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Rocktober Days 12 and 13
Sorry sorry I didn't post yesterday! That just means an abundance of music for you all today! I'm warning you right up front, both of these days have a THEME.
Rocktober Day 12:
So, as a child, I was fascinated by songs that told a story. Okay, so lots of songs tell stories, but I mean, long, involved and full of details. One of these songs even has a SEQUEL.
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee / The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy
First of all, you gotta love a song that rhymes Gitche Gumee (I am not sure how to spell this, and I only have Lightfoot and Longfellow for reference) with gloomy. Second, I was enthralled by this song and the tragedy of it all as a child. THEY WOULD HAVE MADE WHITEFISH BAY IF THEY ONLY HAD 15 MILES!
The Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band
And the Devil jumped upon a hickory stump and said "Boy, let me tell you what / I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a fiddle player, too / and if you'd care to take a dare I'll make a bet with you"
Look, I am not surprised the Devil is a fiddle player, and I have to say, I am glad, since we got an awesome song out of the Devil's talent with a string instrument.
Escape (The Piña Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes
I didn't think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean / But me and my old lady had fallen into the same old dull routine
If there's a lesson to be learned from this song, it's this: if you lived in the seventies, you could be caught cheating on your significant other and all would be forgiven, as long as you liked piña coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
I been working at the convenience store / managed to save just a little bit of money / We won't have to drive too far / just 'cross the border and into the city
More depressing than the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, that's for sure. Still, if you are me, you sing it as "you drive a fast car, and I do whippits in the backseat" which changes the whole tone.
Taxi
And she said, "How are you Harry?" / I said, "How are you Sue / Through the too many miles and the too little smiles / I still remember you"
Sequel
And she said, "How are you Harry? Haven't we played this scene before?" / I said, "It's so good to see you now, Sue / Had to play it out just once more / Play it out just once more"
Both by Harry Chapin, the king of the story song! Spoiler: I think Sue's a prostitute in the sequel, something I didn't notice as a child.
*************
Rocktober Day 13:
Songs about the radio. I love the radio, but sometimes I hate the radio too. My radio, believe me, I like it loud.
AM Radio - Everclear
I'd be in bed with the radio on / I would listen to it all night long / Just to hear my favorite song / You'd have to wait but you could hear it on the AM radio
It was a transistor radio, with a little earbud. All night long.
FM - Steely Dan
Give her some funked up music, she treats you nice
Steely Dan, kings of AOR FM and the deep cut.
Left of the Dial - The Replacements
And if I don't see ya, in a long, long while / I'll try to find you / Left of the dial
Back in the day, kids, we had to twist a dial, to listen to the radio, and the obscure stuff was on the left. Granny remembers.
Radio Radio - Elvis Costello
You either shut up or get cut up; they don't wanna hear about it / It's only inches on the reel-to-reel / And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools / tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel
Elvis was a little annoyed with the radio in this song. Big points for using "anaesthetise" in a song though.
Radio Song - REM featuring KRS-One
DJs communicate to the masses / Sex and violent classes / Now our children grow up prisoners / All their lives - radio listeners
REM and KRS-One shared Elvis' concerns.
On the Radio - Donna Summer
And now in my heart I know I can say what I really feel / 'cause they said it really loud / they said it on the air / on the radio
This is one I really did listen to on that transistor radio.
On The Radio - Regina Spektor
And on the radio / You hear November Rain / that solo's awful long / but it's a good refrain
Not a remake, despite the same title as the previous one! And I don't know that Donna Summer would have been a GnR fan.
Roadrunner - Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
I'm in love with modern moonlight / 128 when it's dark outside / I'm in love with Massachusetts / I'm in love with the radio on
Shout out to my Bostonions!
Rocktober Day 12:
So, as a child, I was fascinated by songs that told a story. Okay, so lots of songs tell stories, but I mean, long, involved and full of details. One of these songs even has a SEQUEL.
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee / The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy
First of all, you gotta love a song that rhymes Gitche Gumee (I am not sure how to spell this, and I only have Lightfoot and Longfellow for reference) with gloomy. Second, I was enthralled by this song and the tragedy of it all as a child. THEY WOULD HAVE MADE WHITEFISH BAY IF THEY ONLY HAD 15 MILES!
The Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band
And the Devil jumped upon a hickory stump and said "Boy, let me tell you what / I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a fiddle player, too / and if you'd care to take a dare I'll make a bet with you"
Look, I am not surprised the Devil is a fiddle player, and I have to say, I am glad, since we got an awesome song out of the Devil's talent with a string instrument.
Escape (The Piña Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes
I didn't think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean / But me and my old lady had fallen into the same old dull routine
If there's a lesson to be learned from this song, it's this: if you lived in the seventies, you could be caught cheating on your significant other and all would be forgiven, as long as you liked piña coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
I been working at the convenience store / managed to save just a little bit of money / We won't have to drive too far / just 'cross the border and into the city
More depressing than the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, that's for sure. Still, if you are me, you sing it as "you drive a fast car, and I do whippits in the backseat" which changes the whole tone.
Taxi
And she said, "How are you Harry?" / I said, "How are you Sue / Through the too many miles and the too little smiles / I still remember you"
Sequel
And she said, "How are you Harry? Haven't we played this scene before?" / I said, "It's so good to see you now, Sue / Had to play it out just once more / Play it out just once more"
Both by Harry Chapin, the king of the story song! Spoiler: I think Sue's a prostitute in the sequel, something I didn't notice as a child.
*************
Rocktober Day 13:
Songs about the radio. I love the radio, but sometimes I hate the radio too. My radio, believe me, I like it loud.
AM Radio - Everclear
I'd be in bed with the radio on / I would listen to it all night long / Just to hear my favorite song / You'd have to wait but you could hear it on the AM radio
It was a transistor radio, with a little earbud. All night long.
FM - Steely Dan
Give her some funked up music, she treats you nice
Steely Dan, kings of AOR FM and the deep cut.
Left of the Dial - The Replacements
And if I don't see ya, in a long, long while / I'll try to find you / Left of the dial
Back in the day, kids, we had to twist a dial, to listen to the radio, and the obscure stuff was on the left. Granny remembers.
Radio Radio - Elvis Costello
You either shut up or get cut up; they don't wanna hear about it / It's only inches on the reel-to-reel / And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools / tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel
Elvis was a little annoyed with the radio in this song. Big points for using "anaesthetise" in a song though.
Radio Song - REM featuring KRS-One
DJs communicate to the masses / Sex and violent classes / Now our children grow up prisoners / All their lives - radio listeners
REM and KRS-One shared Elvis' concerns.
On the Radio - Donna Summer
And now in my heart I know I can say what I really feel / 'cause they said it really loud / they said it on the air / on the radio
This is one I really did listen to on that transistor radio.
On The Radio - Regina Spektor
And on the radio / You hear November Rain / that solo's awful long / but it's a good refrain
Not a remake, despite the same title as the previous one! And I don't know that Donna Summer would have been a GnR fan.
Roadrunner - Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
I'm in love with modern moonlight / 128 when it's dark outside / I'm in love with Massachusetts / I'm in love with the radio on
Shout out to my Bostonions!