Or, a rose by any other name So I want to talk about this song, which I called a Beatles song in the title for good old SEO purposes and because everyone is doing it. But I must confess to being somewhat disingenuous. I don’t think of it as a true Beatles song; it’s aContinue reading ““Now and Then,” the last (lost?) Beatles song”
Tag Archives: #popmusic
Who #7: thank u, next
Or, prep screams and hipster dreams I almost called this one ‘I Love My Wife.’ We’ll get there. Today is the day you may have been waiting for: Who’s Next. A title that is untranslatable, at least into German. I take the album on runs, which is how I’ve finally cultivated an independent relationship toContinue reading “Who #7: thank u, next”
Who #6: Raise your hand if you loved Roger’s voice pre-TOMMY
Or, an eras tour but it’s just one era A narrative I encounter not infrequently in my Who reading says something to the effect that Roger Daltrey didn’t really work out how to sing until Tommy. I would like to contest this claim. First off, I don’t know what ‘how to sing’ means. Secondly, I’mContinue reading “Who #6: Raise your hand if you loved Roger’s voice pre-TOMMY”
Who #5: This is embarrassing
Or, a check-in While interloping at the conference in Milan, I met a very knowledgeable presenter (British) to whom I took an instant liking. It somehow came up that I was writing this series on the Who because I had been listening to them all year. Her knee-jerk reaction was a weirded-out face and aContinue reading “Who #5: This is embarrassing”
David Byrne
Or, your latest song rec I hadn’t heard of the Australian trio STUMPS until last week when YouTube recommended the music video for their new song “David Byrne.” Now, I’m a simple man. I see something Talking Heads-affiliated, I click. And taking inspiration from David is a pretty good starting point for a song. IContinue reading “David Byrne”
Who #4: La La La Songs
In which I do a lot of air-drumming You know how any given McCartney composition has little cues and clues that let you know it’s a McCartney? I guess those tend to be musical more than lyrical. Anyway, in a like manner, Pete Townshend has a collection of what I call ‘la la la songs,’Continue reading “Who #4: La La La Songs”
Who Albums as FRIENDS Episodes
Or, too much of anything The weekend after the concert, as I rapturously recounted it to a friend over brunch, she asked, “Did they do the big one? The one with the teenage wasteland?” Yes, they did. And, I thought, that’s exactly what the song, indeed the entire album, would be called if it wereContinue reading “Who Albums as FRIENDS Episodes”
THE LAST TIME I FREAKED OUT
Or, vintage Miley Writing about one of the most famous stutters in music reminded me of my personal favorite stutter, delivered by Miley Cyrus on the infectious chorus of 2007’s “See You Again.” She was fourteen, and the album whence it came, called Meet Miley Cyrus, seemed intended to give her some genre space fromContinue reading “THE LAST TIME I FREAKED OUT”
Who #3: why don’t you all ffffffff
“we live in a generation where a generation we live in a generation lives in a generation we live in but y’all ain’t ready to have that conversation” : Lil Nas X What is a generation? This is not a question I asked myself while listening to “My Generation,” because I was busy wondering ifContinue reading “Who #3: why don’t you all ffffffff”
Who #2: We’re off to see the Wizard
The Pinball Wizard of, uh, Portsmouth! Today I’m here to talk about Elton John singing “Pinball Wizard” in Ken Russell’s 1975 film adaptation of Tommy. This bit must have taken some extra special directing, because… *gesticulates to everything* Side note right off: the more I have learned about Russell and his influences, the more IContinue reading “Who #2: We’re off to see the Wizard”