthday! Now, it is to my great shame that I really do not know much about my mom’s musical tastes. I know growing up that she listened to Simon and Garfunkel and Barry Manilow (ew), but beyond that? It’s just a big ol’ shrug emoji from me. So, with that in mind, I’ve compiled a list for this week that contains songs I think my mom would appreciate. It’s mostly Swedish death metal (kidding!).

  1. Alexi Murdoch, “All Of My Days”: So if I’m completely honest here, I first heard this song in a commercial. And really liked it! I like the guitar work especially. It’s a very simple song, but quite lovely despite (or maybe because) of that.
  2. Greg Feldon, “Incoming”: Strummy acoustics? Check. Heartfelt, earnest singing? Check. Semi-country-ish tone and style? Check. Yup, this song checks a lot of boxes for me.
  3. Sara Bareilles, “Armor”: “You think I am high mighty, mister?/Wait ’til you meet my little sister” is just a badass line.
  4. The Shins, “Gone For Good [Alternate Version]”: I like this stripped down version of the song, possibly even more than the usual album version. Sure, it lacks the pedal steel and the high and lonesome harmonies, but it makes up for it with a more subdued reading of the lyrics.
  5. Simon & Garfunkel, “Cecilia”: I can’t tell you if this is my mom’s favorite Simon & Garfunkel song. It probably isn’t. But it’s fun and I dare you to not sing along with the chorus. You can’t, can you? Of course you can’t.
  6. Tracy Lawrence, “Time Marches On”: This is the sort of song country music does best. The lyrical content is simple, tells a story, and focuses on a family as it ages through the years. I really dig it.
  7. Lake Street Dive, “Bad Self Portraits”: I’ve been drawing and cartooning for decades now. Every single drawing I’ve ever done of myself is a bad self portrait, so I can relate to this song.
  8. case/lang/viers, “Best Kept Secret”: Yeah, I could’ve gone with the soaring “Atomic Number” instead, but I really like this song and the whole “guitar teacher saves the world” vibe it has going.
  9. David Gray, “Stella the Artist”: Is my mom an artist? Not with pencil or paintbrush or chisel. But that woman can bake a batch of cookies that’ll make you see God.
  10. Semisonic, “Gone To the Movies”: A sad song about a sad man in a snowbound apartment who was just listening to the Wallflowers and thinking about a girl. Haven’t we all felt that way at some point? Okay, probably not, but still, it’s a good song.