#song of the day

We chase misprinted lies
We face the path of time
And yet I fight
And yet I fight
This battle all alone
No one to cry to
No place to call home

My gift of self is raped
My privacy is raked
And yet I find
And yet I find
Repeating in my head
If I can’t be my own
I’d feel better dead

This fucking song is such a goddamn bop, I’m blessing y’all’s ears w this

Sleepy time time

I’m a sleepy time baby, A sleepy time boy.

Work only maybe, Life is a joy.

We’ll have a sleepy time time…

Sleepy time time,

Sleepy time time all the time.

Asleep in the daytime, Asleep at night.

Life is all playtime, Working ain’t right.

We’ll have a sleepy time time…

Sleepy time time,

Sleepy time all the time.

I have my Sunday, That ain’t no lie.

But on Monday morning

Comes my favourite cry.

We’ll have a sleepy time time…

Sleepy time time,

Sleepy time all the time.

-Sleepy time time,Cream

Pink ribbon scars never forget..

Some Wilco for you guys. I’m tired now

Song of the day round twooo!! Here you goooo!! It’s the microphones yEAHHHHHHHH!!! Ily

Throwback Thursday

Black
Performed by Pearl Jam
Written by Eddie Vedder and Stone Gossard

How good can a song be if the band doesn’t want it released?  Well, it turns out, their reasoning was solid for the not wanting.  Something as personal as Blackmay not have been for the masses, but it was indeed the masses that were wanting.  Stone and Eddie both said that their ballad, later named as the 9th best ballad E-V-E-R by Rolling Stone (Stairwayguys?  Really?), was too personal to be a single.  Not too personal to be the fifth track on their first album, but too personal to be a single.  Its message would be lost or crushed by a video or being a single.  Odd logic, but then, Eddie is kind of an odd duck to begin with.

Back in ‘92 when we were all listening to the likes of Soundgarden, Nirvana, and the death throes of hair metal, came Pearl Jam.  And while Ten wasn’t the first cassette I ever bought, it was the only one I owned that I played as much as Hysteria.  This particular piece was put together while the band was looking for a singer, and Stone had recorded the guitar part (along with four others) and sent it off to be circulated in hopes of finding a singer and drummer for his band.  The tape made its way into the hands of gas station attendant Eddie, who added lyrics to the songs that eventually became Alive,Once,Footstepsand the piece that was called, at the time, E Ballad, that Eddie came to call Black.

I really can’t say enough about the emotion that this song invokes.  It doesn’t take but a few listens to feel the writer’s pain, if it takes more than one.  “I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life.  I know you’ll be a star in somebody else’s sky.  But why… Why… Why can’t it be… Can’t it be mine?”  Do I have this in my past?  Of course I do.  It’s the reason this song still resonates nearly 25 years later.

The guitar work is solid, the drums not overdone, and Eddie’s trademark mumble is almost completely coherent.  The clear star in this piece is the lyrics.  And here they are:  

Hey… oooh…

Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
Were laid spread out before me as her body once did.
All five horizons revolved around her soul as the earth to the sun
Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn

Ooh, and all I taught her was everything
Ooh, I know she gave me all that she wore

And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds of what was everything.
Oh, the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything…

I take a walk outside, I’m surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear?
Oh, and twisted thoughts that spin round my head, I’m spinning, oh,
I’m spinning, how quick the sun can drop away

And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass of what was everything
All the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything…

All the love gone bad turned my world to black
Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all I’ll be… yeah…

Uh huh… uh huh… ooh…

I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life,
I know you’ll be a star in somebody else’s sky,
But why, why, why can’t it be, can’t it be mine?

Aah… uuh..

Too doo doo too, too doo doo [many times until fade]

First on the charts Friday

Ten years ago, Sexyback.  Ugh.  Fifteen? Alicia Keys Fallin’. Loved it, but not in the mood. Twenty?  Macarena.  Catchy and fun, but not what I’m after.  Twenty-five? I Adore Mi Amore…. These aren’t getting any better.  So, let’s get off the five train and really reach back.

Eve of Destruction
Performed by Barry McGuire
Written by P. F. Sloan

Number one on this day 51 years ago, was Barry McGuire’s cover of this anti-war gem.  Need to stir up anti-war sentiment?  This one is going to be there.  It’s been covered a million times by the likes of The Dickies, Red Rockers, Johnny Thunders, Tiny Tim, hell, even Public Enemy has a version out there.  It’s also been used in all manner of visual media like, the ‘94 miniseries The Stand, The Simpsons, The Greatest American Hero and the films Sicko and Welcome to Sarajevo.

Los Angeles session guitarist PF Sloan wrote this and initially offered it to The Byrds, thinking it would fit right in with their style.  They passed, and as was the thing to do at the time, it was then offered to The Turtles (We’ll do it!  We haven’t annoyed enough people with Happy Together yet!), who recorded the first version, followed shortly by McGuire’s version.  According to McGuire himself, the song was recorded in one take, where he read the lyrics off of a crumbled piece of paper one Thursday morning.  The following Monday, the company called and  told him to turn on his radio, his song was playing.

Did I mention anti-war?  This song was everything that was wrong with the youth of the time.  Naturally, the conservatives of the day hated it.  This song may have been directly responsible for The Ballad of the Green Berets.  There was so much controversy here, Radio Scotland and several American radio stations would not play it, claiming it was an aid to the enemy in Vietnam.  The BBC even put it on a restricted list.

And why?  Because it was “anti-war.”  The lyrics called out the hypocrisy of the day.  “You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’” marks it as predating the 26th amendment.  “You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’”  Ah, yes, the draft.  We in the US still have to sign up for selective service right around our 18th birthday.  Fortunately, it hasn’t been instated since the Vietnam war.  “Marches alone can’t bring integration when human respect is disintegratin.’” Hell, this is still an issue.  Just look at the #BLM movement for proof.  A minority group can’t attempt to draw attention to something that’s been affecting them for decades, and all the privileged can say is “All lives matter.”

I like listening to this, as even my digital version sounds like a scratchy old 45.  It really helps encapsulate the era that it represents.  The background music is a simple blend of acoustic guitar, bass, and drums.  McGuire’s vocals gradually become louder and angrier as the song reaches its own crescendo.

And why go all the way back to this particular song?  Have you seen what’s coming for this election?

Lyrics:

The eastern world it is exploding
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill but not for votin’
You don’t believe in war but whats that gun you’re totin’?
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’

But you tell me
Over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction

Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away
There’ll be no one to save with the world in a grave
Take a look around you boy, it’s bound to scare you boy

And you tell me
Over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction

Yeah my blood’s so mad feels like coagulating
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth it knows no regulation
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’

And you tell me
Over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for four days in space
But when you return it’s the same old place
The pounding of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead but don’t leave a trace
Hate your next door neighbor but don’t forget to say grace

And tell me
Over and over and over and over again my friend
You don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction
Mmm, no, no, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction

Throwback Thursday

End of the Line

Performed by The Traveling Wilburys
Written by Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, George Harrison and Roy Orbison

Getting ready for school one morning during 8th grade, we happened to turn on the TV and find this video.  Both of my parents and I watched, not sure what we were seeing.  “That’s Tom Petty, right?”  “That one is George Harrison.” “That’s Roy Orbison in that picture by the rocking chair.”

So, who the hell were these guys?  The name at the end of the video called them The Traveling Wilburys.  They were playing this from a train car, the drumbeat akin to the sound of a train rolling down the tracks.  There were four guys playing guitar (“Is that Dylan?” “I think so, but who’s the hairy dude?”).  Jim Keltner, the famed session drummer (“I have no idea who that guy drumming is.”), sat with a snare and tambourine, moving it along with a good pace.

The experience of this “supergroup” was just… Fun.  And the stories they tell about putting this together are one of those “damn, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall” tales.  If only for the potential tales of debauchery… I mean, you’ve got a former Beatle, the poet Dylan, Orbison telling stories of Sun Records (Elvis and Johnny Cash era), Jeff Lynne and whatever craziness happened during the rise of ELO, and Tom Petty, who’d been in the business barely ten years, soaking it all in.

I only managed to catch this a few times over the next few years, but I enjoyed it enough that when a way to acquire music for free from a peer-to-peer file sharing system came about, it was one of the first songs I downloaded.

Lyrics:

Well it’s all right, riding around in the breeze
Well it’s all right, if you live the life you please
Well it’s all right, doing the best you can
Well it’s all right, as long as you lend a hand

You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring (End of the Line)
Waiting for someone to tell you everything (End of the Line)
Sit around and wonder what tomorrow will bring (End of the Line)
Maybe a diamond ring

Well it’s all right, even if they say you’re wrong
Well it’s all right, sometimes you gotta be strong
Well it’s all right, As long as you got somewhere to lay
Well it’s all right, everyday is Judgment Day

Maybe somewhere down the road aways (End of the Line)
You’ll think of me, wonder where I am these days (End of the Line)
Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays (End of the Line)
Purple Haze

Well it’s all right, even when push comes to shove
Well it’s all right, if you got someone to love
Well it’s all right, everything’ll work out fine
Well it’s all right, we’re going to the end of the line

Don’t have to be ashamed of the car I drive (End of the Line)
I’m glad to be here, happy to be alive (End of the Line)
It don’t matter if you’re by my side (End of the Line)
I’m satisfied

Well it’s all right, even if you’re old and gray
Well it’s all right, you still got something to say
Well it’s all right, remember to live and let live
Well it’s all right, the best you can do is forgive

Well it’s all right, riding around in the breeze
Well it’s all right, if you live the life you please
Well it’s all right, even if the sun don’t shine
Well it’s all right, we’re going to the end of the line

Ordinary World
Performed by Duran Duran
Written by Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, James Bates and Warren Cuccurullo

By the end of the 80′s, Duran Duran was little more than a flamed out husk of its “Fab Five” days.  They were desperately clinging to the remnants of fame they once held as Princess Di’s favorite band.  I Don’t Want Your Love seemed a bit prophetic, as they surely weren’t getting it.  The small projects of the band, like their greatest hits compilation were drowned out by the likes of the upcoming Alice in Chains, Jane’s Addiction, and thoroughly squashed by the grunge movement.

The self titled album released in ‘92 was was nicknamed The Wedding Album to distinguish it from their earlier work, and featured photos of band members’ parents getting married on the cover.  Months before the full album was released, Ordinary World began getting airplay, with the more rabid fans pushing for more.  The album wasn’t scheduled to be released until after the new year, but fan demand pushed it all the way up to December.

And aren’t we glad they did?  I mean, we didn’t get a full revival of the mania that was the first round of Duran Duran, but we got this beautiful ballad (and a few other songs), reminding us how much we loved Simon’s voice, and the rest of the band’s synthpop sound.

Simon himself penned the lyrics in tribute to his late childhood friend David Miles.  It was actually the middle song of a trilogy beginning with 1989′s Do You Believe in Shame? and finishing with 1997′s Out of My Mind.

The lyrics themselves tell about a person’s loneliness and pain of missing someone that had been a part of their life for a long period of time.  Obviously, the loss of a friend is what it’s meant to convey, but it could just as easily be a long term relationship that failed. Or even a lost parent, as I associated it when I lost my mother six years ago.

There’s a new sting in my world, as I’ve not only gone through divorce (still ongoing), but I also moved away from 28 years of life history, to a brand new town where the only people I knew were my sister and her family.  I often miss the life that I recognize, but I’m the one that’s gone away.

Lyrics:

Came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue
Thought I heard you talking softly.
I turned on the lights, the TV and the radio
Still I can’t escape the ghost of you

What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some’d say,
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away

But I won’t cry for yesterday, there’s an ordinary world,
Somehow I have to find.
And as I try to make my way, to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive.

Passion or coincidence once prompted you to say
“Pride will tear us both apart”
Well now pride’s gone out the window cross the rooftops, run away,
Left me in the vacuum of my heart.

What is happening to me?
Crazy, some’d say,
Where is my friend when I need you most?
Gone away

But I won’t cry for yesterday, there’s an ordinary world,
Somehow I have to find.
And as I try to make my way, to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive.

Papers in the roadside tell of suffering and greed
Feared today, forgot tomorrow
Ooh, here besides the news of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk

(Just blown away)

And I don’t
But I won’t cry for yesterday, there’s an ordinary world,
Somehow I have to find.
And as I try to make my way, to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive.

Every world, is my world (I will learn to survive)
Any world, is my world (I will learn to survive)
Any world, is my world
Every world is my world

Forever in Blue Jeans
Performed by Neil Diamond
Written by Neil Diamond and Richard Bennet

His yesterday, hers today.

She would have been 69.  Fuck cancer.

Mom was a lot like me in the sense that we could not pick a favorite musical act.  But there was always one… Hers was Neil.  

My strongest memory of her and Neil was the night she and one of my cousins went to see him back in… ‘85? I want to say.  Might have been ‘84.  In any event, when I saw here the next day, and she told me all about the show, she mentioned that he played this song three different times, including the encore.

It’s hard, really, to take a prolific singer/songwriter like Neil and narrow down a favorite song.  For me, it’s simply “there’s some I like better than others, but there’s no clear favorite.”  I imagine Mom felt the same, but this one held a special place in her heart, and so, by extension, mine.

The Jewish Elvis wrote simple music.  Acoustic guitar, drums and piano is all he ever needed.  Sure, he’s stretched that out a bit in his later years.  He’s got a whole big entourage on stage, there’s a big show when he plays and sings, and he’s a great entertainer.

Forever in Blue Jeans is from his early days.  Bennet wrote and provides a simple but catchy guitar riff that Neil offers his trademark mumbles and hums over.  The lyrics tell of a man that just wants the love of his life.  Money would be great, “honey is sweet,” but as long as he has his love, he’d rather be forever in a pair of jeans.

You know, I’ve noticed I’ve gotten rather lovey-dovey lately.  That’s not the intention with this one.  This one is for the greatest lady I’ve ever known.

Happy birthday, Mom.

Lyrics:

Money talks
But it don’t sing and dance
And it don’t walk
And long as I can have you
Here with me, I’d much rather be
Forever in blue jeans

Honey’s sweet
But it ain’t nothin’ next to baby’s treat
And if you pardon me
I’d like to say
We’ll do okay
Forever in blue jeans

Maybe tonight
Maybe tonight, by the fire
All alone you and I
Nothing around
But the sound of my heart
And your sighs

Money talks
But it can’t sing and dance
And it can’t walk
And long as I can have you
Here with me, I’d much rather be
Forever in blue jeans, babe

And honey’s sweet
But it ain’t nothin’ next to baby’s treat
And if you pardon me I’d like to say
We’ll do okay
Forever in blue jeans

Maybe tonight
Maybe tonight, by the fire
All alone you and I
Nothing around
But the sound of my heart
And your sighs

Money talks
But it can’t sing and dance
And it can’t walk
And long as I can have you
Here with me
I’d much rather be
Forever in blue jeans

And if you pardon me
I’d like to say
We’ll do okay
Forever in blue jeans, babe
And long as I can have you
Here with me I’d much rather be
Forever in blue jeans, babe

The Air That I Breathe
Performed by The Hollies
Written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood

I sat here, looking back over my entries to discern a pattern for Mondays since I started.  Came up with something, then didn’t know where to take it.  As soon as I wrote the date, I knew.

He’d be 74 today.

So, I didn’t have a great relationship with my father.  So much so that there was a point I told myself I would be everything to my own children that he wasn’t for me and my sister. 

Some background.  Long ago, in days of yore, we had an 8-Track player, and there was one in particular that had a lot of 70′s “hits of the era” on it, one of which was The Air that I Breathe.  When the 8-Track died, it was just something from the past that I had basically forgotten.

Cut to Christmas, many years later.  We got several new CDs for the house, including the “Love Collection.”  The seven CD set included Secret Love, Always andLove Songs.  This one was on one of them.  First time it came on, just that opening guitar note provoked a reaction from Dad that I hadn’t ever seen him have to a song, and that stuck with me forever.  

Albert Hammond, of It Never Rains in Southern California fame, first recorded this in 1972.  After that, it made it’s way all around the music world, including the UK where it met with the Hollies, who adored the cover that they’d heard from Phil Everly.  Alan Parsons engineered this masterpiece of vocal harmony and it became one of the band’s biggest hits.  A beautiful acoustic guitar carries it through the vocals, and a well timed electric screams through the solos, including the opening riff.  The whole song, lyrics included are summed up by the line “peaceful, warm and tired.”

And that riff and progression… It’s beautiful, and distinct enough that if you hear it else where, you know you’ve heard it before, and how beautiful it is.  Thom Yorke obviously thought so, as Hammond and Hazlewood are (now) also given writer credits for Creep.

Happy birthday, Dad.

If I could make a wish I think I’d pass
Can’t think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound
Nothing to eat, no books to read
Making love with you
Has left me peaceful warm and tired
What more could I ask
There’s nothing left to be desired
Peace came upon me and it leaves me weak
Sleep, silent angel go to sleep

Sometimes all I need
Is the air that I breathe
And to love you

Sometimes all I need
Is the air that I breathe
And to love you

Sometimes all I need
Is the air that I breathe
And to love you

Holiday
Performed by Madonna
Written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens

Our lady and her timeline have always been one of those weird set ups in the internet age.  On one side of the Pond, her first big hit was Lucky Star.  On the other side, it was Boderline.  And yet, somehow, Holiday precedes both.  For me, this one didn’t register until the remix was released during her Blonde Ambition tour.

So, here’s the thing with Madonna.  One Saturday afternoon, years ago, I watched one of those “Top 100 Artists of All Time!!!” shows.  We were into the top five, and I was trying to figure out who was missing.  Somehow, I thought Michael had already been listed, and I could only come up with four.  My daughters in the room with me kept tossing out suggestions.  

Britney?
Hell no.
Gaga?  
No. *eyeroll*  
Rihanna?  
Who?  
Nikki? 
The chick from that Lonely Island song?  No. 
You don’t think it’s going to be a woman?
No.  They’ve already done Madonna, and there’s no woman out there that’s done what she has in their careers musically.  There isn’t one  that’s even close.

That was actually kind of a tough one for me to admit, since I was never a huge fan.  Her vocal range was never all that.  It’s gotten better with age (I imagine seeing a vocal coach for her role in Evita really helped there), but it’s still not all that.  Her videos gradually just became a thing of shock value (what can we get MTV to not show?), and the ones that weren’t were just so blah.  The woman can dance, and her choreographers had to love her.  She is this icon to the LGBT community, which isn’t me, but more power to them.  She wasn’t my thing, she was just this constant inescapable force.  No matter how music evolved, Madonna was always there, not generally at the forefront, but doing the Madonna thing.  To me, it always seemed just enough to keep her name relevant.

So,Holiday.  As I said when I got the suggestion to write this, not her best work.  Turns out, that it was among her earliest stuff, which would explain that.  Her first album wasn’t even through conception when her first single was released.  It created some buzz, so another song was released and then came Holiday.  Billboard top 20 fodder, and an audience ravenous for the “new” way to consume music (videos!) gave her the push to put more out there, and once Lucky Star became a thing, she was off and running.

But…Holiday.  It’s got so much to it.  A sentiment everyone can understand and identify with in its lyrics her audience chants with her: “If we took a holiday, everything would be okay.” There’s lots of fun instrumentation like cowbell (that she played herself), synth strings, and other various electronica of the era.  I’d say this would be best left as a distant memory of her early “macaroni art,” but apparently, she still performs it during her encores.  So, while I may not think too highly of it, she clearly has a soft spot for it.  

Keep on rockin’ it, Madge.

Lyrics:

Holiday, celebrate
Holiday, celebrate

If we took a holiday
Took some time to celebrate
Just one day out of life
It would be
It would be so nice
Everybody spread the word
We’re gonna have a celebration
All across the world
In every nation
It’s time for the good times
Forget about the bad times
One day to come together
To release the pressure
We need a holiday
If we took a holiday
Took some time to celebrate
Just one day out of life
It would be
It would be so nice

You can turn this world around
And bring back all of those happy days
Put your trouble down
It’s time to celebrate
Let love shine
And we will find
A way to come together
And make things better
We need a holiday
If we took a holiday
Took some time to celebrate
Just one day out of life
It would be
It would be so nice

Holiday, celebrate
Holiday, celebrate

Maniac
Performed by Michael Sembello
Written by Dennis Matkosky and Michael Sembello

On this day, in 1983, the number one song in the US was this little soundtrack ditty.  Michael Sembello’s wife accidentally included it on a tape sent to the execs at Paramount what were looking for songs to use in their upcoming film, Flashdance.

Me, being the impressionable youth that I was at the time, was not allowed to see Flashdance, and with good reason.  It had those trampy women dancing on stages for money and taking their clothes off.  I couldn’t possibly understand (I didn’t) the context at that age, all I knew was that the second that woman pulled the chain and the water dropped on her, I got sent out of the room.  Rated ‘R’ didn’t mean I couldn’t watch it, but if it was going to go over my head (translation: included overtly sexual things), I wasn’t going to be watching it.  I’m fairly certain I’ve seen it a few times since, but it’s not something I’ll go out of my way to watch.  Though I have to say, 19-year-old Jennifer Beals looked pretty damn awesome in her starched white cuffs sitting in the restaurant.  

But I digress…

The lyrics originally had a much darker tone.  It was about a serial killer, and was going to be used in a movie with the same title.  But, it didn’t work for  some particular reason, and got changed to fit a dancer that trained “maniacally.”  Good thing too, otherwise nobody would remember this one.  

Typical early 80′s sound went with this, synthesizers, electronic drums, and other family members providing backing vocals.  I don’t think it would pass today, but it was what it was for its time.

Lyrics:

Just a steel-town girl on a Saturday night, lookin’ for the fight of her life
In the real-time world no one sees her at all, they all say she’s crazy

Locking rhythms to the beat of her heart, changing movement into light
She has danced into the danger zone, when a dancer becomes a dance

It can cut you like a knife, if the gift becomes the fire
On a wire between will and what will be

She’s a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before
She’s a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before

On the ice blue line of insanity is a place most never see.
It’s a hard won place of mystery, touch it, but can’t hold it
You work all your life for that moment in time, it could come or pass you by
It’s a push-shove world, but there’s always a chance
If the hunger stays alive

There’s a cold kinetic heat struggling, stretching for defeat
Never stopping with her head against the wind

She’s a maniac, maniac, I sure know
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before
She’s a maniac, maniac, I sure know
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before

It can cut you like a knife, if the gift becomes the fire
On a wire between will and what will be

She’s a maniac, maniac, I sure know
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before
[repeats out]

Armageddon It
Performed by Def Leppard
Written by Joe Elliot, Rick Savage, Phil Collen, Steve Clark and Mutt Lange

Not too long after I turned 14, I started regularly watching MTV.  At 4:30 every afternoon, was ″Dial MTV,” the predecessor to TRL.  When I started watching, this was the number one song.  I could regularly turn on MTV at ten ‘til, and find this video playing.  My first new experience with Def Leppard since my sister had sat me down to listen to Pyromaniayears before.  And I was hooked.

I got my first copy of Hysteriafor Christmas that year.  My second copy I bought myself a year and a half later.  My third copy came a couple years later.  I finally bought it on CD not long after I came home from the army, then again when I could import a fresh copy to iTunes.  So, yeah.  Love this album, been listening to it for nearly 30 years, still not tired of it.

I love the writer credit on the Wiki page.  It should just say, everybody but “Rick Allen” since every other member of the band, including the producer, is listed for this credit.

The title is meant to be a play on the phrase “I’m a gettin’ it.”  Which makes a lot more sense as a response to “Are you gettin’ it?”  The rest of the song is trademark Def Leppard.  Two and three part guitar harmonies.  Three part vocal harmonies.  The “Thunder God” Rick Allen showing that losing an arm didn’t slow him down in the slightest, just made him learn a new way.  

Armageddon It is far and away my favorite song from this album.  Yes, more than strip club anthem Pour Some Sugar on Me.   I cannot recommend this throwback enough.

Lyrics:

You better come inside when you’re ready to
But no chance if ya don’t want to dance
You’re like four-letter words when you’re ready to
But then you won’t ‘cause you know that you can
You got it, but are you gettin’ it?
You say that love is won when you get some
But then your finger won’t trigger the gun
You know you can’t stop it, so don’t rock it, you know you got it
Hey, but are you gettin’ it?
Really gettin’ it, come get it from me

Every little bit (gimme all that you got)
Every bit of it (every bit of your lovin’)
Oh, c'mon live a bit (never want it to stop)
Yeah, but are you gettin’ it? (armageddon it)
Ooh, really gettin’ it? (yes, armageddon it)

Yeah, doo-doo wop
You try comin’ on when you need some
But then you don’t 'cause you already did
Yeah, you jangle your jewels while your shakin’ ya
And drive the pretty boys outta their heads
You got it, but are you gettin’ it?
You flash you bedroom eyes like a jumpin’ jack
Then play it pretty with a pat on the back
You know you can’t stop it, so don’t rock it
You know you got it
Hey, but are you gettin’ it?
Ooh, really gettin’ it, oh, come get it from me

Every little bit (gimme all that you got)
Every bit of it (every bit of your lovin’)
Oh, c'mon live a bit (never want it to stop)
Yeah, but are you gettin’ it? (armageddon it)
Ooh, really gettin’ it? (yes, armageddon it)

C'mon, Steve, get it
Take it, take it, take it from me
I got an itchy finger following me
Pull it, pull it, c'mon trigger the gun
'Cause the best is yet to come, I say
'Cause the best is yet to come
Are you gettin’ it? Really gettin’ it?
Are you getting it, really getting it?
Oh, come get it from me

Every little bit (gimme all that you got)
Every bit of it (every bit of your lovin’)
Oh, c'mon live a bit (never want it to stop)
(Gimme all of your lovin’)
Oh, are you getting it? (gimme all that you got)
Oh, are you getting it? (every bit of your lovin’)
Oh, little bit (gimme all that you got)
Little bit
You got to live it (gimme all of your lovin’)
Oh, baby, mean it (gimme all that you got)
Come on and give it (gimme all of your lovin’)
Oh, come on and give it (never want it to stop)
Oh, are you getting it? (gimme all of your lovin’)
Ooh, are you getting it? (never want it to stop)
Oh, are you getting it (every bit of your lovin’)

All For You
Performed by Sister Hazel
Written by K Block and Sister Hazel

A little Jangle Pop out of Gainesville?  Why not?

Sister Hazel (Williams) was a missionary that ran a homeless shelter.  Why they guys took that name, well, that’s not on the Wiki page.  What I did find, was what I already knew.  They’re an alt rock band that doesn’t sound like most alt rock of the day.  They’re less punky and more perky with that whole jangle pop thing going for them.  And their lyrics are happy, another thing that sets them apart.

Honestly, listening to this piece, I keep waiting for John Popper’s harmonica to jump in.  Oh, wrong band?  Well, this is the one with that really obnoxious guy that got dubbed the next Van Morrison (one sha la la does not make you Van) and then covered up a Joni Mitchell classic, right?  Oh, still wrong.  Okay, did they lose their minds on Allison Road?  Still wrong?  Well, shit.  This is what I get for finding the one (practically) one-hit-wonder from the mid 90s era of Jangle Pop

Enough with the bashing.  All the good things about the style are covered here.  Beautiful guitar work, strong vocal harmonies, and a generally pleasant rhythm.  The lyrics are that of a person that’s seen way too much and is finally, undeniably in love.  And while it may feel like nothing they do is enough, dedication will win out.

This is actually a sweet song, and it’s one I wish I had someone to sing it to.  I really miss the feeling of being blissfully in love.  I know that this is out there for me, I’ve found it once, and I can find it again.

Finally I figured out
But it took a long, long time
But now there’s a turnabout
Maybe ‘cause I’m trying

There’s been times, I’m so confused
All my roads, They lead to you
I just can’t turn and walk away

It’s hard to say what it is I see in you
Wonder if I’ll always be with you
But words can’t say, And I can’t do
Enough to prove,
It’s all for you

I thought I’d seen it all
'Cause it’s been a long, long time
But then we’ll trip and fall
Wondering if I’m blind

There’s been times, I’m so confused
All my roads, They lead to you
I just can’t turn and walk away

It’s hard to say what it is I see in you
Wonder if I’ll always be with you
But words can’t say, And I can’t do
Enough to prove,
It’s all for you

Rain comes pouring down
Falling from blue skies
Words without a sound
Coming from your eyes

Finally I figured out
But it took a long, long time
But now there’s a turnabout
Maybe cause I’m trying

There’s been times, I’m so confused
All my roads, They lead to you
I just can’t turn and walk away

It’s hard to say what it is I see in you
Wonder if I’ll always be with you
But words can’t say, And I can’t do
Enough to prove,
It’s all for you

It’s hard to say what it is I see in you
Wonder if I’ll always be with you
But words can’t say, And I can’t do
Enough to prove,
It’s all for you

It’s hard to say
It’s hard to say
It’s all for you

Rush Rush

Performed by Paula Abdul

Written by Peter Lord

Paula Abdul’s first true ballad, and first release from her second album Spellbound was a huge departure for her.  It was so far and a way not Cold Hearted Snake orStraight Up that audiences initially weren’t sure what to make of it.  The video made the adult contemporary world sigh wistfully (Keanu Reeves as James Dean?  Why not?), and a hit was made.

And me, well… ‘91 was a tumultuous year for me.  At the end of my sophomore year of high school, I had taken a liking to love songs and ballads.  I still liked all that fun glam rock that was out there, and the first mix tape I ever made had plenty of Poison, AC/DC, Bon Jovi and Scorpions, but it also had this lovely piece.  Why?  Well, as with everything else in the entire history of this world, it’s about a girl.

I was stuuuuuuuupid in love with a girl just shy of two years younger than me and she was finishing up her eighth grade year at the same time.  We talked on the phone, went on walks, rode the same bus (my friends got their cars and driver licenses that summer, it would be another two years before I had my license) to and from school, and generally were as couple-y as we could be without actually being a couple.  I made no secret about my interest in her, and she was shy about being the kind of expressive that I was after, but it was there.  She was generally never cold to me, so I had that as an in.

Ah, rambling… Sweet memory.

This song.  She played it one day in the background when we were talking on the phone, even singing along through one line, “Oh man, I love you so.”  Goosebumps.  Not because her voice was so amazing, heck even Paula’s isn’t all that, but just finally hearing those words from her.

And that’s what this song represents to me.  There’s so much memory tied to this, that I can never hate it, because there’s always something beautiful attached to it.  Was it, hearing those words in a meaningful way for the first time?  The incredibly, sumptuously shot music video?  The song itself with all the lovely instrumentation, from the strings following the bridge, to everything else that just wasn’t everything else that I listened to at the time?  

It’s this whole mosaic of greatness.  The girl is long out of the picture now.  She’s quite happily living her life in her second marriage, occasionally dropping me a line on Facebook.  But every once in a while, Paula’s music comes on and I’m 16 again, and it’s always sweet.  

Enjoy:

You’re the whisper of a summer breeze
You’re the kiss that puts my soul at ease
What I’m saying is
I’m in to you
Here’s my story and the
Story goes
You give love, you get love
And more than
Heaven knows
You’re gonna see
I’m gonna run, I’m gonna try
I’m gonna take this love
Right to ya
All my heart, all the joy
Oh baby, baby please

Rush, rush
Hurry, hurry lover
Come to me
Rush, rush
I wanna see, I wanna see ya
Get free with me
Rush, rush
I can feel it, I can feel you
All through me
Rush, rush
Ooh what you do to me

And all I want from you is
What you are
And even if you’re right
Next to me
You’re still too far away
If I’m not inside your arms
I get dramatic baby,
Yes I know
But I need you, I want you
Ooh man, I love you so
Ooh, ooh
You’re gonna see
I’m gonna run, I’m gonna try
I’m gonna take this love
Right to ya
All my heart, all the joy
Ooh baby, baby please

Rush, rush
Hurry, hurry lover
Come to me
Rush, rush
I wanna see, I wanna see ya
Get free with me
Rush, rush
I can feel it, I can feel you
All through me
Rush, rush
Ooh what you do to me

When you kiss me
Up and down
Turn my senses all around
Oh baby, oh baby
I don’t know
Just how or why
But no one else
Has touched me
So deep, so deep
So deep inside
You’re gonna see
I’m gonna run
I’m gonna try
I’m gonna take this love
Right to ya
All me heart, all the joy
Oh baby baby please

Rush, rush
Hurry, hurry lover
Come to me
Rush, rush
I wanna see, I wanna see ya
Get free with me
Rush, rush
I can feel it, I can feel you
All through me
Rush, rush
Ooh what you do to me

Rush, rush
Hurry, hurry lover
Come to me
Rush, rush
I wanna see, I wanna see ya
Get free with me
Rush, rush
I can feel it, I can feel you
All through me
Rush, rush
Ooh what you do to me

Rush, rush
Na na na na na na na
Rush, rush
Na na na na na na na
Rush, rush
Na na na na na na na
Rush, rush
Na na na na na na na

There’s some notion of “Fuck you!” that I’m feeling today.  Has nothing to do with the music.  In fact, as it always does, music makes me feel better.

However, for the second month in a row, my insurance company failed to pull their payment from my account, so I was hit with a late charge ($25) again this month.  Called my rep, and apparently, they were charging a card I hadn’t authorized for them that I can remember.  Ever.  Instead of the bank account that they had been using since I started the policy back in January.

I vented a teeny bit to my rep, who’s this really awesome old man, and then apologized to him for being so pissed at the company.  Stupid fucks.

So, what is the song of the day?  Fuck, I don’t know.  Don’t even care right now.  Let’s set iTunes to random and….

Steve Miller Band - The Joker.  I *am* a lover and a sinner.

Down Under

Performed by Men at Work

Written by Colin Hay and Ron Strykert

Ah, summer 1982.  I was just a lad of seven years, and this Aussie import couldn’t have meant less to me.  I had fractured a finger in early June, and the day I was to get the splint removed for good, I damn near broke my jaw.  MTV was less than a year old, and we weren’t a cable household.  So, music videos were still a rare thing in our house.  On Fridays, there was an hour long show that played the top 10 of the week, and I’m pretty sure this one was a part of it while I was laid up on the couch unable to go out and play.

Down the line, I saw the fun in this song.  Bouncy tune, flute through the refrains, and dude with an accent that came through in song.  Moreover, I couldn’t understand half the words, between not having enough life experience, and the fact that it’s half Aussie slang.  Those first two lines… I was a grown ass man still saying, “I have no clue what he said there.”  Thanks to Pop Up Video and some Aussie to American translation, I got it.  These days, I watch Aussie to American translation videos and I’m still fascinated.  Merry old land of Oz indeed.

Colin’s voice is pretty distinct, and the few times I’ve heard him over the years (still playing the hits of his former band), I find that I still like it. And this song has really grown on me.

Lyrics:

Travelling in a fried-out Kombi
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said:

“Do you come from a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder
You better run, you better take cover.”

Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six foot four and full of muscle
I said, “Do you speak-a my language?”
He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich
And he said:

“I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder
You better run, you better take cover.” (yeah)

Lying in a den in Bombay
With a slack jaw, and not much to say
I said to the man, “Are you trying to tempt me?
Because I come from the land of plenty.”
And he said:

“Oh! Do you come from a land down under (oh yeah yeah)
Where women glow and men plunder
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder
You better run, you better take cover.”

Tarzan Boy

Performed by Baltimora

Written by Maurizio Bassi and Naimy Hackett

Jimmy McShane was the singer for the Italian band called Baltimora that gave us this one hit wonder from ‘85. The band itself was only active from ‘85 to ‘87, and this was their only big hit outside of Italy.

I’ve read that this song was a metaphor that McShane used for coming out to his parents.  And for that, I can see something inherently beautiful in the lyrics and melody.  The struggles of a young man coming to terms with who he is in the big and scary jungle of the world.  I have to give this man credit for something that can be difficult to admit to, especially in the era that he did.  Even Boy George could not bring himself to come out at the time, and he was significantly more flamboyant.  I mean, wasn’t every song on Colour by Numbers about his relationship with the drummer?

All that said, enough of the niceness.  This shitheap is everything terrible about catchy 80s music.  And it won’t die.  It got re-released eight years later.  Advertisers use it from time to time (looking at you, Listerine).  It showed up in A Million Ways to Die in the West, probably because… I dunno, insert crass remark about Seth MacFarlane here.  It’ll probably get used again in some film with a jungle theme, or something really bro-like.

Did I mention that it’s catchy?  If you dare to listen to it, you’ll be hearing the refrain in your head for weeks.  The rest is really your standard electro-synth pop that so much of the mid 80’s were known for.

Don’t listen to this song.  For the sake of your own sanity, stay away if you can. 

Lyrics:

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Jungle life
I’m far away from nowhere
On my own like Tarzan Boy

Hide and seek
I play along while rushing cross the forest
Monkey business on a sunny afternoon

Jungle life
I’m living in the open
Native beat that carries on

Burning bright
A fire that blows the signal to the sky
I sit and wonder does the message get to you

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Night to night
Gimme the other, gimme the other
Chance tonight
Gimme the other, gimme the other
Night to night
Gimme the other, gimme the other world

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Jungle life
You’re far away from nothing
It’s all right
You won’t miss home

Take a chance
Leave everything behind you
Come and join me
You won’t be sorry
It’s easy to survive

Jungle life
We’re living in the open
All alone like Tarzan’s boy

Hide and seek
We’ll play along while rushing ‘cross the
Forest
Monkey business on a sunny afternoon

Night to night
Gimme the other, gimme the other
Chance tonight, Oh Yeah
Night to night
Gimme the other, gimme the other
Night to night
You won’t play

Night to night
Gimme the other, gimme the other
Chance tonight, Oh Yeah
Night to night
Night to night
Gimme the other, gimme the other

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh…