Musical Self-Analysis

I was looking at the Recently Played list onmy iPod and I started to wonder what the songs I listen to say about me. So, let's take a look at the ten songs (because ten is such a nice round number) I've most recently listened to:

1) Young Folks by Peter, Bjorn, and John
2) Very Loud by Shout Out Louds
3) Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez
4) When Did Your Heart Go Missing by Rooney
5) Stolen by Dashboard Confessional
6) Boe by The BBC National Orchestra of Wales
7) Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
8) American Girl by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
9) Maybe Katie by Barenaked Ladies
10) Eyes by Rogue Wave

So, what information can I gleen from this list? Well, numbers one through three speak to a recent fascination with Sweedish indie bands that goes back to an episode of Studio 360 from a few month back. Very Loud was also featured in ads for "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist," a movie that I missed when it was in theaters, but that I very much want to see.

I have an embarassing admission to go along with number four. I, of my own volition, watched "Nancy Drew". And I don't mean just had it on in the background, I actually sat there and watched the thing. For those that are unaware, I'm not, in fact, a twelve year-old girl, yet I still sat there paying attention to this entire movie. As a mitigating factor, I did watch it on TV (going to a theater for it would have just been wierd). The movie ends, the credits start to roll and this song starts playing. It's catchy and the lyrics are slightly inappropriate for a kids movie, and so I make it a point to track it down.

Number six on the list tells us that I'm a gigantic nerd. But then we all already knew that, didn't we? It's a bit of score from Doctor Who, played most notably at the end of the thrid season finale.

Number seven is, of course, the Oscar-winning song from the movie "Once". I've mentioned before how fond I am of this song, so all I'll add is that I highly recommend the movie to everyone. The fact that I still have the song in heavy rotation over a year later perhaps speaks to my obsessive nature.

I feel like I've been programmed to like number ten; it's appeared on so many TV shows that I've watched in the last couple of years. I guess that means I'm highly impressionable.

Election '08 - The Musical II: Electric Boogaloo

I'm again watching coverage of the Democratic Convention as they lead up to Senator Obama's appearance tonight. I can hear them playing Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA over the loudspeakers. Some would say it's a no-brainer choice for a political rally, it certainly gets adopted by politicians often enough. All this tells me is that these people don't listen to any of the lyrics beyond the chorus. Let's take a look at them:

Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up

Pretty bleak, right? Not exactly the patriotic anthem the chorus:

Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

would lead you to believe.

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

Oh, but wait, even better, it's about Vietnam. So far we've got urban decay, hopelessness, and an unmitigated foreign policy disaster. How uplifting.

Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

On the other hand, this is a message that the Obama campaign probably wants to stress, what with the right trying to insinuate that he's vaguely foreign and a secret Muslim.

Come back home to the refinery

Oh, hey, oil policy. I guess that's sort of topical.

Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"

Bad economic conditions, okay that's pretty current as well.

Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "Son, don't you understand"

And inadequate Veteran's benefits. Okay, the song's still depressing as hell, but I think I'm starting to see a secret strategy behind using it.

I had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone

Pointlessness of war. The punches keep coming. It's like a laundry list of sins of the previous administration and reasons to vote for Obama. I can't wait to see what's next.

He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now

Yeah, okay. You lost me again.

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

And we're back to unrepentantly bleak and hopeless. We were on a roll there for a while, but I'm afraid we've lost the momentum.

Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.

I'm not sure what "I'm a long gone Daddy" means, but it can't be a particularly good message for a political candidate to embrace.

Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.

Here at the end, however, I think we've found the new campaign slogan: "Barak Obama, I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A."

Election '08 - The Musical

I was watching Obama's VP announcement yesterday and couldn't help but notice the music they played as Obama was making his way to the stage: "City of Blinding Lights" by U2. Now, I'm a big U2 fan, so the Obama campaign earns some serious hipness points with me for the use of their songs, but this particular song is an interesting choice lyrically. Let's take a look at some of them:

The more you see the less you know
The less you find out as you go

Is this some subliminal response to complaints that Obama lacks experience?

I knew much more then than I do now

Perhaps not the best thing for a political candidate to declare: "I used to be much smarter."

Neon heart dayglo eyes

Um . . . okay.

A city lit by fireflies

Here's where the lyrics start to get dangerous. Certainly someone in the McCain campaign will latch on to this and claim it's Obama's new energy plan.

They’re advertising in the skies
For people like us

Well, there are certainly a lot of advertisements flying over the airwaves (through the skies). "People like us," is a nice phrase, Obama can be claiming kinship with the electorate.

And I miss you when you’re not around

Okay, now it's starting to sound a bit like a love song. Appropriate, I suppose since a political campaign can be likened to a courtship. One that is to be consummated in the voting booth.

Figuratively, you sick bastards.

I’m getting ready to leave the ground….

Flying to the next campaign stop, perhaps?

Ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh

Code of some sort?

Oh you look so beautiful tonight
In the city of blinding lights

Ah, a little more romancing of the electorate.

Don’t look before you laugh
Look ugly in a photograph

Um, good advice? Maybe? Well, it's advice, anyway.

Flash bulbs purple irises
The camera can’t see

A reference to McCain's celebrity dig?

I’ve seen you walk unafraid
I’ve seen you in the clothes you made

Ah, it's like he knows us.

Can you see the beauty inside of me?
What happened to the beauty I had inside of me

Oh, showing a little insecurity here. Is that a mistake, or could it be seen as endearing?

Time… time
Won’t leave me as I am
But time won’t take the boy out of this man

Here's a strong set of lyrics. He's a man capable of personal growth over time, but remains in touch with his inner child.

The more you know the less you feel

Hmm. Not sure I like this one. This seems to hew more closely to the Bush "trust your gut, not your head" philosophy. Not sure it works well for Obama.

Some pray for others steal
Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel… luckily

Support for separation of church and state, maybe?

So, overall not a bad song for Obama to choose, despite some shaky bits.

Call For Recommendations

I love my iPod, I love it to the extent that I don't really listen to the radio anymore (aside for the 2 minutes or so it takes for my clock radio to wake me up in the morning). The upside of that is that I don't have to waste my time with the crap music and annoying DJs that seem to permeate commercial radio. The downside is that I feel like I've closed off the primary channel for discovering stuff I haven't heard before, that I'm just listening to the same old stuff that I already know I like over and over again. So, to anyone who happens upon this post, if there's any artist or song or album that you particularly love and think I should listen to, then let me know in the comments. Don't worry about genre, I'm pretty open minded musically; I've just got an itch to discover some new stuff.

Limited Release

I am dying to see the movie "Once", unfortunately it's currently in limited release and isn't out here in New Orleans. The reviews I've seen have been overwhelmingly positive, but that's not what has me chomping at the bit to see the film. I'm excited about it because of the music, and because music is central to the plot. Here, I'll try to add a bit of video of the stars singing a song from the film. I found it on Fox Searchlight's website for the movie:



There, isn't that a great song (audio's a little shaky, but you get the idea). Anyway, if anyone from Fox Searchlight happens by my crappy little blog; please, please, please get this movie out in New Orleans.