“Song 2” by Blur from Blur [1997]

A parody of grunge music that became a hit with American grunge fans, “Song 2” at once pointed to the formulaic nature of the genre and to the sheer inertia of the music itself. Insipid lyrics could only be a detriment to a limited extent. This song still gets the heart pumping and might be a fitting way to kick off the Sweet 16, which tips tonight. 

“Since Yesterday” by Strawberry Switchblade [1985]

This #5 hit in the UK fits among the many songs whose uptempo pop structure seems like an escape from their downhearted lyrics. In this case the music itself is helping convince the singer(s) to go on with life.

“Hurts So Good” by John Cougar (Mellencamp) [1982]

The Rolling Stones with an American twist, and updated for the early ’80s. It’s overplayed, to be sure, but really is a pretty good song.

“Blue Veins” by The Raconteurs from Broken Boy Soldiers [2006]

The slow-burn blues of “Blue Veins” closed to The Raconteurs debut album with both subtlety and power. While not one of the four singles released from the album, it was still quite memorable. Give it a try.

“T.N.T.” by Hayseed Dixie from A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC [2001]

Just your average AC/DC blugrass cover band from Deer Lick Holler, Appalachia… Hayseed Dixie debuted with this album of AC/DC covers, but has since expanded to cover a wide variety of American rock groups and even began to write their own songs. Most recently the band released a full album of covers of Norwegian artists. Go figure. 

“I Can’t Fly” by Dr. Dog from Toothbrush [2002]

Back when Dr. Dog was still unknown, they kicked off Toothbrush, their first album as a proper band, with the psychedelic (yet quite catchy) track “I Can’t Fly.”

“Too Young to Marry” by Summer’s Children [1966]

Belle and Sebastian self-consciously look back to the Sixties with both their name and their sound. But the resemblance of their sound to this 60s flop is uncanny.

Curt Boetcher, producer for The Association, had a knack for glittery sunshine pop. In late 1965, The Association had yet to hit it big (‘66 would be their year), so Boetcher continued experimenting. Among other things, he recorded a pair of duets with Victoria Winston under the name Summer’s Children. “Too Young to Marry” and “Milk and Honey” had to be some of the most innocent, saccharine music to come out in 1966. Recall that songs like “Eve of Destruction,” “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Satisfaction” had revolutionized the sound of pop music in the second half of ‘65. Neither song charted as they were probably just too sweet for pop radio at the time. Nevertheless, we can admire them, if only because they created a musical formula for later groups like Belle and Sebastian. 

These songs can be found on the album 2001 3-CD compilation Magic Time, which focuses mostly on Boetcher’s later work with The Millennium. It’s a must-have album for anyone interested in the sounds of the late ’60s.

“The World Isn’t Fair” by Randy Newman [1999]

I continue to relate the books I am reading to some sort of music… In one of my classes this week we looked at the writings and influence of Karl Marx on the field of history. His detailed explanations of the action of history happening not through policies and decisions of tribal/national/religious leaders, but because of the material circumstances of individuals in a particular society forever changed the outlook of historians. We are still dealing with the repercussions. 

Of course, one of the challenges in dealing with Marx is that his work was not purely historical; it was specifically teleological. Separating his thoughts on the impending revolution from his piecemeal explanations of the historical process has been difficult for many thinkers (and was definitely so for a single graduate seminar period). 

This Randy Newman song is quite fitting, then. Newman sets us up by sympathizing with Marx on his ideal of fairness—people should not be “painting the town” on the money earned by people struggling to eat (sound familiar?!). The journey to Newman’s conclusion, however, is at once unexpected, humorous, and depressing. Have a listen.

“Devil’s in the Details” by Lowen and Navarro [2005]

Three days out from our wedding… this is the truth! And FYI: this Navarro is Dan Navarro, Dave Navarro’s cousin.

“Subterranean Homesick Blues” (alternate acoustic take) by Bob Dylan [1965]

An Exploration of Music and Poetry, Day 16: Lyrics as Poetry

As this playlist has shown, people had considered the music and poetry related for centuries, but when the subject arises today we invariably end up at the debate over whether lyrics to pop songs can be considered poetry. If we take a step back from the specific tracks in the playlist, we can see that the terms and style of our conversation about music and poetry ultimately trace the their origins to the mid- and late 1960s.

The new “pop music” of the rock era—no longer the rock and roll era—pried the generation gap wider, especially when the young teen and twenty-something musicians and fans proclaimed that rock music was high art. For example, listen to what Paul McCartney had to say when he was interviewed for a 1968 documentary about popular music called All My Loving: (click to 1:55).

Of course critics involved themselves as well. In December 1967 Robert Christgau published an article in Cheetah called “Rock Lyrics Are Poetry (Maybe).” I discovered it in a 1969 anthology called The Age of Rock: Sounds of the American Cultural Revolution. Christgau:

“The songwriter who seems to sound most like a poet is Bob Dylan.”

But

“My Back Pages” is a bad poem.”

And 

“Not much better is the self-indulgence of the Doors’ Jim Morrison.” … “Paul Simon’s lyrics are the purest, highest, and most finely wrought kitsch of our time.” …
“…the only songwriters who seem really to have mastered it are John Phillips and Lennon-McCartney.”

Read the whole article to see where he was coming from. 

My point is that this is the conversation we’re still having about pop music, including hip-hop. To go along with the article, have a listen to a piece of pop-poetry called “Subterranean Homesick Blues” by Bob Dylan.