I love songs which reference either themselves or other songs. In jazz I think it’s called ‘quoting’. It can be fun and effective but one does run the risk of being cheesy. I haven’t tried it yet in my own songwriting. I recently came upon a song from a band called Denim which inspired this post. I had never heard of them. The track I found “Middle of The Road” was released in 1993. Pure pop catchiness but with ethos of punk in that our narrator begins with “I hate the Stones and I hate blues, Eddie Cochran and blue suede shoes, I hate the King, I hate Chuck Berry, I hate Hooker, I hate Leadbelly, alright” He goes on to list types of music he dislikes, drugs and all of the things which accompany the typical rock-n-roll trope. It works (for me) in this day and age of folks who profess to not care much about lyrics. Dig this:
The indie rock band Built to Spill made a song of quoting (lyrically) many rock songs which proceeded them. Plus I just love the opening line “You were wrong when you said everything’s going to be alright”.
The Replacements ‘I Hate Music’ is a perfectly joyous contradiction. Bob Stinson’s blistering playing is sorely missed.
Many folks feel as though music should be either a.) uplifting OR b.) dance-able with not too much to think about (aww c’mon more thinking? do I have to?) cutting out whole swaths of our collective human experience. Yes we get furious and yes we get sad and thankfully there are still artists who give voice to that.
Thanks, as always, for reading/listening!
Next up:
Goodbye Blue Monday, 1087 Broadway, Bklyn NYC Friday, January 10th
Philip Lynch 8PM
Cameramen 9PM
The Rotary Club 10PM
Combat Jazz 11PM
Philip Lynch Music 