you know those songs that just make you want to die because they get stuck in your head and you're left singing those terrible, terrible lyrics and haunting, cringe-inducing melody for the next three weeks?
the past few days have been chock full of them. first, there was a party on friday, which quickly devolved into a drunken, fist-in-the-air sing-along of all of your 80's favorites. take on me and don't stop believin' were awesome. but come on feel the noize? initially, it was fun. not mindblowing, but fine. 40 people smashed into a tiny living room in bay ridge, screaming their heart out to the quintessential hair metal anthem seems fine and dandy at the time. three days later, when dostoyevsky's words are being replaced by the phrase "girls rock your boys" on the page during english class, it's kind of scary. (but R.I.P. kevin dubrow. you were a rock god, with your skin-tight leather pants and headbands. much love.)
then, i had the substitute for badminton who was wearing a billy joel, live in concert shirt (p.s. brand new, so it wasn't ill-planned hipster irony). throughout the hour of perfecting serves, i couldn't help but sing "we didn't start the fire." guess what? still singing it, dudes. and it's kind of driving me insane. i'm supposed to be doing sketches for a piece about iconography in pop culture and instead, i'm sitting here, writing a blog about a billy joel shirt.
this weekend, i was covering for a co-worker who was out of town for thanksgiving. i was left alone in a comic shop with only little lulu to keep me company since it was the first freezing day of the year and no one wants to come shop for comics. there i am, sitting and drawing, listening to the rosebuds, when the CD ends and on comes "hot-blooded." apparently, someone (namely, my boss) had found the CD entitled "ROCK ANTHEMS OF THE 80s" and stuck it in the disc changer. i think i might hate that song more that any song on the planet. it's fucking TERRIBLE.
on the mix i posted last time, (maybe a week ago?), i put windy by the association on it. yeah, it's a song you should know because you're alive and in the world. but since that night i listened to it once, it's been totally stuck in my head. and while i know most of the song, i basically only have "and windy has stormy eyes" stuck in my head. that one line. that singular phrase that keeps me from falling asleep at night.
to make up for it, here's a suggestion: one of the best records of all time...
the les uns mais pas les autres EP by immaculate machine (one of the bands gracious enough to grant us the rights to their song broken ship for the RED CD)
possibly one of THE best bands i've heard in the past two years started re-recording some of the best songs i've heard in the past two year in french. the six songs from their debut album "ones and zeroes" redone in french (after the guitarist recieved his degree in french lit) take on a completely different life. yes, they're the same songs but the vocal rhythms and tempo alter the songs in almost an undecipherable way.
i dont speak french. i wish i did. i took latin, spanish, italian and now russian instead. but my god, french is awesome. for fans of french pop (jane birkin, stereo total, april march, serge gainsbourg) or for fans of good ol' neo- pop punk, GET IT. (and "ones and zeroes" and "fables".)