I can't explain The Who

Back in 1996, I got to see The Who when they brought their Quadrophenia tour to San Jose. I remember sitting next to a guy who said that he was a teenager when the album came out, and I replied that it came out the year that I was born (just a month before, actually).

Why were they touring for an album that was over twenty years old? It turned out that they were unable to perform that rock opera the way Pete Townshend envisioned it originally, and when the opportunity came along to do it the right way, with a large band with a horn section and large screens to tell the story, it was time to do it.

How was the show? It was great. Of course, original drummer Keith Moon wasn't there, since he had died back in 1978, but they were ably assisted by Zak Starkey, a protege of Moon's (and son of Ring Starr).

The whole show was a real treat for me, because Quadrophenia is easily my favorite album of theirs. I was just listening to it the other day, and I have to say that it's one of my favorite albums EVER. There's a lot of stuff that I loved in my 20s, and while I still love it to this day, it doesn't have the same kind of emotional punch for me as it did back then. This particular one though had me singing and feeling like it was still new to me. (Notable track: "The Punk and the Godfather". Maybe it's because I'm even older and more disillusioned now.)

I've written a few tributes to some of my favorite bands now, but for some reason I'm just getting around to writing about The Who. I've started and stopped writing posts about them before, never quite finding the right angle to take on how I feel about them. The thought came back to me recently as I've been listening to the audio of Pete Townshend's autobiography, Who I Am.

It's fitting (and simultaneously ironic and coincidental) that they have a song title that perfectly explains my inability to express how much their music means to me. I definitely feel something strong, but it's hard for me to put it into words.

Obviously, I wasn't around for when they first came on to the scene. For the longest time, they were just one more band on a long list of "oldies", and it wasn't until I started exploring classic rock that I started listening to them. One of the first CDs I bought was Who's Next, the reason being that I saw a video of Pearl Jam performing the song Baba O'Rily.

So, I don't have any memories of seeing them at Woodstock or having been a mod who used to fight the rockers in Brighton. I just had those CDs which I blasted in my car while on my way to college classes and/or my job at a grocery store. I remember that I even incorporated them into some of my creative writing short stories when I went to San Francisco State University, and I even snuck Pete Townshend into the background of a comic book I drew.

One thing that I can say for the band is that they're one of the few where each member is crucial to their sound. Yeah, they had albums after Moon died, but I don't recommend them all that much. He had one of the most distinctive drum styles. He was kinda the anti-Ringo Starr, who operates on the principle of "less is more". With Moon, it's "more is more", but it still goes with the music, never overtaking what the others are trying to do. Still, you can just sit there and listen to him and be entertained.

I especially don't recommend Endless Wire. Not only is Moon not present, but they're lacking one of the best bass players ever, John Entwistle. That man wasn't just part of the rhythm section. His playing was a crucial part of the melody of many of The Who's songs. There's a reason why he's one of the first to do a bass solo (on "My Generation").

Of course, Roger Daltrey also had (it's gone now folks, sorry) one of the greatest rock and roll voices ever, with him able to do a melodic love song and a lion's growl with equal effectiveness. Of course, without Pete, you don't have most of the ideas and songs from the band. Honestly though, I can't think of many bands where changing even one member has such a drastic effect. The Who is definitely one of those though.

Like I said, I wasn't there for when they first made it big, but I have a feeling that I would have liked them just as much had I been.

Soundgarden and my black days

More than a couple of decades ago now, I was sitting in a hospital bed in London, England. I had come down with Hepatitis A after returning from a trip to Egypt a few weeks before, and I was recovering as my skin slowly went from being yellow to its more natural color of Caucasian Flesh. (Crayola, you owe me a royalty if you use that as a name for a crayon color.) I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, as I not only had that to deal with, but I was heartbroken over some girl. There was also a sense of general melancholy that would have been there if either of my other two problems had been nonexistent, as the news coming from the television in my hospital room reported that Kurt Cobain had committed suicide.

Essentially what had become my theme song was Soundgarden's "Fell on Black Days". I had purchased the Superunknown CD, which included a bonus track not available on the U.S. release, about a month before. While I liked the entire disc, this was the song that was speaking to me in particular.

Yeah, I know, there are few things worse than people feeling sorry for themselves. It certainly could have been worse, especially considering that Hepatitis A is the one that you eventually get over, and yeah, I can't even remember the last name of the girl that had me all obsessive. What do you want from me? I was twenty - not too different from a teenager. There's just something about those ending lines when you feel like your luck is in the crapper:

I sure don't mind a change 

But I fell on black days 

How would I know 

That this could be My fate?

I think that I sometimes forget to list Soundgarden when I'm asked what my favorite bands of all time are. But when I look back on it, and when I think of how much I still enjoy their music when I bust out those old CDs, they certainly belong somewhere in my top ten. I mentioned that I had bought Superunknown when it came out, even though I was studying aboad. I didn't have a whole lot of extra spending money, but I made sure that I got this one on the day it came out. (And yes, I still have it.) And of course, I saw them live when they were touring for that particular album.

That wasn't the first time that I saw them. When I was in high school, and slightly before the whole "Seattle Sound" thing went crazy, I went to a "Day on the Green" concert at the Oakland Colosseum. The headlining band was Metallica, but also playing were Queensryche, Faith No More, and Soundgarden - which was the only band I didn't know. (Funny side note - I was probably most enthusiastic for Queensryche, but let's just say that of all those bands, their CDs are the only ones that I don't still currently own.) I don't remember too much about that show, but I remember thinking that they were pretty cool. And I definitely remember when they performed "Big Dumb Sex", and I'd like to think that I was savvy enough to get the fact that they were being ironic.

It probably wasn't too long afterwards that I purchased Badmotorfinger. I suppose the reason why I sometimes neglect to think of Soundgarden when thinking of my favorite band is that they were overshadowed by Pearl Jam. That was the band that always sprang to mind when I thought of what my favorite current bands were. They certainly got more attention in the media, especially after Kurt Cobain died. And if anybody remembers Rock 'n' Roll Comics, they might recall that Soundgarden never got their own issue; instead, they were a backup in the Pearl Jam comic. (I still have that somewhere as well.) And to further prove this point, you can check out my tribute to Pearl Jam that I wrote more than five years ago! I guess that you might say that Soundgarden got a little bit "Outshined". Ahem. Heh. Heh. Hurm...moving on...

I've heard people tell me that as they get older, they like things to be a little bit more mellow. That might still happen to me, but as of now I continuously find myself heading in the opposite direction. I can't stand it when one of my local radio stations has its "Acoustic Sunrise" on Sunday mornings. Acoustic? Acoustic? I need something to wake me up, dammit! I don't want to go back to sleep!

With that said, I find myself gravitating toward Soundgarden when I need a blast of something loud. I ordered their new CD of rarities and B-sides, Echo of Miles, but I wanted a fix while driving yesterday, so I put in Badmotorfinger. I think that I was banging my head to "Slaves and Bulldozers" with as much enthusiasm as I ever did.

My love of the band continues to the present day, and it's even rubbed off on my four-year-old son, Logan, who will sometimes request that I play the band. He was a big fan of their song that they did for The Avengers, "Live to Rise", and you can see him, when he was about two, rocking out to that song below:

He (and I) also enjoy their latest studio release, King Animal, and we've spent many trips back from pre-school listening to it. His favorites are "Been Away Too Long" and "By Crooked Steps". (I'll never understand why some parents complain that they have to listen to kids music in the car. I've always just played what I'd normally play. Luckily, he gets enthusiastic about at least some of it.)

So, why do I like this band so much? First of all, I think that it's time to acknowledge that Chris Cornell has one of the best rock voices ever. He's got a range, and he can go real throaty and soulfull in one song to a bloodcurdling metal wail in the next. (And sometimes in the same song.) Also, and I think that guitarist Kim Thayil has something to do with this, but they have a certain sound about them that you can't trace back to another band. Sure, they have their roots in loud 70s rock, but there's definitely something unique about them. Think of all the copycat bands out there that wound up sounding like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, etc. I can't think of any that copied Soundgarden. Maybe that's because they're unique enough that it would be painfully obvious if somebody did.

Are their lyrics a touch on the dark side? Sure, they can sometimes lean that way. However, sometimes the dark stuff is what you need to get you to see the light. Back when I was living through my own "black days", part of what got me through is that song. Contrary to what some folks might think, songs like that aren't depressing. Instead, they make you realize that you're not the only one who goes through that kind of thing. It's the artist's way of letting you know that you're not alone, and knowing that is what gets you through it.

And it's not all dark. When I'm coming out of a funk, the lyrics to the song "Dusty" are always a nice way to reflect on that mood:

And nothing's gonna put me out 

It's backing down and under 

I'm down on the upside now 

It's turning back around 

Turning back around

Primus sucks!

Last year, one of my freshmen wrote in his journal about how one of his favorite bands was Primus. I wrote in the margin: "Primus sucks!" Now, you might be thinking: "Hey, Lance, just let the kid like what he likes. Why do you have to editorialize and judge people who don't like what you like?"

Well, if that's what you're saying, then you're not a Primus fan. I was worried that he might not get the reference, actually. After all, I'm a fan of Primus, and I saw them play New Year's Eve for three years in a row starting in 1992. This kid wasn't even born then! Luckily for me, he got the reference, and I think that he was pleased that he had a teacher who was a fellow fan.

The thing is, just like my chili beer, Primus isn't for everybody. If you're sitting there, scratching your head, wondering why fans of a band would chant that the band sucks at their concert, then you're definitely not the type who'd be a fan. If you think it's weird to sing about fishermen, race car drivers, and an inbred hick who bashes in some guy with a baseball bat, then Primus definitely isn't for you either. If all you want to hear are bands that sound a lot like other bands, and sing about the same kinds of things as other bands, then Primus isn't gonna be your bag.

'Cause the thing is with Primus, there just ain't two bands like 'em.

So just who would like Primus then? Well, the first song on their first studio album is a song called "To Defy the Laws of Tradition." (Sadly, I can't find a decent version of it on Youtube to include on this.) Essentially the song is about just that - doing things differently from what we're used to. And whether you like Primus or not, you have to admit that they have always done things their own way. In other words, anybody with any sort of nonconformist bent to them just might like them.

Of course, being different isn't enough to make a band great. They're also great musicians. Sure, they do some wacky stuff. First of all, you don't have a lot of bands where the bass creates the primary melody. Not only that, but what Les Claypool plays can be best described as ridiculously complex. Now, complex doesn't equal good, but he manages to create sounds that are simultaneously convoluted and catchy.

And how about Larry LaLonde's guitar? Honestly, I sometimes think that's my favorite part. He manages to find that right balance between following the melody and being completely chaotic at the same time. It sounds like a buzzsaw that just got loose and developed a mind of its own. Of course, you need to have one amazing drummer with Tim Alexander (later the equally capable Brian Mantia) to hold it all together and not get lost in the shuffle.

As for their lyrics? Well, they're silly. But they're deliberately silly. I've mentioned before that I prefer a deliberately silly lyric to something that's bloated and pretentious. I also prefer it to generic, insipid love songs that completely devalue such a powerful emotion. Why not sing a song about how sometimes the only thing that can satisfy your hunger pangs is a nice slab of beef?

I'm more than aware that there are plenty of people who say "Primus sucks!" but they don't mean it in the same spirit that fans like I do. I'll even admit that I'm somewhat surprised that when I listen to their music after all this time, I still like it. (What about Claypool's solo stuff and side projects? I find that to be rather hit-and-miss.) What pleases me even more is that they have some real staying power, and I have students and former students posting on Facebook about how they're planning to see them live. Obviously, there must be some lasting appeal to loud, crazy, catchy, chaotic, nonconformist music.

I just read that Les Claypool is forming a new incarnation of the band. Here's hoping they continue to suck! And let's get some Rock Band downloads already!

Will she smell like tomorrow?

I just got back from a walk, and while out I listened to the new, eponymously titled release by Stone Temple Pilots for the second time. I have to say that I'm pretty impressed so far, and it definitely has more than a few good songs on it. This got me to thinking about how they were probably one of the best bands of the 1990s (and beyond, by this point) despite the fact that they got such a bad rap at the beginning.

I remember liking their first song, "Sex Type Thing" well enough, and it was their second single, "Plush" that got me to buy their CD. Listening to that song now, I think that some of the lyrics are almost ridiculously silly, but the music is good, and it has a good melody. Of course, this was when the comparisons to Pearl Jam came from every corner. I even remember David Spade on Saturday Night Live making a crack about how he really liked STP "the first time when they were called Pearl Jam." Not only that, but I would hear from friends and family members who thought they sounded the same as well. As for me, I was a big fan of Pearl Jam, so I didn't really see this as a huge problem. Not only that, but the more I listened, I could hear a fairly significant difference. I also thought the comparison was unfair considering that I had the CD and the comparisons pretty much ended with that particular song.

I continued to like the band with their second release, Purple. I remember buying it pretty soon after it came out, and I thought it was pretty solid all the way through. I also remember being frustrated, as I lived in the dorms at the time, and all I could hear people who had the CD booming from their rooms was "Vasoline". Don't get me wrong; it's a good song. However, I thought that there was a lot of other great stuff on there, and it wasn't until MTV started playing "Interstate Love Song" that I would hear that song being blasted as well. Apparently many people can't decide that they like a song unless it has some kind of mainstream approval first. I mean, did the song suddenly get better once it got some airplay? (Note, if you want to hear the song, it doesn't start until about 35 seconds into the video.)

Of course, the critics still raked the band over the coals, and I knew plenty of music snobs in college who would have nothing to do with them. After all, Pearl Jam was supposedly a horrible band in many of their eyes, so why would anybody want to listen to a knock-off of Pearl Jam? By this point, I thought that the comparisons were starting to get quite a bit lamer. After all, a song like "Interstate Love Song" doesn't sound a thing like Pearl Jam's style. The only similarity is that both lead singers have voices that are deep and slightly gravely, but if that makes them the same, then Jim Morrison sounds like Johnny Cash.

By the time their third CD, Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop came out, I remember reading a review in either Rolling Stone or Spin that raked them over the coals, continuing with the constant Pearl Jam comparisons. I had to wonder if the idiot writing the review had even heard a single song. How anybody can listen to that album and STILL say that is beyond me. I'm not going to post every video from that disc, but here are just a couple of them. If you think they sound like Pearl Jam by this point, please explain that one to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0gAxuvo5rc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds_43MdYiuQ

Of course, there were more albums, and more good songs, like the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_4POA-4GYo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxS4lqppZ6Y

Then they broke up, and Scott Weiland went off to sing for Velvet Revolver. While I don't think that band was as bad as some would have you believe, for the most part their music was fairly forgettable and not equal to the sum of its parts (as the band was essentially Guns 'N' Roses without Axl). Of course, there were also Weiland's issues with drug addiction, but I'm not really all that interested in that sort of a thing. I felt bad for the guy and hoped that he would be able to clean up his act since he had provided me with so much music that I liked. Beyond that, I didn't really follow all of his arrests and relapses.

I remember feeling some vindication though a few years ago while flipping through an issue of Spin. I don't know if it was some new, young-Turk reviewer, but basically it was a column about how STP had gotten an undeserved bad rap over the years. The writer also made the bold statement that "Interstate Love Song" was the best pop-rock song of the 1990s. (Perhaps he wrote "one of the best" but still...) Also, a few of their songs were included for playing on Rock Band, which obviously indicates that the makers of that game felt that their songs had the staying power of bands like The Who, Bon Jovi, Nirvana, and, well...Pearl Jam. It seems to me that the world is coming around to understanding what all of us STP fans understood all along - they're a damned good band.

As for the new album, I have to say that if you were a fan of the band, and you're a little hesitant in fear that this might be the dying gasp of a has-been band, I can assure you that it isn't. Their first single, "Between the Lines" is fine enough, but it's not one of the ones that really stood out for me. There's a great combination of hard rock and catchy pop tunes on this album, and Scott Weiland continues to mix up his vocal styles to suit the song. It's good to see these guys back again.

Best of the Beatles

Years ago when I was in college, I struck up a conversation with a fellow student about The Beatles. It turned out that we were both big fans. Unlike me though, this guy was a lot more well versed in music, and he had the vocabulary to explain some of the things that were so special about some of their songs. He was able to break down one song in particular and point out how the note at the end of one of the verses was tricky and completely different from what you'd expect from a typical song's structure.

Of course, he must have been talking about something that was post-Revolver when the band started to experiment with different sounds and instruments and became more of a studio band than a touring band. Right?

Wrong. He was talking about "I Saw Her Standing There." That's a song off of their first album, Please Please Me.

I've been a fan of The Beatles as far back as I can remember. They're one of those bands that my mom would listen to that I not only liked then, but I still like now. (What do I no longer like? ABBA. What did I never like? I'm looking at you, Air Supply.) By the time I got my first CD player when I was in high school, I started collecting all of their music. I found myself liking pretty much everything, but if I was forced to pick a favorite, it would probably be Rubber Soul. To me, that album really showcases how their music was progressing from catchy pop tunes to much more sophisticated fare.

Of course, I would encounter people who didn't like the Fab Four. Personally, I think that there's something sinister about people like that. It's like not liking puppies or chocolate. It just ain't right. Aside from that, I'd talk with some people who thought that pretty much everything pre-Rubber Soul was worthless, and then I'd hear from those who thought that everything past that was too "weird". As for me, I did, and still do, defend the entire catalog. I think it's safe to say that I'm not alone on this score.

As for the early stuff, sure the lyrics aren't too insightful and they don't really probe any deeper issues for the most part. It is what it is - pure pop music. However, there has to be some reason why it has stood the test of time and continues to find new fans whereas so much has fallen by the wayside. I think that the key thing to figuring out why is to actually listen to the music (what a crazy concept!) Even with their early records, there's a lot more going on than just a catchy hook. I've been listening to this stuff for decades now, and after playing along with these songs on The Beatles Rock Band I'm still catching little subtleties in the music that I had not noticed before (or I had perhaps forgotten about). Perhaps much of the credit is due to their producer, George Martin, but ultimately it was Lennon and McCartney who wrote the majority of those early hits.

The maturity of their lyrics came earlier than a lot of people might think though, as I'd argue that songs like "If I Fell" and "Things We Said Today" are amongst some of their best, lyric-wise, and they appear on their third album, A Hard Day's Night. The next album was Beatles for Sale, and that one has some great lyrics on songs like "I'll Follow the Sun" and "I'm a Loser". With each successive album, you got songs with lyrics that were more and more sophisticated while still maintaining the great melodies that they already had going for them.

As for the later stuff, sure "I Am the Walrus" is pretty nonsensical. However, I don't think that Lennon was trying to create some kind of unified, cohesive statement with them. He was just putting together words and sentences that sounded interesting together. I don't have a problem with that sort of a thing. I have a problem with lyrics when they're trying to say something but are nonsensical when you think about them. (See "Ironic" by Alanis Morrisette and "Life is a Highway" by Tom Cochran and that cheesy country band that covers the song.) Still, "I am the Walrus" remains one of their most popular songs.

Is it possible that Beatles fans are just apologists and are willing to say that anything that they did was good? I suppose that's possible. However, I know myself pretty well, and I think that I'm pretty good at being objective and realizing when I like something for reasons other than the fact that there's some genuine quality there. (See my Clash of the Titans review.) If I was like this, I'd try to tell you that anything post-Kieth Moon by The Who was good. I'd try to tell you that 70s Elvis (and the soundtrack to Clam Bake) was just as good as what he was doing in the 1950s. I'd try to tell you that most of Paul McCartney's solo career wasn't a colossal waste of time!

But "I am the Walrus"? Dammit, that's just a good song. It rewards careful listening. There's a lot going on, and I curse my lack of musical vocabulary as I can't really put into words what's so interesting about it.

Here's the thing - there's a reason why they made a movie called Across the Universe that basically told a story through Beatles songs. There's a reason why they did that Cirque du Soleil tribute. There's a reason why The Beatles Rock Band was made whereas you don't see The Troggs Rock Band. It's because pound for pound, the Beatles put out a high ratio of quality music. No other band comes close. I don't know of any other band that has that many albums and songs where I can listen to everything and only consider a few parts to be the low notes. People will continue to discover them years from now, and a lot of other bands - even some good ones, and even some of my absolute favorite ones - will be an interesting footnote in musical history. It's not because there's some sort of international conspiracy that perpetuates some sort of myth about them. It's because they really are that good.

...And Men Shall Call them Pearl Jam!

I was ready to give up on Pearl Jam back in 2002 when they released Riot Act. Thinking back on it, I really don't remember much from that particular disc. Sure, there was that one song that took a jab at George W. Bush, but that felt more like a novelty than anything else. The album before that, Binaural only had a few decent tracks on it as well, so it looked like things were going downhill. (Although I must admit that the song "Thin Air" was so good that Kirsti and I had it played at our wedding.)



So, I figured that was it. They had gone the way of so many other bands, and their moment of glory was long past them. Imagine my surprise when "World Wide Suicide" came out off of their eponymous album. That had everything that I liked in a good Pearl Jam song - loud guitars, feedback, Eddie Vedder snarling out the lyrics, and good lyrics.



I recently picked up their latest, Backspacer, and I have to say that it's a pretty good disc with a lot of solid songs on it. It's good to hear, as Pearl Jam has been one of my favorite bands for some time now.

I first discovered them late one night after coming home from an eight to midnight shift at Safeway back when I was in high school. It usually would take me a couple of hours to unwind so I could go to bed, so I'd often just watch TV until I started to feel sleepy. Back then, MTV had a show called "Headbanger's Ball", and I'd sometimes watch it.

I have to say that from the late 80s to the early 90s was not a very good time for rock and roll. Basically, hair metal dominated the scene. Now that I'm older, I'll admit that some of them definitely have their merits (Bon Jovi) but I believe that many of them sucked just as much as I insisted that they sucked even back then (Poison). Basically, I just didn't feel like there was a lot out there for me. I found myself listening to a lot of older, classic rock, and I liked bands like Metallica and Faith No More as well. When Nirvana came along, I dug them as well, but in all honesty, I don't think that I fully appreciated them until somewhat recently.

So there I was, up late at night, and I caught the video for "Alive".



And thus was born an instant fan. I loved the sound of the guitar, and I had a man-crush on the guy who was singing. (That's a bit of a retcon, of course, as I had no concept of a man-crush back then.) He didn't look like he spent hours doing his hair before he played, and dammit, he sang like a MAN, and yet he was singing about things that were obviously emotional. It was the perfect band for the angry young man that I was. (Okay, I was more frustrated and annoyed than angry back then, but it all comes out as anger when you're in your teens.)

It was probably just a few days afterward when I bought the CD, having not heard a single other song. I pretty much fell in love with it on the first listen, and it got played quite a bit. I also remember trying to turn people on to the band, but I wasn't having much luck. I remember playing them for one girl who just shrugged her shoulders and said, "They're okay." Fast forward a year, and I saw Ten in her CD collection. I told her that I was surprised that she had it, and she claimed that she always liked Pearl Jam. (And no, I'm not one of those people who feels superior when I learn about a band before they get popular. I just get frustrated at people who obviously will only like something that is already popular. If you like music, you should like it for the music and no other reason.)

I continued to be a fan through college, even though pretty much everybody I met didn't like them. I don't know what it was, but I really took a lot of flack for liking them. I never really heard a good reason why one shouldn't like them, but I have a feeling that much of it had to do with the fact that they were so popular - which is ironic, I know. Whatever, it didn't matter to me, and I kept on being a fan even after I got out of college and worked all sorts of lame-ass jobs until I finally found my career.

It's difficult for me to explain just what Pearl Jam means to me. There have been a lot of times when their music has brought my spirits up. I remember having a crappy day at Safeway when I was a teenager and singing "Porch" in the car as loud as I could afterward. Of course, that song has nothing to do with a crappy job at a grocery store, but it sure felt good to get out all those frustrations.

A song that really holds a lot of meaning for me is "In Hiding", which is off of their Yield album. Now, I've never really analyzed the lyrics, mainly in fear of the fact that I'll discover what they're really about. For me, there are a few phrases that really resonate like "I swallowed my words just to keep from lying." Also, being somebody who tends to be a bit introverted, the chorus "I'm in hiding" is something that I often feel like I'm doing. After hearing a lot of interviews with Eddie Vedder, I get the feeling that he would be pretty cool with me making my own meaning out of his song. (Crap, I'm listening to it right now, and I'm getting all verklempt!)


I remember thinking back in 1992 that Pearl Jam was a band with some legs and that their music wouldn't just fade into obscurity. Even though I was probably wrong about a lot of things back then, I always felt that their music had a certain timeless quality to it. Turns out I was right on that one.



This "Stan Lee Challenge" was inspired by the Captain America half of Tales of Suspense #90: "...And Men Shall Call Him Traitor!"

If This be an Old Post!

Following is a post that I made on September 24, 2007 about They Might Be Giants. I am re-posting it here, as MySpace's blog is stupid and difficult to navigate. The reason why is that I'm thinking of posting some other tributes to favorite bands of mine, and I wanted this one on there as well. And no, I'm not going to count this towards Blog-a-Day. I've got something new in the works.

Oh, and it got a "Stan Lee Tribute" rechristening, and this one is inspired by Tales of Suspense #70 (The Captain America portion of the comic): "If This be Treason!" Oh, and it includes some new video links.

"I'm your only friend.
I'm not your only friend
But I'm a little glowing friend
But really I'm not actually your friend
But I am."

I was going to write a blog about The Beatles, my favorite band of all time. I was going to go on and on about how I've loved them ever since high school, and even though I'll go months and months without listening to them at times, I always seem to rediscover them and find something new in their music that I hadn't noticed before.

But writing about how great the Beatles are is like writing about how cute puppies are. Yeah, the Beatles were great. Duh. It's been said and resaid so many times that there's nothing I can contribute.

So, instead I'll write about my favorite band that I sometimes forget is my favorite band, where everything I just mentioned about The Beatles applies. That's right, I'm talking about They Might Be Giants. (Hardcore fans will understand the second part of this blog's title. Even moderate Beatle fans will understand the first part.)

"For years and years I wandered the earth
Condemned to a life of bleak despair
Then one day I looked around and found
It had disappeared.

Hopeless bleak despair
It was always there
And then one day it disappeared
In a puff of smoke
In an unceremonious way
One day it disappeared"

I've always liked these guys since I first heard them when I was in junior high. Their quirky lyrics instantly appealed to a quirky guy like me. But even then, I understood that their lyrics weren't odd just for the sake of being odd, and I could tell that oftentimes they really were saying something. Sure, they often just say things that are silly, but what's wrong with silly? I mean, do we really need another generic love song that essentially says the exact same thing that's been said thousands of times ad nauseum? Why NOT write songs about shoehorns, purple toupees, metal detectors, and not being able to hear somebody very well because you're on a plane?

And dammit, why NOT sing a song about the sun? Crap, it makes more sense than singing songs about some carpenter who walked on water two thousand years ago. Shoot, you can SEE the sun. You can FEEL the sun. We know what it is and why it's important. Seems like it would be a pretty crappy world without it.

"I can't hide from my mind
Though I try, try, try
I can't hide from my mind
And you know why"

So, they're certainly offbeat, but they honestly do have songs that are relatable. In fact, no song better expresses how I've felt before than their song "Your Racist Friend." Personally, I have been at parties hosted by friends and family where I've had to listen to moron racists talk all their crap. What's worse is that my friends and family will defend them and their rantings!

"It was the loveliest party that I've ever attended
If anything was broken I'm sure it could be mended
My head can't tolerate this bobbing and pretending
Listen to some bullet-head and the madness that he's saying"

I could write on and on about their lyrics and how much fun they are, but that would be nothing it weren't for the fact that their music is endlessly inventive. These guys have been at it for twenty years now and their songs continue to have catchy melodies. What's better, if you're willing to pay attention, there's a lot of interesting stuff all happening at the same time.

Their newest CD is unbelievable. I'll admit to picking up new cd's by washed-up bands like The Who, Velvet Revolver (a mix of washed-up bands), etc. While those CDs aren't out-and-out BAD, the magic really is gone with them. This is hardly true for TMBG though. I've had their latest on continuous shuffle in my car, as it continues to surprise me and entertain me.

To wrap this up, I've also seen them live twice. Both experiences were completely different, but equally awesome. They're not a huge band by any means, but they have a loyal fan following, and you don't have lame-os shouting out at them to play whatever their hit song is.

Pick up some TMBG. You won't regret it, unless you suck. Shoot, they wrote the theme to The Daily Show, so you know that there's gotta be something right about them.

And for my fellow They Might Be Giants fans out there (I know there's a few of you!) Please post all the cool stuff about them that I forgot.

"I was grinding my teeth, I was wasting my youth
And using up my teeth
Now I'm done chewing my nails
Hanging my head, chasing my tail
It got so bad I quit my job
Then I got a new job climbing the walls"