I don’t really hate any bands. This may come as a surprise to you, and there are certainly many, many bands that I despise. But as I barely listen to the radio and go to clubs infrequently, I just don’t hear enough of those bands to hate them. So, this is a great song, but produced by a complete asshole, Phil Spector. It qualifies further through being about his abusive relationship with Ronnie Spector (née Bennett). This combination is enough to prevent my brother from enjoying the song, but being clearly lacking in his emotional intelligence I still love it.
A song from my favourite artist: I’ve had a few favourite bands/artists over the years, but now I’m not sure who to go for. Pulp? From just before His’n'Hers through to Common People, they could do no wrong, and they’ve done plenty of stuff I loved either side of that. Magnetic Fields, for the magnificent 69 Love Songs and a lot of other fine stuff (amongst a selection of dross too)? Tindersticks, for their incredible first four albums, even though they’ve kind of treaded water since then? Four Tops for being amazing performers of some of the best pop songs in history? I could have chosen any of them and made a strong case. But I’m going to go with Townes van Zandt. Steve Earle once said Townes was “the best songwriter in the whole world and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that” (to which Townes responded that he’d met Dylan’s bodyguards, and Earle was sadly mistaken if he thought he was going to stand on his coffee table). Bleak ballads, leavened with glorious poetic imagery, were his stock in trade. Here’s a selection:
A song that makes me fall asleep: I actually mentioned playing this song just before I needed to leave the house, with its coda of “I’m just tired, baby, I just need to lie down, I’m just tired, darling…” and suddenly feeling very lethargic, so we’ll go with it. It’s a beautiful song too (with an almost self-parodic video) on an otherwise disappointing album – at least by the stratospheric standards the band’s first 4 albums set. Tindersticks – Dying Slowly.
There are no songs I can actually dance to, it’s just not a skill that I possess, but here’s one that always makes me want to shake my entirely-lacking-in-funky stuff. Jackie Wilson - I’m Comin’ On Back To You The intro of this song is just irresistible. It’s actually the second song on this upload, if you want to go directly to it then start at 2.42.
As I abhor headphones and listening to music while walking, I choose to sing to myself instead. On the downside, this doubtless means that most people who see me think I am a mumbling mentalist. On the plus side, it means I know all the words to quite a lot of songs. From those, I’m going to choose Pulp’s Razzmatazz as I don’t have any way of listening to it at the moment (it’s on a tape, back in Shropshire) short of singing it myself – or, y’know, clicking on this video.
Actually, there is one word I’ve never been sure of. Is she “plain” or “playing” dumb?
The most honest choice here would be Self-Esteem by The Offspring, which I can’t hear without being dragged back (somewhat against my will) to my undergraduate nights out at Metros, Cardiff’s dingy alternative rock club. But instead, I’m going to go with three songs that soundtracked my living in Paris, as wittily described here, when I had nothing to listen to but Oui FM and these songs were a welcome break from the Cranberries and the Chili Peppers. Louise Attaque’s Comme on a dithas a fabulous violin riff, and is about as good as French rock gets. Alors C’est Quoi by Les Rita Mitsouko is a glorious electro-pop song, with a rather over self-consciously kooky video. The one I’m selecting though is in English, from a band who I’d never heard of before and so are inextricably linked with Paris in my mind, even if this song is now a staple of film and TV soundtracks. I’ve never been sure whether this song should be a guilty pleasure, but, for me, a pleasure it certainly is.
If I started by saying that this is a song that reminds me of an ex-girlfriend, then the natural expectation is that it’d be something that evokes nostalgia, a feeling of what might have been, sorrow at an opportunity missed. In fact the only sorrow is that I did miss the opportunity to sing this at her when she cut her hair, and it’s that regret alone that is brought to mind by the song. Plus shorter hair suited her. Astute observers of my life may be able to guess what girlfriend I am talking about.
Really, only bad songs make me sad, but there are some great songs with lyrics that make me a little emotional – I’m not sure I’ve ever been moved to or towards tears by music. Emmylou Harris’ Red Dirt Girlfor instance or Gillian Welch’s Annabelle. But I’m going with the glorious poignancy of Sufjan Stevens’ John Wayne Gacy jr which hits every emotional button going, in the most understated way.
I really like the video clips that the person who has put the song up on youtube uses too – and the photos of American sharecroppers in Annabelle. Not so fussed on the Red Dirt Girl one!
A song that makes me happy. Pretty much any great song can make me happy, however downbeat the tempo or the lyrics. In fact, it’s generally happy, chirpy songs that grate on my nerves. But not this song, which is about as good a summer song as can be imagined. Althea and Donna: Uptown Top Ranking
