Earworm CD: April 2008

WHY?
01. Three-Way – The Magnetic Fields
From the 2008 Nonesuch album, “Distortion”
02. You’ve Just Gotta Know My Mind – Karen Verros
From the 1965 single, Dot 16780
03. Seein’ Is Believin’ – Eddie Hodges
From the1962 single, Columbia 42649
04. Let’s Live For Today – The Grass Roots
From the 1967 single, Dunhill 4084
05. Happy Man – Greg Kihn Band
From the 1982 Beserkely album, “Kihntinued”
06. The Beat Of Love – Voice of The Beehive
From the 1988 London album, “Let It Bee”
07. All For Love and Love For All – The Lilac Time
From the 1990 Fontana album, “And Love For All”
08. Juliet Of The Spirits – The B-52’s
From the 2008 Astralwerks album, “Funplex”
09. Touch Too Much – Hot Chip
From the 2008 Astralwerks album, “Made In The Dark”
10. Stop Me (medley) – Mark Ronson featuring Daniel Merriweather
From the 2007 Red Int. album, “Version”
11. Come See About Me (mono single version) – The Supremes
From the 1964 single, Motown 1068
12. Brand New Start – Jackie DeShannon
From the 1972 Atlantic album, “Jackie”
13. I Thought I Saw Your Face Today – She & Him
From the 2008 Merge album, “Volume 1”
14. Out of Reach – Gabrielle
From the 2001 Island soundtrack album, “Bridget Jones’s Diary”
15. The Last Good Day of The Year – Cousteau
From the 2001 V2 album, “Cousteau”
16. Baby That’s Me (mono single mix) – The Cake
From the 1967 single, Decca 32179
17. Come See About Me – Afghan Whigs
From the 1992 SubPop e.p., “Uptown Avondale”
18. Back To Good – Matchbox 20
From the 1996 Atlantic album, “Yourself Or Someone Like You”
19. Naked As A Window – Josh Window
From the bonus e.p. with 2007 Victor album, “The Historical Conquests of…”
20. In My Life – The Beatles
From the 1965 Parlophone album, “Rubber Soul”
21. Thank You, Mr. Know-It-All
Excerpt from 1966 episode of the television show, “Rocky & Bullwinkle”

April 30, 2008 Earworm

As a month of madness comes to a close I think of how it started and am shocked by just how little time has passed because this month seems to have lasted forever. I think about what's not been said, what seems to be pointless to mention, and how little anyone knows about those who surround them. Some relationships seem based upon full disclosure but we all keep our secrets. That may not be bad when the getting is good but...
So, Josh Ritter's "Naked As A Window" is todays pick because I hear it as a warning to not be distracted by what appears to be the full monty because there's always a beneath beneath. And also because I'm in love with the lyric, "I'm just a hallway for ceilings and walls, bathed in emptiness all the way through".

Thank god it's Wednesday.

April 16, 2008 Earworm

Okay, it's Wednesday. Hump day. Everyone is looking to get through it so we're that much closer to the weekend. With that in mind, today's earworm is The Grass Roots' "Let's Live For Today". We never know how many Wednesdays we have left so I think we should stop treating Wednesday like it's just a pit stop between, "Fuck! It's Monday again" and "Thank God It's Friday!"

I'm going to go to work and try to enjoy it as the soap opera it has become and then, thanks to learning last night that a can of spray paint called "watermelon" will provide "bubblegum pink" results when applied to clay pots, I'll stop by Home Depot for a less vivid choice. Nothing too exciting, perhaps, but it beats the alternative.

Oh, and The Grass Roots are under appreciated, just like Wednesdays.

April 08, 2008 Earworm

Actors who cross over to pop music are usually something that makes me run screaming: even if they can sing or play, the music tends to be demographically formulated to fit the moment and really, when was the last time you thought to yourself, "Gee, I'd really like to hear Eddie Murphy's "Party All The Time".

Zooey Deschanel is a different proposition all together. Hooking up with M. Ward provides a surprisingly perfect fit for her sunshine pop suited voice although the outcome is better suited to early evening when the horizon turns lavender and dark pink.

"I Thought I Saw Your Face Today" addresses the mind tricks our memories can play and it sounds as familiar, yet utterly fresh as such moments can be.

April 07, 2008 Earworm

The good, and the bad, thing about a group of friends is that when something is wrong with one, the matter seems to reverberate across the ether. As we begin trying to redefine normal, to figure out what life is without one of us, I wonder if a widow's snapping suddenly from a reverie is the reason he popped into my thoughts out of the blue. Or if one us is looking at a picture or wondering why or just wondering.

In the wake of what would commonly be called a senseless tragedy (if only in the figurative sense ;-{ ), I find myself getting on stuck on the word "good". Every time that I say it, type it, think it, I find myself pausing. I'm not sure what good means anymore. I don't know if that's normal in times like this but it's what I'm experiencing and it's made me addicted to Matchbox 20's "Back 2 Good" today.

Like most sane people, the endless parade across the airwaves of songs like "3A.M." and "Push" made me wish Matchbox 20 would go away and want to cut my own ears off. Too enamored of the Cobain/Vedder growl and scream, Rob Thomas' vocal had a tendency of beating undeniable pop hooks over the head like a bad muppet dream. But "Back 2 Good" was different. For one, the arrangement borders on Bacharach, with horn charts that act as lyrics and guarantee their existence on any decent idea of a cover version. Second, there is a depth of maturity that is sorely lacking in the rest of the tracks on their debut album. Wikipedia offers several examples of what the song is about but they all amount to fucking up in a big way. That's over simplified, perhaps, but true nonetheless.

Because it's what we do when friends fuck up, we'll all be here to pick up the pieces; to try to get it back to good even if we're not quite sure what good is anymore.

April 02, 2008 Earworm

I remember asking Wayne, as he was transitioning from someone who was my boss to someone who was my friend, "Quick! The first thing that comes to mind - what's your favorite song?"

He immediately said, "How can you such a decision?", which delighted me. "But off the top of my head: 'In My Life' by The Beatles."

I was surprised and he knew it. "Why is your face like that? Are you surprised that I'd pick something so sentimental?"

To be honest, I was. But I was also thinking what I always think when I hear "In My Life": why do the verses have to be so awkward? But I also couldn't help wondering how long it had been his favorite song because I've always been uncomfortable with it. I could never quite grasp why, but I always felt that its perspective - and its delivery - too old for Lennon's age of twenty-five.

As I woke up with it in my head this morning, I thought, "It is an ending masquerading as a love song." Although my perspective may be clouded by recent events, I suspect Wayne may have felt that way, too.

And now we begin the process of re-defining normal.