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When Bad Lyrics Happen to Good Songs

 Posted by
Nov 302009
 

A dime for your thoughts…

I was listening to “A Dime a Dozen,” by Carla Thomas, the other day.

I love almost everything about this song. It’s pretty perfect, except for those lyrics, which are, as near as I can tell: “You’re so sweet, sweeter than apples, and just like an apple, nobody can sample.” There’s some other stuff in there that I can’t quite make out but it doesn’t sound promising.

I don’t need brilliant lyrics with every song. I’m fine with words that merely sound cool even if they don’t make much sense to me. I also don’t mind if they are just the simple lyrics of a more innocent era. My favorite song of all time is “Good Lovin’,” by The Rascals, so I am by no means a lyrics snob. But “A Dime a Dozen” did make me start to wonder how bad the lyrics would have to be to make an otherwise cool song unlistenable.

So, what song do you think has the biggest gap between cool music and crappy lyrics?

Conversely, what song do you think has the biggest gap between crappy music and cool lyrics? (I’m guessing there has to be a Dylan song to fit this bill.)

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Battle Royale: Rock and Roll Zelig

 Posted by
Oct 262009
 

Lemmy Kilmister is featured in the current issue of Rolling Stone. The writer called him “rock and roll’s Zelig,” and I think the article laid out a pretty compelling case for him: He was Jimi Hendrix’s roadie; he gave Sid Vicious bass lessons; he attended some of The Beatles‘ Cavern Club shows. On top of all that, he’s Lemmy, for chrissake.

Is there anyone else who has a greater claim Rock and Roll Zelig? Please confine your answers to musicians. I don’t want this to turn into a catfight between Bebe Buell and Pamela Des Barres.

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Outgoing Message Rock

 Posted by
Oct 122009
 


In the recent Car Crash thread, Townsman dbuskirk revealed that he used have Mick Jagger’s comment about busting a button on his trousers, from Get Yer Ya Yas Out, as his outgoing voicemail message.

At one point, I had Junior Brown’s intro to “Party Lights” as my outgoing message (a cappella “I’m a guy who likes to party”). While living in San Francisco, for about a week after the big earthquake in ’89, my outgoing message was “That’s great, it starts with an earthquake” from R.E.M.‘s “End of the World As We Know It.”

On a blog full of rock nerds, Dan and I can’t be the only ones who have sunk to this level of geekiness. Come on, now is the time to fess up: What did you have? I know at least one of you had to have “Hanging on the Telephone.”

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The Rock Band’s Most Dubious Endeavor: the Covers Album

 Posted by
Sep 022009
 


Yesterday, Townsman Hrrundi seemed to be issuing a cry for help after someone recommend the new Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs Under the Covers album to him, thinking that it would be right up his alley. He fearlessly tried to make it though the album. Like many victims of trauma, the experience seemed to leave him scared, angry, and confused about what had just happened to him.

Personally, I think the best road to recovery for these types of situations is to talk through them. Let’s all help pitch in to help him work through this by going through the following exercise:

Please rank the following types of covers album from most offensive to least offensive. Feel free to add any category that I’ve over looked.

1. The devoted fans’ soulless attempt to recreate their favorite tunes (eg, Mathew Sweet and Suzanna Hoffs – Under the Covers albums).
2. The jaded headliner’s crass money-grab (eg, Rod Stewart’s American Songbook series).
3. An unhinged and extremely misguided attempt to cash in on the current zeitgeist. (eg, William Shatner – The Transformed Man).

Hrrundi, please know that you did nothing wrong.

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Last Man Standing: Give the Drummers Some

 Posted by
Jul 292009
 

Name a band with two drummers. It’s okay if they just have the second drummer for their live set up, a’ la Genesis, but bands with a drummer and a percussionist do not count. Eligible bands must have two full contraption kits.

I’ll start with the aforementioned Genesis.

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