It is not entirely out of laziness that I'm just going to throw up some more literary songs and call it a Friday. I recently finished Nick Hornby's 31 SONGS (borrowed of blogmigo Wade Garrett), so music and writing about it is on the brain. Then I went to a great concert last night and stayed up too late re-reading MICROSERFS, so! Priorities.
Today's category is: songs that, lyrically, are like short stories. It's not that I don't have a place in my heart for "Something in the way she moves" and "What do you do when you get lonely?" and "Don't you forget about me" (John Hughes, you guys!) but these are a little more private; they hold their pleasures closer to the vest. Here are three I thought of right away, although not necessarily the best of the subgenre. Tell me what your favorites are! Consider this the "Common People"* memorial list:
Jens Lekman, "A Postcard To Nina"
An epistolary fantasia, this charming little ditty about a harmless deception gone just a bit off. Oh, God! What have I done? I came to Berlin to have some fun! (Video is a static image.)
Fountains of Wayne, "Red Dragon Tattoo"
Several songs by this band were put under consideration for those times when you fall in love with, say, a DMV employee or a biker's girlfriend. One things in particular stuck out about the story this one tells: The boundless hope contained in that octave drop on the bridge. You can hear the unrequited love. (Also, it's not a good video, but I saw them at the Paradise in Boston twice, and it was awesome.)
Peter Sarstedt, "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)"
I'm not cool enough to have discovered this on my own, I admit, I found it through Wes Anderson's most recent movie "The Darjeeling Limited." That said, the speaker's bitter recounting of his addressee's new life is leavened -- or is it? -- by the name-dropping of what he can't (or won't) enjoy.
Today's category is: songs that, lyrically, are like short stories. It's not that I don't have a place in my heart for "Something in the way she moves" and "What do you do when you get lonely?" and "Don't you forget about me" (John Hughes, you guys!) but these are a little more private; they hold their pleasures closer to the vest. Here are three I thought of right away, although not necessarily the best of the subgenre. Tell me what your favorites are! Consider this the "Common People"* memorial list:
Jens Lekman, "A Postcard To Nina"
An epistolary fantasia, this charming little ditty about a harmless deception gone just a bit off. Oh, God! What have I done? I came to Berlin to have some fun! (Video is a static image.)
Fountains of Wayne, "Red Dragon Tattoo"
Several songs by this band were put under consideration for those times when you fall in love with, say, a DMV employee or a biker's girlfriend. One things in particular stuck out about the story this one tells: The boundless hope contained in that octave drop on the bridge. You can hear the unrequited love. (Also, it's not a good video, but I saw them at the Paradise in Boston twice, and it was awesome.)
Peter Sarstedt, "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)"
I'm not cool enough to have discovered this on my own, I admit, I found it through Wes Anderson's most recent movie "The Darjeeling Limited." That said, the speaker's bitter recounting of his addressee's new life is leavened -- or is it? -- by the name-dropping of what he can't (or won't) enjoy.
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* Workshop notes for J. Cocker: What supermarket was it? Were they menthol or non-menthol cigarettes? Even if you don't write what the job is, you should know in your own head so you can describe the haircut.
1 comment:
Every song from Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska will fit the bill here.
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