Music

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 104 – “Another Murder Of A Day”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 104: A song by your favorite band/artist whose name begins with “B”.

“Another Murder Of A Day” – Tony Banks

StillToday happens to be the 22nd anniversary of the release of Tony Banks’ last solo rock album, Still (or at least it would be if I wasn’t days behind).

And since one of my favorite Tony Banks songs (solo), “Another Murder Of A Day” is found on Still, I decided it was a good fit.

(“Another Murder Of A Day” is a long song. You should start listening to it now.)

There are some qualifications, though. This is the anniversary of the release in the US. The album was released in the UK in March of 1991. Tony’s last true solo album was in 1995 when he released Strictly Inc. as “Strictly Inc.” with Jack Hues (of Wang Chung fame) but it was essentially a solo album with Hues providing vocals only. Read More

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 103 – “The Enemy Within”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 103: A song by your favorite band/artist whose name begins with “R”.

“The Enemy Within” – Rush

Grace Under PressureThe “R” entry is a little out of order, but considering I was informed today is the 30th anniversary of the release of Rush’s Grace Under Pressure album (or at least it would be if I wasn’t days behind) I figured I’d move things around. Plus, I’m long overdue for my first Rush entry.

And since one of my favorite Rush songs (and possibly the favorite), “The Enemy Within” is found on Grace Under Pressure (which I keep wanting to type as “pressuer” for some-possibly-pseudo-Canadian reason), I decided it was a good fit.

Plus shaking things up a little never hurt anyone. (Except babies. Don’t shake babies up. The results will not be good.)

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I’m a keyboard guy, but as documented multiple times here, a good bass line will suck me in like there’s no tomorrow. Now, Geddy Lee is no slouch on the bass, and while this one doesn’t sound technically difficult, it’s driving and fast.

Couple the bass with some really good interplay between Alex Lifeson’s reggae-inspired guitar playing, and you’ve got a recipe for musical success. At least I think so. I especially love that interplay after Geddy finishes up the lyrics (with a “Hey, yeah yeah yeah!”) and the bass line and guitar pick up the pace once again until fade. Brilliant! (It may be that particular moment that makes this my favorite. Funny how it can come down to something that specific.)

Lyrically, “The Enemy Within” is part of Neil Peart’s “Fear” trilogy (which ended up having four parts, but hey), which deals with, funnily enough, fear. What causes it, how we handle it, and so on. This song particularly deals with phobias. Fear really is “the enemy within.” It keeps us all from doing so many things that we’re capable of. And while fear is a good natural reaction to real danger, there are far too many things we do or don’t do because of the fear of danger that is perceived, but not real.

That will be the extent of my affirmation speech today. But I will be at the convention center this weekend. Admission is $20 at the door.

But back to the topic of lyrics: while it’s not the song’s lyrics that really make it a favorite, I’ve always really liked this particular couplet: “Suspicious-looking stranger/flashes you a dangerous grin.” This one line paints such a picture for me; you don’t need to know anything else that is going on to feel the peril. If you’re like me, you can actually see this guy. Once again: Brilliant! (For the record, I have no affiliation with Guinness. Nor any affinity toward Guinness. Blech.)

Bring it all together and what do you get? The song that inspired my inaugural Rush entry. For the record, it is unlikely to be the last.

But don’t fear it. (Or the reaper, but that’s a topic for another day.)

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 102 – “Be Our Guest”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 102: Your favorite Disney movie song.

“Be Our Guest” –
Cogsworth, Lumiere, and the Enchanted Castle Gang

Be Our Guest “Be Our Guest” is, indeed, my favorite Disney movie song, but not for the reason you might expect.

Bear with me for what will seem like a non-sequitur, but…

Cafeteria food is never really anything to write home about. But, anyone who’s had the, uh, privilege of being on “the food plan” when you’re in college can probably relate to what I’m about to tell you.

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The problem with the food plan is, there’s no escape. You’re pretty much locked in to eating every meal at what is—let’s be honest here—a cafeteria. At premium cost. (When I was in school 20+ years ago it was the equivalent of $75 per person per week. That’s a lot of green for green food. I can’t even imagine what it costs now.)

I won’t mention the company who supplied this “service” to us when we were in school, but suffice to say, the food was awful, and the service was worse. Except on parents’ weekend, when, miraculously, the food was amazing.

Somewhere along the line they figured out people were really (and I mean really) upset about the cost, the food and the service, so they did what any corporation does. They tried to remake their image.

They adopted the slogan “Be Our Guest.” It was supposed to represent the fact that they recognized that we weren’t doing them a favor by being there, but it was they who should be giving favors. They finally realized that they should be providing us better service overall.

Beauty And The Beast had been released around that time, which of course is where the “Be Our Guest” song comes from. Was the adoption of that slogan coincidental? The world may never know. It also happened to be around the time of our annual April Fools issue at the student newspaper.

We decided to lampoon the whole thing by publishing our own alternate lyrics to the song, based on our experiences. I was so pleased with the result (yes, that is me patting myself on the back that you hear) that it is still my favorite Disney song.

Some incidental information:

  • The Commons was the name of the dining room
  • “Quick Chicks” were chicken patty sandwiches
  • The servers wore uniforms of polyester.

So, without further ado, click play on the video below, then read along with our lyric set as the song plays. I think you’ll enjoy it. Even if you don’t, I still enjoyed it, and really that’s all that matters…

Be Our Guest

Be our guest, be our guest. You want service? Oh you jest!
Put your napkin to your mouth, cherie, Spit out that awful mess
Soup is poor, meat is green. Why, we only use Grade “D”.
Try the grey stuff, its delicious. Don’t believe us? Damn, it’s vicious!
We can sing, we can dance. In our polyester pants.
And a dinner here is always second best.
Go on, give it a whirl. Leave the Commons, then hurl.
Be our guest, be our guest, Be our guest!

Mystery meat, corn souffle, armadillo a flambe
We’ll prepare and serve with hair a culinary tragedé.
You’re not alone, we’re all scared, ’cause the meal’s ill-prepared.
You’re all gloomy and complaining, Go to hell ’cause you’re prepaying.
We’re a joke! We play tricks. There’s no meat in those Quick Chicks.
We smear them with a paste you can’t digest!
Come on and move your ass! You’re soon to pass some gas so
Be our guest, be our guest, be our guest!

The meal is so unnerving
When you see just who is serving-
Here’s a bowl with a sole to chew upon
Ahhhhh… those good old days when we were nasty.
Suddenly those good old days are gone.
Seven months we’ve been cheery,
Did you note the food’s still dreary?
Needing training – we’ve got no cooking skills.
Most days we grab what lies around the kitchen
Cover it with gravy
Here’s the parents – oopsidazy!

It’s a guest! It’s a guest! Now we’ve got to be our best!
They pay board and thank the Lord, That it’s they who sign the checks.
Eat dessert, then just leave. Just get out before you heave.
While our concoctions are still brewin’. You’ll be gagging, you’ll be spewin’.
We’ve got beef (maybe not). Heavens sake, was that Spot?
Grind him up, We don’t care if you’re impressed!
It’s a surprise for you, You’ll never have a clue!
When you’re our guest, Be our guest, be our guest!

Be our guest! Be our guest! Those aren’t jimmies, they’re insects
It’s ten years since we’ve had fumigators here, So we’ve got pests!
Try the veal, try Chinese. They’ll both bring you to your knees!
Overnight, the mold’s still growing. Add some sauce so it’s not showing.

Down they go! One by one! They all shout “I’ve got the runs!”
Tomorrow comes real soon. Aren’t you depressed?
Next year avoid the food trap, But for now it’s our crap.
Be our guest, be our guest, be our guest!
PLEASE! BE OUR GUEST!

I cannot take full credit for these lyrics. I must give credit to Jen and Ray as well. We had fun with this one.

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 101 – “Superman”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 101: Song that you air guitar to every time you hear it.

“Superman” – R.E.M.

SupermanI’m sure you’re wondering why I didn’t pick something more obvious. AC/DC perhaps. Led Zeppelin perhaps. Boston perhaps.

Oh sure, I can rock out on the air guitar to “You Shook Me All Night Long,” or “Livin’ Lovin’ Maid” or “More Than A Feeling” with the best of them. (All right, maybe not the best, but certainly among at least the 85th percentile.) So why pick a little-known song by R.E.M.?

Well, for one, I was told there were no right or wrong answers.

Two, you should know by now I’m nothing if not a little contrary. Plus, those others just seemed to be so stereotypical and obvious. I wanted to think a little harder. I thought about “Touch And Go” by The Cars, but I have other plans for that song. So I was pretty psyched when I remembered “Superman.”


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Here’s the story. Back around the time I was trying to sing “Learning To Fly,” I was also trying to teach myself “Superman.”

But let me back up a step. Somewhere along the line, I figured out how to play the two chords that get repeated in the introduction to the song.

But let me back up another step. Somewhere along the line, Pete had bought an I.R.S. (Records) sampler called These People Are Nuts! that included “Superman.” For whatever reason, I immediately got hooked on it. The song, not the album. (For the curious, These People Are Nuts! is patchy, too patchy to get hooked on—for me anyway. But there are some really good songs on it. And some good , but bizarre songs, such as the ever-popular “Checking Out The Checkout Girl.”* And then some songs that are just bizarre.)

At the time, I wasn’t really into early R.E.M. very much, despite being in college. (In those days, it seemed like every college student had to love early R.E.M. Like it was some sort of rite of passage. I hear it was a requirement for graduation at the University of Georgia.) Sure, I had Eponymous (File under grain.) but not much more. And “Superman” wasn’t even on Eponymous (which, if you don’t know, was an early compilation of their “best” songs and a couple rarities from the I.R.S. years, before they signed with Warner Brothers for major dollars). So it really was that obscure compilation album that led me to the song.

Anyway, back (forward?) to those opening chords. I actually discovered them by accident. I can’t remember what I was trying to play, but I went from an E to an E7 (which I didn’t actually know was an E7 at the time) and eureka! When I hit it, I recognized it immediately as the chords from “Superman.” I’d nailed it.

Now back (forward?) again to me trying to teach myself the song. Once I got the opening, I thought, “how hard can the rest be?” so from then on I tried to figure out the rest. As it turns out, the answer to my question was “hard.” I could never seem to get the right inversions of the chords for the rest of the song. (We didn’t have instant Internet access to guitar tabs in those days, and I was never more than a novice guitar player anyway.) I mean, come on, an Asus7 chord? Didn’t you hear me say I was a novice?

So, despite my never being able to actually learn to play the song, when it comes on, I find I must play air guitar to it. I’ve done it for so long, now I do it subconsciously. Even if it’s just the intro.

Because, boy, I nailed those two opening chords.

* Yes, Pete, I know this will now be stuck in your head for another two days. You’re welcome.

 

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 100 – “Hand In My Pocket”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 100: A song by a female singer you think does not have a very good voice.

“Hand In My Pocket” – Alanis Morissette

HandInMyPocket

100 days and still going strong(ish). Woo hoo!

The summer of 1995 saw the emergence of a new, then-unknown artist (at least in the US). Her new single “You Oughta Know” was getting play on alternative and college radio. It was an aggressive, nasty song aimed at a former lover; this artist was pissed off, and she wasn’t afraid to let you know it.

That artist, of course, was Alanis Morissette, and while it might seem odd to think, when I first heard “You Oughta Know,” no one knew who she was. That lasted about four days, because then she exploded. (Her popularity, that is, she didn’t actually explode.) When the dust settled, she had sold 16 million copies of Jagged Little Pill in the US alone. It was obvious that her angst-laden songs struck a chord with people (mostly people of my generation, Generation X, who were entering “the real world” and were feeling their own angst and aggression).

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The problem? While she was making very relatable music, her voice wasn’t really the greatest. In fact, it could be downright screechy. But I guess 16 million of us overlooked that and bought the album anyway. It seemed the thing to do at the time.

That summer, shortly after this explosion, I went on a week-long vacation to the beach with some college friends. It turned out to be sort of a “last hurrah” of college life before we all went our separate ways and became adults. (Well, I’m assuming the rest of them did, I’m still waiting for it to happen to me.) We spent that week doing what you’d expect: we went to the beach, read, drank, watched TV, partied, joked around, drank, wrote down quotes, drank, and generally had a good time. We also made fried spaghetti at my friend Ray’s insistence, but that’s another story. Did I mention we did a little drinking?

Music was important in one way or another to all of us who shared the house that week, so there was always something playing, even if some of us didn’t remember what it was the next morning. As a result, we ended up with a soundtrack of sorts for the week. (I’m not kidding, we made a “mix tape”—which later became a “mix CD”—toward the end of the week, where each song had been either playing at a “seminal” moment, or had just been played enough times during the week to approach ubiquity.)

Despite Alanis’s vocal limitations, “Hand In My Pocket” made it on the soundtrack. (Other contemporary songs that made it were “Run-Around” by Blues Traveler, “Ants Marching” by Dave Matthews Band, and “Lump” by Presidents Of The United States of America.)

We decided on “Hand In My Pocket” rather than the more pervasive (at least at that time) “You Oughta Know” simply because we could relate to the former. I don’t think any of us at the beach house were carrying around the type of vitriol that spawned the latter.

Fast forward to today. Even now (as I did then), I think “Hand In My Pocket” is the better song. Better vibe. I’ve always loved the bass sound they managed to get on it. (It just occurred to me that Alanis plays harmonica on it, too. No matter, it would never have truly been in the running for the harmonica challenge.) I also think “Hand In My Pocket” holds up better than almost anything else on the album. (Don’t believe me? Listen to the opening track “All I Really Want” and tell me it doesn’t sound dated.) I guess no one ever said that everything on a mega-selling album remains a classic.

I mentioned we wrote down quotes. We basically logged anything that made us laugh. On that note, I will leave you with a related quote from when that tape was being compiled:

Joe: How long is “Hand In My Pocket?”
Marc: Usually about five minutes.