"What are You, Musical or Something?"
Da Rulez
1. Reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter.
2. List (and upload, if you feel like it) 5 songs that start with that letter.
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions.
warriorpoet gave me G:
#1. Girl by Tori Amos
Sample Lyric: "Well, I'm not seventeen, but I've cuts on my knees, falling down as the winter takes one more cherry tree."
Notes: Brilliance from Little Earthquakes. That sentence is brutally redundant.
#2. Glory of the '8os by Tori Amos
Sample Lyric: "It was the glories of the 8o's, with karma drawn up in lines and two Bugle Boy models saying, 'Baby, it's freebie, you sure look deprived.'"
Notes: From To Venus and Back; this is a song even twats professing not to be able to stand Tori Amos like.
#3. God by Tori Amos
Sample Lyric: "Do you need a woman to look after you? God, sometimes you just don't come through."
Notes: One of the more popular tracks from Under the Pink. I adore the layering in this song.
#4. Go Boy Go by Sugar Chile Robinson
Sample Lyric: "Go, boy, go."
Notes: I heard this in a Dockers commercial, loved it, researched it, and have been hunting to get it for almost a year and a half. I got it just last month.
#5. Get Out, Get Under the Moon by Helen Kane
Sample Lyric: "Pick up your hat, close up your flat, get out, get under the moon."
Notes: There are other versions of this song, but this is my favorite (I adore Helen Kane for obvious, obvious reasons). Funny how a song written in 1928 contains advice given by many therapists today (albeit worded slightly differently, of course). I still refer to anytime I'm "actively engaging outwardly" as getting out and getting under the moon.
And then chris_baby gave me E (get your mind out of the gutter):
#1. Eau d'Bedroom Dancing by Le Tigre
Sample Lyric: "I'm in the sky when I'm on the floor, the world's a mess and you're my only cure."
Notes: My first Le Tigre song! This got me hooked.
#2. Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) by the Buzzcocks
Sample Lyric: "I can't see much of a future unless we find out what's to blame. What a shame."
Notes: Haven't we all sung this at some point?
#3. Entrophy by MC Hawking
Sample Lyric: "So my first definition I would now like to withdraw, and offer one that fits thermodynamics second law."
Notes: A fucking HILARIOUS send up of Naughty By Nature's "O.P.P.". If you haven't heard of MC Hawking (and DJ Doomsday), check him out, please.
#4. Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple
Sample Lyric: "Be kind to me, or treat me mean. I'll make the most of it, I'm an extraordinary machine."
Notes: From Fiona's quietest album with no one big hit (or two) like the two preceding. Shame since it's beautifully done and this song is especially exquisite.
NOTE! I can't find another E song so here's a T song, negating the purpose of this meme:
#5. Tempest by Mary Prankster
Sample Lyric: "Now don’t go thinkin’ that I’m crazy just because I am. ’Cause I wouldn’t act indifferent if I didn’t give a damn."
Notes: This is my theme song as a girlfriend. Period. More about Ms. Prankster later.
And then smilesawakeyou gave me A:
#1. Amber Waves by Tori Amos
Sample Lyric: "From ballet class to a lap dance straight to video."
Notes: First track off Scarlet's Walk and it nailed me.
#2. Angie by Tori Amos
Sample Lyric: "All the dreams we held so close all seemed to err or go up in smoke."
Notes: I prefer Tori's cover to the original Stones (and I LOVE the Stones' version) since her version seems to enhance the melancholy and forgo the bitter. This song has special meaning to me: at one point when I was sick and started making out my will just to be safe (and yes, I still have it and update it; you're not immortal, someday you'll die, too) this was the song I picked to have played at my funeral for various reasons I won't get into. I changed my song choice eventually, but this song still has special resonance.
#3. Ain't Nobody's Business if I Do by Bessie Smith
Sample Lyric: "If I should take a notion to jump into the ocean, ain't nobody's business if I do."
Notes: The classic sung by the original. If you've never heard Bessie Smith, you owe yourself a listen to this.
#4. All I Want is You by Barry Louis Polisar
Sample Lyric: "If I was a flower growing wild and free, all I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee. And if I was a tree growing tall and green, all I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves."
Notes: Best known now for performing the opening song in Juno, Polisar actually is an established writer of children's books and songs. Sorta explains the sweet and simple nature of this song, which is-- sweet and simple.
#5. Anti-Pleasure Dissertation by Bikini Kill
Sample Lyric:"What I thought and how I felt/How punk fucking rock/My pussy smells."
Notes: I used to use this song to wake me up and get me psyched to do shitty shifts at work (ok, PARTICULARLY shitty shifts at work).
And then _lady_vanilla_ gave me L:
#1. Latex Dominatrix by Tuscadero
Sample Lyric: "Queen of the damned in black leather, the men all claim to love her. They pay her, obey her, and try to lay her and pray someday to rise above her."
Notes: Loved this song for years and just recently got it in mp3 form (which I'm now sharing with you. You're welcome). Like most of Tuscadero's songs, this one is bouncy and "cute", but this particular song actually examines feminist and social mores (no, seriously) of the dominatrix (of the career variety) and in addition is telling a story, ballad form not being the standard of Tuscadero's music.
#2. Louise by Maurice Chevalier
Sample Lyric: "Each little rose tells me it knows I love you, I love you."
Notes: Chevalier's song for which he is best remembered. It's been rumored to be about Louise Brooks (who expressed open contempt for the song) but either way, it's a beautiful, sweet song and a great introduction to Chevalier.
#3. Let's Misbehave by Irving Aaronson and his Commanders
Sample Lyric: "If you'd be oh-so-sweet and only meet your fate, dear, 't'would be the great event of 1928, dear."
Notes: I first heard this as an aspiring film buff in Woody Allen's Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) and adored it. Later on, as my knowledge of the Jazz Age grew with my knowledge of Silent film, I kept this song in mind. Finally, once I got into Cole Porter, I fell in love with the song (and its absolute Cole Porterness) all over again. It remains a song I can sing by heart just by the orchestral music.
#4. Losing His Touch by Jack Off Jill
Sample Lyric: "Now I'll play God, 'cause your God is just losing his touch."
Notes: One of, surprisingly, the less controversial songs by Jack Off Jill. Don't believe me? The first song of theirs I heard was "Cum Dumpster" (which is still a dang catchy tune). So is this, Jessica Fodera's wonderfully diverse vocal stylings (coo to scream) running the gamut on this track.
#5. Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos
Sample Lyric: "Oh, these little earthquakes, here we go again. Oh, these little earthquakes. Doesn't take much to rip us into pieces."
Notes: There is nothing I can say about this song that I haven't already said or that has been said by more articulate people than I. It is my panacea. It is the noise my soul makes.
And then queer_theory gave me M:
#1. Muhammad My Friend by Tori Amos
Sample Lyric: "Moses, I know, I know you've seen fire, but you've never seen fire until you've seen Pele blow."
Notes: From one of the greatest albums in the history of ever. A very Boys For Pele track and just an amazing song.
#2. Mr. Zebra by Tori Amos
Sample Lyric: "Furry mussels marching on, she thinks she's Kaiser Wilhelm or a civilized syllabub to blow your mind."
Notes: The first Tori song I heard as an adult (18) and the one that courted my interest and then love and then infatuation of Tori. Don't try to understand what it's about. It is verily, as Oily of Oily and Shmaltz would say "Like a Lewis Carroll nonsense poem". And just as brilliant.
#3. Mac 'n' Cheese by Mary Prankster
Sample Lyric: "Love him ’til my dying breath/ Man, fuck the food - I’ll starve to death/ If I could just find a boy who’s not a violent sociopath."
Notes: Haven't you heard of Mary Prankster? Philistine! Her songs may be catchy as all get out but don't deny their depth. This one, however, is just a delicious (um, no pun intended since that would be lame) song about lowered standards.
#4. Mercyfuck by Mary Prankster
Sample Lyric: "I sing of love and of hate but I'm just masturbating my soul."
Notes: Aforementioned depth! This is one of her most remembered songs. When I saw her in concert (in Baltimore) she opened this song by roaring
"WE'RE GONNA HAVE US A GOOD OL' FASHIONED HOME TOWN SING-A-LONG,"
in a manner that was slightly disturbing.
We all joined sweaty palms and/or linked shoulders and swayed, singing "along" louder than Mary sang. I think she wanted that to happen.
#5. Mata Hari by Mary Prankster
Sample Lyric: "Why'd they call it Sloe gin if it works so damn fast?"
Notes: Here's the acoustic version, too. Her pronunciation of "Magdalen" spawned my moniker, "Magdolene". This is a wonderfully gritty, dancey, amusing, truly punk number.