the presidents of the united states of america

Playlist #240: Covers!

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Happy Monday, folks! I’m probably somewhere between Northern Virginia and Orlando, Florida, as you read this. The Wife is presenting at an education conference, and I’m joining her for moral and logistical support (and for the opportunity to not work for a week). Here’s a list of covers that I’ve enjoyed recently.

  1. Aimee Mann, “Rainy Days and Mondays”: A Carpenters cover? In this economy? It actually works pretty damn well, I think. She updates it in a few subtle ways, but mostly sticks to the original for her version.
  2. Mavis Staples, “Everybody Needs Love”: I loved this song when I heard the Drive-By Truckers original, and I love Mavis Staples’s version almost as much. Her voice carries the right tone and quality for the tune, and belies the age the woman actually is. I love it.
  3. Marc Sibilia, “Bittersweet Symphony”: His cover utilizes the same symphonic sample as the Verve Pipe’s original, but everything built around that seems more subdued, more subtle. It’s good stuff.
  4. The Presidents of the United States of America, “Kick Out the Jams”: Gotta love a band gutsy enough to take on an MC5 song, especially this one, but they manage to pull it off with some nervy energy and chutzpah.
  5. Phoebe Bridgers, “It’ll All Work Out”: I didn’t think it would be possible to slow down this Tom Petty number, but she does. I do miss the mandolin from the original, though.
  6. Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”: A mellower, folkier version of the U2 classic.
  7. Margaret Glaspy, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain”: I needed a slow, beautiful cover of CCR today, didn’t you?
  8. Willie Nelson, “Don’t Give Up (feat. Sinead O’Connor)”: Willie’s voice has just become this weathered, worn thing that just keeps getting better for the songs he sings. Fits perfectly, and Sinead O’Connor is a great duet partner for him.
  9. Bob Seager, “New Coat of Paint”: Seager turns Tom Waits’s raucous, bluesy number into…well, it’s not ’80s blooze-rock, not quite, but it does take some of the subtlety and nuance out of things. It’s still a fun cover, though.
  10. Robert Plant & Allison Krauss, “Quattro (World Drifts In)”: Speaking of nuance and subtlety, Plant and Krauss manage to inject a little bit more into this Calexico number. I dig it almost as much as I love the original, and I really love the original.

Playlist #184: Election Day

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Happy Monday, folks. Tomorrow is the day here in the United States: Election Day. Have you voted yet? You ought to. I’d tell you who I voted for and who I think you should vote for, but that seems crass. Besides, if you’ve talked with me or seen my comics from the past decade or so, you can probably guess how I voted. Anyway, here’s a playlist of songs to encourage you to vote!

  1. Radiohead, “Electioneering”: I definitely expect some shenanigans from at least one side of the aisle this year.
  2. Billy Bragg & Wilco, “Christ for President”: Could there be a better man for the job? No, there could not. Would be flip some tables? You bet your ass.
  3. The National, “Mr. November”: I kinda hoped they’d release an updated version of this called “Mrs. November” this year. Alas, it was not to be so.
  4. Molly Lewis, “Pantsuit Sasquatch”: An ode to former candidate Hillary Clinton, who after the 2016 election fucked off into the woods like the mythical Bigfoot, only wearing a pantsuit.
  5. Toad the Wet Sprocket, “Old Habits Die Hard”: I know this election cycle has flipped a lot of voters from one party to the other, or at least away from one slightly orangish candidate.
  6. The Byrds, “I Wanna Grow Up To Be A Politician”: No, guys, you really don’t.
  7. The Doubleclicks, “President Snakes, Part 1”: A president who is nothing but a bunch of snakes? Wouldn’t be the worst we’ve dealt with.
  8. Drive-By Truckers, “The President’s Penis Is Missing”: It very well might be, guys. It very well might be.
  9. Over the Rhine, “If A Song Could Be President”: I find it amusing that they name check Neil Young in this song, a famously Canadian songwriter.
  10. The Presidents of the United States of America, “Lump”: Like I wasn’t going to include a song from this band.

Playlist #159: Count It In

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Happy Monday, folks. It’s SOL testing season here in Northern Virginia, so I get to spend most of my free time each school day proctoring! Woo! It’s so much fun. Today, we count it in with a selection of songs featuring – you guessed it – a count in!

  1. The Beatles, “Taxman”: George starts us off right with a song all about counting. Speaking of taxmen, I might have to fire mine, since between them they almost cost me $2000 this tax season (instead of the $500 it actually ended up being). Of course, considering my taxmen are my brother and my father, and I don’t actually pay them, I guess you could argue I’m getting what I pay for.
  2. The Presidents of the United States of America, “Cleveland Rocks”: The POTUSes know how to kick it up a notch, and it starts with a, “3, 4!”
  3. Ryan Adams, “To Be Young”: This song just bleeds in from the opening argument with Dave Rawlins (which isn’t exactly a song, since it’s just the two of them arguing about Morrissey’s catalog). It does feature a hasty count-in, though, so it…counts.
  4. Outkast, “Hey Ya!”: Why do so many songs that start with a count-in of “3, 4”? Why do we skip the one and the two? Why is five never considered? Is it because we’re always in 4/4 time? That doesn’t seem fair, exactly. Outkast know better, though, giving us a full four count.
  5. The Avett Brothers, “Will You Return?”: So do the Avett Brothers, actually! It’s nice to hear. And that heavy-strummed banjo.
  6. Pink Floyd, “Free Four”: I’m not sure if this actually counts, since “free” is not a number.
  7. Moxy Fruvous, “Earthquakes”: This one makes due with a, “1, 2, 3” count-in, skipping four entirely.
  8. U2, “Vertigo”: Someone needs to have a conversation with Bono, because, “1, 2, 3, 14” is not how we count.
  9. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “You Got Lucky”: This one just gets a “1” before Petty gives up counting and the song just starts.
  10. The Decemberists, “Shankill Butchers”: A trailing, “2, 3, 4” leads off this song about youths who will cut you, they will.

Playlist #65 – Stranger Things

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Monday was the Wife’s birthday! In her honor, you could contribute to her GoFundMe. Covid hit her hard and our finances harder, so every little bit helps. And I’m doing my usual thing over at Patreon, where a new song will drop this Friday! This week’s playlist is inspired by my Wife, who – when hearing the Tom Waits song on last week’s playlist – said, “Why not do a whole playlist of weird songs?” To which I replied, “You mean a Tom Waits playlist?”

  1. Tom Waits, “The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)”: I dunno, Tom. Your words are more than a little slurred here. I have my doubts about the veracity of your claim.
  2. The Magnetic Fields, “Epitaph For My Heart”: The Wife’s favorite Magnetic Fields song. It starts with a recitation of a warning on a door that threatens electrocution if you open it and gets weirder from there.
  3. Marcy Playground, “Sex & Candy”: Every time I hear this song, I think of that time I was working at the YMCA the summer after my first year of college, and when this song came on the bus, all the little children (like, 10 year olds) sang the first three words of the chorus – “I like sex” – and nothing else.
  4. Melanie, “Brand New Key”: Do roller skates even need keys anymore? It’s been so long since I wore a pair, but I’m pretty sure they don’t. Kids these days will never understand this song (not that I necessarily understand it myself, mind you).
  5. The Mountain Goats, “Cadaver Sniffing Dog”: Now, this playlist could have also just been a Mountain Goats playlist, and this song is a good example of why.
  6. REM, “Swan Swan H”: Does anyone ever know what Michael Stipe is singing about, including Michael Stipe? I’d wager the answer is “no.”
  7. Tom Lehrer, “Poisoning Pigeons In The Park”: This man takes a certain glee from killing pigeons in the park. He might be a serial killer.
  8. America, “A Horse With No Name”: Hint: you can give the horse a name, dude. You can call it whatever you want. It’s a horse, it don’t care.
  9. The Presidents of the United States of America, “Peaches”: Again, another band where I could have made a playlist just out of their songs and it would have fit right in.
  10. Carl Douglas, “Kung Fu Fighting”: As the t-shirt says, surely not everyone was kung fu fighting.

Playlist #43: Presidents’ Day

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Happy Presidents’ Day, ‘Murica! Here’s some executive branch love in aural form. And hey, don’t forget I’ve got a Patreon, where February’s song is about to drop!

  1. They Might Be Giants, “James K. Polk”: Educational, entertaining, and a banger. Yup, it’s a TMBG song, alright.
  2. The Presidents of the United States of America, “Lump”: I get exhausted just typing out the name of the band. Thank goodness the song title is so short.
  3. Hamilton, “History Has Its Eyes On You”: The only song from the show I can play on the guitar, and a great vocal delivery from Christopher Jackson.
  4. Mark Knopfler, “Don’t Crash The Ambulance”: A changing of the guard. A handing over of the keys to the kingdom. And a brief explanation of just how things work around here.
  5. The National, “Mr. November”: “I was carried in the arms of cheerleaders.”
  6. Billy Bragg & Wilco, “Jesus Christ For President”: We could do worse, honestly.
  7. Molly Lewis, “Our American Cousin”: A three-part look at Mr. Lincoln’s infamous trip to the theatre. Funny and dark and heartbreaking.
  8. XTC, “Here Comes President Kill Again”: The ’80s? Subtle? No.
  9. Drive-By Truckers, “The President’s Penis Is Missing”: A damn tragedy, to be sure.
  10. Over The Rhine, “If A Song Could Be President”: Again, we could do worse. And I have a whole murderer’s row of talent in mind for the Cabinet.