If you haven’t seen this yet , this is where it starts.
I’ve had to watch this at least 50 times by now. Just so that I could do it without
crying. I’m not going to get political,
but I know I am not the only person that was moved to tears by this(as I’m
writing this… here we go again)
So, there’s the whole political side, it’s clear that Kate
McKinnon is playing this as Hillary Clinton. At the same time, she’s gotta be dealing with
real fears. Being openly gay, being so inspired by Clinton. I mean we are talking about a woman who doesn’t
participate in social media out of fear.
Then there’s the fact that sadly Leonard Cohen had passed on
Monday. So from a musical side, it was
another loss in the musical community, in a year where so many great ones are
leaving us. Not again.
Now on top of it all, the Cohen family waited until Thursday
to announce Leonard’s passing. So here
we were, a nation in somewhat of a crisis, a nation in fear, a nation in
mourning, and now we lose someone who could put words together more beautifully
than most.
So I have decided that I will take this time to get back to
writing, and I want to highlight moments in television that had a perfect
soundtrack moment. You know, those moments in tv where the music just fits
perfectly and it affects the scene that much more. So let’s do that.
(Yes I know that the SNL moment isn’t really soundtrack, it
was the inspiration.)
*********SPOILERS*********
It should be noted
that since this is about tv shows, you may see scenes of a tv show that you are
watching or getting caught up on, so know that there could be spoilers ahead.
We Used to be Friends – The Dandy
Warhols – From the OC
So we go from one Cohen family to another, if you didn’t watch
the OC, fine. But I loved the show, I
only missed 1 episode live and that was due to the birth of my child.
So the show was about the hip Orange County scene, and a
family who took in a teen with a long rap sheet . The dad was a lawyer the at
risk youth had nowhere to go. Watch it.
Anyway this is juat a brief moment where you see a kid happy
because he’s gotten not 1 but 2 girls. Then
he realizes that he has to face them.
This was my first encounter with the Dandy Warhols, and I’ve
been hooked since.
Overkill- Colin Hay – From Scrubs
If you’ve never watched Scrubs, Fucking shame on you
What makes this great is that Colin Hay was there to play
his song
This is from the beginning of the second season . At the end
of the first season it was realized that there was a bizarre love hexagram
happening
This is just a great song and a great sequence.
The video that you see shows the opening sequence which was
the best part, but then the reprise at the end of the episode, plus another
Colin Hay appearance
Nico Stai – One October Song – From Chuck
If you are anything like my wife, you haven’t seen much of
Chuck. Or any. Another great show. There was always good
music on the show, I mean it was a McG produced show, just like the OC, so
music was always it’s own part of the show.
I mean, I don’t think I have time to explain the show, much
less get you caught up to almost the end of season 3
In fact, I don’t think I even need to explain the scene, the
dialogue and tone of the music sets the scene.
Mr Sandman – Dorothy, Rose and
Blanche – from the Golden Girls
If you don’t know The Golden Girls, then you don’t know
shit.
So I am waiting for Christmas to be over so that the Girls are back on television. Or maybe someone will get me thebox set,
either way.
So, I don’t remember how, I think this is when the girls
watched kids during a race or something and then this child got left behind, or
maybe that’s a different episode, plus they did a lot of montage episodes,
maybe this is it.
Either way, just like the girls, this scene is Golden
Born to be Wild – Steppenwolf – From Supernatural
If you are anything like my wife, you have seen every
episode of Supernatural, like 27 times.
Like The OC, and Chuck, Supernatural is a McG show, so again
there is emphasis on using the right music.
(Is there anything on tv that McG is not involved in?)
So this is Season 7 episode 23, the last of the season. Throughout most of the season Sam and Dean,
(the heroes of the show for you newbs) have been in hiding due to leviathans
that look like them committing crimes.
Of course there was all the cry baby sam, macho dean
bullshit you get every season, and they split up a few times.
They also had to use different hideouts and modes of
transportation due to their normal car “baby”
being easily recognizable to the Leviathans that are monitoring them and
trying to kill them.
So we arrive at this point, like the end of every season,
where one or both of the brothers may die, and the future of the world is
uncertain. (If only the British Men of letters would intervene LOL!!)
So Baby comes out of retirement.
(Headphone this one, it’s that good)
Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley – The West
Wing
I hate to put you through this song again, but it has been
featured in so many movies, tv shows, that it was bound to make the list.
So, The West Wing was a great show about well, the president,
and the West Wing of the White House. I am sure you knew that or at least
figured it out.
There are a few things going on, but the main thing to note
was that Allison Janney’s character CJ had been receiving death threats and was
assigned a secret service agent of her own, played by Mark Harmon there was a flirtatious sort of feeling
between them, and it seemed like a good thing.
The other thing going on is Josh and Amy (Bradley Whitfield
and Mary Louise Parker respectively) had a relationship happening while at the
same time were political opponents over a bill being put through, Josh’s win
meant that Amy had no job, and thus
ended their relationship.
There’s the stuff with the president, but really for me the
focus is on CJ and Agent Donovan
I know, rough, I’m sorry.
Let’s switch up the mood
The Right Time – Ray Charles – The Cosby
Show
This was just such a great surprise It became a recurring thing that the
Huxtables did for the anniversary of Cliff’s parents.
But this one was just so exciting, and hilarious, Rudy,
really steals the show.
Then Cosby himself comes in and shows what he can do with
just a few funny faces.
I’ll keep it short and sweet so you can just go enjoy it.
At This Moment – Billy Vera and the
Beaters- From Family Ties
Family Ties was just one of those really good 80s shows that connected people together, I sort of miss
it.
They used the song a few times on the show. I mean, it speaks for itself as a love
song from a broken heart perspective,
but it was clearly Alex and Ellen’s song.
I’d like to think that the real life couple of Michael J Fox
and Tracy Pollan still dance to this song.
I also like to think that they pull this video up on YouTube
and watch themselves fall in love.
So, last week I touched on some great opening lines, that
was fun and all, but a new idea blossomed from that. That would be, favorite overall lyrics, wherever
they so exist in a song. As always, this
is my list so, feel free to let me know yours.
However, this time I have numbered them, so I took a lot of time
thinking about this. We are doing it
countdown style.
I will preface this by saying that by some estimation, half
of these songs could be considered “emo” But if you think about it, that makes
sense.
Not to be all Dr. Phil, but wouldn’t any song lyric that
someone loves and connects with be at an emotional level?
It was rhetorical. So
shut up, and quit making fun of me. I’m
telling my mom.
So, some of these songs have been mentioned here before,
some have never been mentioned at all, either way, stay with me, I think you
will be happily surprised by this.
***I just want to point out that I am copying and pasting
these lyrics from their official google play lyrics, we can argue their
correctness as they come up ***
10. Kings Of Convenience – I’d Rather
Dance with You
Even if I could hear
what you said
I doubt my reply
would be interesting for you to hear
Because I haven't
read a single book all year
And the only film I
saw, I didn't like it at all
So, we had to start somewhere, why not here?
Kings of Convenience are a nerdy yet massively cool duo from
Norway, I doubt you have ever heard of them, but if you have, you get an extra
sticker.
This song, as far as I know, as the titles and lyrics
suggest, is about a guy who would rather dance than talk. But not because he
likes dancing, but because he feels there is no other way he will impress a
girl. And frankly, as the video shows, he’s no dancer either.
The lyric is from the first verse, and he is really setting
up his case for dancing. I will admit, I
am not much of a book reader, and I don’t see too many movies. (At least I used
to not) I mean I haven’t even seen Fight
Club.
So on some nerdy musical level, I totally relate to this
line.
Really, give this video a chance too; it is really good as
well. At least I think it is. And I have the microph- err keyboard and I can
say whatever the hell I want.
9. Warren Zevon – Werewolves of
London
I saw a werewolf
drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's
And his hair was
perfect
First off, if you only know Warren Zevon’s name because of
this song, that’s cool. I mean he has a whole songbook of great songs, but this
was the biggest. But the whole Excitable
Boy album that this comes off of is one of his best.
Zevon’s falls down and risings back up reflect Meat Loaf
just without all the hit songs, and less time in between.
And of course about 200 less pounds.
If you really want to see him push the hell out of this song
live, click here. I didn’t
use this as he doesn’t say the Pina Colada line in it.
This line as it stands may not seem like it’s that
great. But at the same time, its
awesomeness usually goes unnoticed.
Throughout the whole song we here about various werewolves, every so
often he makes them seem dapper, and this is no exception.
The thing that I have also loved about this line is at the
end Zevon lets out a, I don’t know what to call it, I don’t know any big words,
but he says something like dip, or dit or nip, either way, I like that part
too.
***No hearts were ripped out in the
making of this video; I had the Ghostfacers personally check it out. ***
8. Bob Dylan – Don’t Think Twice, It’s
All Right
And it ain't no use
in turning on your light, babe
The light I never
knowed
And it ain't no use
in turning on your light, babe
I'm on the dark side
of the road
Some people don’t like Bob Dylan, and those people are
wrong.
Truth be told, for the first twelve or thirteen years of my
life, I only knew this as a Peter, Paul and Mary song. But that’s because my mom was part of the
peace culture of the 70’s. And really, big props on her for being a late
blooming hippie. I don’t really give her
props, but she introduced me to a lot of great music.
But, in what Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow add in beautiful
harmony, Bob Dylan is able to avoid with raw emotion. Also his stripped down version of the English
vocabulary is something of note.
This line and the use of the un-word knowed always caught me
as a great line.
The song has been described as a diary entry. In a way, it
is a man telling the girl that he’s going to be ok without her. As far as the light, it’s apparent that he
feels she never wanted him in the first place.
Also it’s worth noting that:
“I once loved a woman, a child I am told I gave her my heart but she
wanted my soul” is also an incredible lyric.
7. Dashboard Confessional – Hands Down
Safe from the hour
and all the stupid questions
"Hey did you get
some?"
Man, that is so dumb.
Stay quiet, stay
near, stay close they can't hear
So we can get some.
So anyone from the early second/third (depends who is
counting) wave of emo will remember this one. I warned you this list would be emo heavy so
shut up and keep reading,
This is one of those weird google play lyrics I noted in the
beginning. The part that google states
as “from the hour” is actually “in here”.
I don’t know where google got it’s lyrics from, but I just checked the “A
Mark A Mission A Brand A Scar” liner notes. And I am right. I can’t find my “So Impossible” EP case to
see if they had been changed. What I will say is that there are definitely a few
extra syllables in what he says.
What the hell…
Why’d you let me get so off track?
Anyways, the relatable part of this lyric is the idea that
you think your young loves are so important, and that they mean more. In retrospect they aren’t, and they don’t. But don’t tell that to any 16 year old.
So, anyways you have this visceral idea that your
relationships is so important and more than just trying to get laid, but at the
same time, on a more primal level, you want to get laid.
It’s sort of Yin and Yang like that.
The rest of the song is just as beautiful, obviously I
prefer the acoustic solo original but if you’d rather hear the full electric band
version find it here.
Also, at the end he is saying “that you meant it” Not “the
Jew meant it” even though that is exactly what it sounds like.
6. Fall Out Boy – Nobody Puts Baby in
the Corner
So wear me like a
locket around your throat
I'll weigh you down
I'll watch you sulk
You look so good in
blue
More Emo?
You have no choice, so shut your cakehole bitch.
There are 2 versions of this song, most people know the
second, and the more rocking version from “From Under the Cork Tree” but it
originally appeared as an acoustic song on the EP “My Heart Will Always Be the
B-Side to My Tongue. That is the version
that you will be seeing later.
But if you are interested, here is a live electric version. Complete with 15 year old girls singing along
in the front row with their mom.
I don’t really know who I am insulting anymore, you, me or
15 year olds who are now in their late 20s.
So because this song was sort of lost amongst Sugar We’re
Going Down and Dance Dance, not much is known about it, or the lyrics. But I have my interpretation, and it is that
of a scorned suitor or something like that.
But the combination of “I’ll watch you choke, you look so good in
blue” is so awesome and gruesome at the
same time, I mean obviously she isn’t wearing blue, her face is turning blue
due to his choking of her.
I mean right? Do you
interpret it some other way? I am open
to other interpretations of the song as a whole, but clearly he is choking her,
don’t try to sell me anything less.
5. Van Morrison – In the Garden
No guru, no method,
no teacher
Just you and I and
nature
And the Father and
the Son and the Holy Ghost
In the garden
Wet with rain
I honestly can’t think of too many performers whose voice
just makes me want to close my eyes and listen, but Van Morrison is one of
them.
I first heard this as a live version mixed with
Allegheny and You send Me from A Night in San Francisco, which is an incredible
live album that any music lover should know.
During this song Van mumbles as he is singing with a harmonica in his
mouth.
And if the only Van Morrison song you know is Brown Eyed
Girl, you should be ashamed of yourself.
This is from Van’s album whose title No Guru No Method No
Teacher is lifted from this song, and this great set of lyrics. But in all reality the song is full of
incredible lyrics.
But this set of lines, is such a beautiful image. You could
argue that it harkens back to Adam and Eve, but I would say that it gets a
little deeper than that. I mean, love
as a concept doesn’t appear in the bible until Genesis 22. After Adam and Eve
and Noah and Babel and Sodom and Gomorrah.
So I would say that this is more of a feeling of true love
and emotion that is true and can only be felt when you are at peace and
incredibly open with your mind and you are alone with the one you love and no
other human beings. But being so in love that you are at the mercy of the
other, just as you’d be with God when you die.
Maybe I am thinking too hard, and what’s even crazier is
that the song is actually Van Morrison’s take on transcendental meditation.
So any way you look at it or listen to it, it is deep and it
is spiritual.
4. Weezer – Pink Triangle
But when I start to
feel that pull
Turns out I just
pulled myself
She would never go
with me
Were I the last girl
on earth
First off, why would you think this list would be complete
without a weezer song; you’d have to be crazy.
You probably didn’t think this would be the one though. However let’s be honest, you knew it would be
from Pinkerton. So why not one of the
least relatable songs on the album?
The line speaks for itself; it’s a song about a guy in love
with a lesbian.
Ok, so I have never been in love with a lesbian that I know
of.
I mean maybe I have turned a few girls into one,
And maybe there was this one time I turned a lesbian
straight.
But to my knowledge I have never knowingly been in love with
a lesbian.
But if I was…
This would have been my jam. I mean it still is, and the
lyric in question is absolutely amazing.
A man complaining that he is not capable of gaining her love even if he
was the last girl on earth,
That’s a clever line, and I don’t think enough people give
it props.
I think I have talked about this song before, go back and
find it, don’t always expect me to hyperlink everything.
Jeez!!!
So check out the video now
3. Ben Folds – The Luckiest
I don't get many
things right the first time,
In fact, I am told
that a lot
I mean… Come on…
This is actually the song that spawned this list. I was going to use this as one of my favorite
opening lines, and I mean, it is, but I think of that as just an incredible
lyric,
And the music that goes with it. I mean, seriously, there is a beauty of a man
that can sit at a piano and write something that beautiful. Hell, when he performs it alone it is a thing of beauty.
If you don’t know enough about Ben Folds, that’s on
you. But really you should know more.
He is an incredible singer songwriter and can hold his own
either with a band or by himself, as evidenced by the Ben Folds Live
album.
So we are getting the idea right away that this is a song by
a guy who knows he is a human and that he has fucked up many a relationships
and any other god damn thing you can think of.
And really, besides Donald Trump, is there anyone on earth
that doesn’t look back on their life and see a few failures? I mean, how many people marry their first
love and stay married until they die?
Hell, the broad from The Notebook couldn’t even do that.
I sure as hell didn’t come close. But the beautiful feeling
of knowing that you might have finally done it. This song conveys that. And we
all know that feeling, even if in the end we were wrong again.
2. Taking Back Sunday – You’re So
Last Summer
I'd never lie to you
Unless I had to
I'll do what I got to
Unless I had to
I'll do what I got
to, the truth
Is you could slit my
throat
And with my one last
gasping breath
I'd apologize for
bleeding on your shirt
In all actuality the part that I love is the second half,
starting from “the truth” but I left it all there so it could be seen with the
context.
How fucking great is that line?
How fucking emo is it!?!?!!!
But still, I mean think about what is being said there, A
guy is so in love with a girl that even if she killed him, he would still love
her until the very end.
What’s more is that he would use his last breath to
apologize to her for ruining her shirt with the blood that poured from his body
after she cut him to kill him.
Seriously….
That’s deep, and sick, and sweet, and so oddly poetic, that
even now 14 years later, it still gets me a little worked up.
I mean, think about it yourself, have you ever loved anyone
that much? I mean I love my kids that
much, but that’s a given for anybody. I
certainly didn’t love my first or second wives that much. And honestly, I would love to tell you that I
love my current and final wife that much, but I mean, the only way I will
really know is if she slits my throat. But
even then, I’d certainly apologize for bleeding on her shirt, but that would
just be to fulfill the prophecy of this song.
Seriously, for being loud obnoxious 2002 emo, it’s really
deep.
1. Smoking Popes – Pretty Pathetic
The way she used to
look at me
Made me a thousand
feet high
The meaning of the
word cool
Not the same geek
Who fumbled through
his words that night
The ugliest night
Honestly, I feel like I could have just copied all the
lyrics, I mean - This is my second favorite song of all time.
For some odd reason, in December of 2013, I got to spend
almost an hour on the Phone with Josh Caterer (The writer and singer of the
song, dummy.) You can read that article
on the blog post entitled fittingly Ladies
and Gentlemen – The Smoking Popes I
really had no business interviewing a man of his immense talent.
So I will try not to steal too much from that article, that
way you have to go read it, and really, Why haven’t you already.
So basically it’s this idea of a guy who is trying to win
his girl back. He isn’t quite
successful. So this song is like the guy
recounting the whole thing to like a bartender or something.
I always pictured it
at like an Applebee’s or something.
And that’s not a plug for Applebee’s, or a reference to the
fact that I worked there for 7 years, even though they have a killer menu.
No, the reason I saw it as at like an Applebee’s is because
for as hard as it tries to be a bar, it’s really just a family restaurant, and
anyone who treats it as a dimly lit corner bar where you can wax poetically to
the bartender has got to be- by definition and title- pretty pathetic.
But again, just like all great songs that one can connect
to, we all sort of know this feeling.
I mean again, are you
some robot that has never been dumped?
Oh You are?
Well fuck you Debra!
So the reason why I chose this line, is that it conveys so
much in so little words, the guy was at the top of his game because of her, and
then because of her and in front of her he was at his lowest. That doesn’t happen with crushes, that doesn’t
happen with one night stands, that only happens with the truest of loves. When you talk visceral, this is at the top.
I want to give you
the live version and the album version, so I will do that, go ahead and enjoy
either, or both. Just not at the same time.
Live
Album
Livelier Live
So that’s it. These
lyrics always take me to a totally different place and deep into my mind with
all of these songs. I love these words, I really do.
What are some of yours?
Do you like my list?
Do you even like me?
Did you click on the Applebee’s menu hyperlink?
Did you even notice it?
Yep, I really hyperlinked to an Applebee’s menu on a blog
about music…
Keep scrolling…
Or don’t…
Why did you scroll down this far? As
a gift for your continued scrolling you get to - For no reason at all - watch
this:
