“The Promise”
by When In Rome
from the album When In Rome
1988
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Violent FemmesI was planning on a different Album of the Month, but then my friend new Kelsey and I were talking about our top 5 bands. I had mostly not heard of hers (because I’m old) and she had mostly not heard of mine (also because I’m old). Violent Femmes were on my list, and though my main thought was trying to hold back from screaming out on the subway “how do you not know who the Violent Femmes are?!”, my other thought was “if their first album is not a perfect album, then brother, I don’t know what the hell is.” So Kelsey, this is for you.
“Somebody to Shove”
by Soul Asylum
from the album Grave Dancers Union
1992
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Soul Asylum is one of those bands that I never normally think about; they don’t really orbit in my 90s universe of music. But occasionally a song of theirs will come up on the local 90s station or Pandora/Spotify/iTunes and I gotta give it up to them. They’ve got some great tunes, and this is definitely one of them. Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “Somebody to Shove”
“Dead”
by They Might Be Giants
from the album Flood
1990
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This is probably my favourite TMBG song. There’s something about it that’s so simple and so beautiful and so catchy. I actually made Lance try this with me once or twice at karaoke, acapella, looking at the lyrics on my phone, when there was a lull in songs in the queue, because I just want so badly for it to actually be in the book. It never ever will be, but this is one of those songs that we would totally add if we ever opened a karaoke bar, and that if we actually lived in the same city (or country) we would practice together until we could nail it. It’s such a fun song to sing (I can never decide which part I would prefer to do), even if it’s just doing it loudly in the car. If I’m in a place where I’m alone and can sing this, I will almost always do it a few times in a row when it comes on shuffle.
“Jackson”
by Johnny Cash with June Carter Cash
from the album The Essential Johnny Cash
1967
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I can’t remember how or why Lance and I first did this as a duet. I feel like maybe our group was having a Johnny Cash-off/medley, but I’m not sure. Also, this had to have been sometime just after the movie Walk the Line came out, because I admittedly didn’t know a thing about Johnny Cash or really know his music until the movie Walk the Line. Up to that point, the only reference point I had for him was that one of the characters in Swingers had a father who was a big fan.
Continue reading Karaoke Tuesday: “Jackson”
“Song 2”
by Blur
from the album Blur
1997
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Oh man, “Song 2.” How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I tossed this one into the mix one night after I had gone through all my regular songs and the house was practically empty. So. Much. Fun.
For me, anyway.
“Add It Up”
by Violent Femmes
from the album Violent Femmes
1983
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I wasn’t sure what to post today, and then, no lie, all three versions that I have of this song came up in a row on shuffle on the way home, so I’d better post it or the universe is going to have me get hit by a bus tomorrow or something. How have I not posted any Femmes yet? I love #KaraokeTuesday and #CoverFriday, but Lance is right that we need some other day for everything else (and yes, next month I will try to post another monthly theme, though even that may not be open-ended enough).
“Undone (The Sweater Song)”
by Weezer
from the album Weezer
1994
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I started to write a post about “The Middle” when I had the suspicion I already had. I was correct. Oh well, time to pick another artist. Out of curiosity, I decided to see how many times we had written about Weezer, particularly the blue album since that’s one of the geeky loves Chris and I share.
Once. We’ve written about Weezer, exactly once. What the fuck is wrong with us? Let’s correct this travesty right now. I’ll go for the long-hanging fruit and pick the song that Chrance is best known for performing (with “Summer of ’69” and “ITEOTWAIKI” coming in close behind). Ladies and gentlemen, I present the perfect karaoke song: Continue reading Karaoke Tuesday: “Undone (The Sweater Song)”
“Losing My Religion”
by R.E.M.
from the album Out of Time
1991
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Sure, this was a big hit off of a big album that really brought R.E.M. into the mainstream, but the only really important thing is that this is the song that represents Brenda losing her virginity to Dylan. I’m pretty positive they played parts of this song somewhere around 87 times during that episode of 90210.
“Of a Broken Heart”
by Zwan
from the album Mary Star of the Sea
2003
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Zwan was a shitty band (I feel so much better having typed that). Mary Star of the Sea served as both the debut release and the final gasp of a band that never should have existed in the first place. It’s a complete train-wreck. Although, there is one redeeming factor in this monstrosity and it’s located on track six.