Popping the Culture's Cherry: Near-Miss Songs
I'm a shitty music fan. I can't remember the lyrics or the titles (of songs or albums); I'm a good enough listener that I recall basic sounds, but unless it's a well-known classic, with lots and lots of radio airplay and maybe an accompanying music video(hopefully with a scantily clad girl), I don't remember. Nowadays, it's even more difficult, because there are no music videos anymore despite what my Channel Guide tells me about MTV and VH1, and the phrase "played out" has taken on sinister new meaning with the amount of times a day I hear that fucking Amy Winehouse song about rehab. That, plus the fact that the entire music industry seems to be suffering from Nickelbackitis. I can't tell them apart anymore. Ask Wayne about this. A few weeks ago, when he and Jenn were helping me move, a song came over the radio that had a very distinctive mid-90s alt rock sound to it. I know I'd heard the song before, and it was something that I had probably been a fan of back in my middle school days. I asked Wayne if he knew the song's name or the band; he looked at me like he was going to cut my head off and feed it to a liger. It was Radiohead's "Creep."
This has probably happened to you. You hear a song, maybe on the radio but more likely in a TV show or movie, and say "Hey, that wasn't bad. I want that song. I want it now!" If you've got a perfect memory, you recall at least some of the lyrics and Google them; if you're merely smart, you go straight to The Source (one of the many "What was that song?" threads on the Imdb messageboards), and usually you can find what you're looking for. So as I was working my way through rewatching the second season of The X-Files on DVD this morning, imagine my surprise when I heard "Red Right Hand" playing in the episode where Scully gets abducted by aliens. Despite what you say, you have heard it before; it was in both Scream and Hellboy. It's definitely an interesting song, with a truly unique sound and lyrics like "You're one microscopic cog/In his catastrophic plan/Designed and directed by/his red right hand." The band is Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, by the way. Like many near-miss bands, I've heard the name, but I'm at a loss to tell you one fucking song that they sing. Oh, except for "Red Right Hand."
There are plenty of songs like this. You may not realize it, but you hear them all the time, in trailers, in the background in movies and TV shows - everywhere except for the radio. Ever heard of "Wild Horses?" Yeah, the Stones song. Equally famous, though, is the cover version by a band called The Sundays. You've all heard it before; Buffy and Angel danced to it at the prom. Oh, and it was also in the movie Fear; after all, they had to make Marky Mark feeling up Reese Witherspoon on the roller coaster romantic somehow. How about the band Ivy? You've heard the song "Edge of the Ocean." It was in an episode of Veronica Mars and the trailer for Before Sunset. It also served as the background music for Shallow Hal's hypnosis. Anybody remember The Lemonheads? I'm sure you remember their hit song "It's A Shame About Ray?" No? Well, they also had another near-miss song, "Into Your Arms," which is featured in the trailer for Before Sunrise. (And I actually did hear it on the radio once.) How about Louie Says? I can't find the one album they released, but every time I watch the "Reptile Boy" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which isn't often, as it's not exactly great TV), I hear it. The song was also featured in an early episode of Dawson's Creek, and the possible reason it always sounds so damn familiar to me is that it got some radio airplay in the late 90s.
So what does all this tell me? What should all this tell you? That the music industry sucks. That the day that American Idol is cancelled, the day MTV self-destructs into cultural insignificance (Ed. Note. This already happened, at 2:15 AM on Nov. 6, 2004 to be precise.), the day that we finally hear a decent song on the radio again - on that day, to paraphrase George Carlin, "Can you almost make it?"
This has probably happened to you. You hear a song, maybe on the radio but more likely in a TV show or movie, and say "Hey, that wasn't bad. I want that song. I want it now!" If you've got a perfect memory, you recall at least some of the lyrics and Google them; if you're merely smart, you go straight to The Source (one of the many "What was that song?" threads on the Imdb messageboards), and usually you can find what you're looking for. So as I was working my way through rewatching the second season of The X-Files on DVD this morning, imagine my surprise when I heard "Red Right Hand" playing in the episode where Scully gets abducted by aliens. Despite what you say, you have heard it before; it was in both Scream and Hellboy. It's definitely an interesting song, with a truly unique sound and lyrics like "You're one microscopic cog/In his catastrophic plan/Designed and directed by/his red right hand." The band is Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, by the way. Like many near-miss bands, I've heard the name, but I'm at a loss to tell you one fucking song that they sing. Oh, except for "Red Right Hand."
There are plenty of songs like this. You may not realize it, but you hear them all the time, in trailers, in the background in movies and TV shows - everywhere except for the radio. Ever heard of "Wild Horses?" Yeah, the Stones song. Equally famous, though, is the cover version by a band called The Sundays. You've all heard it before; Buffy and Angel danced to it at the prom. Oh, and it was also in the movie Fear; after all, they had to make Marky Mark feeling up Reese Witherspoon on the roller coaster romantic somehow. How about the band Ivy? You've heard the song "Edge of the Ocean." It was in an episode of Veronica Mars and the trailer for Before Sunset. It also served as the background music for Shallow Hal's hypnosis. Anybody remember The Lemonheads? I'm sure you remember their hit song "It's A Shame About Ray?" No? Well, they also had another near-miss song, "Into Your Arms," which is featured in the trailer for Before Sunrise. (And I actually did hear it on the radio once.) How about Louie Says? I can't find the one album they released, but every time I watch the "Reptile Boy" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which isn't often, as it's not exactly great TV), I hear it. The song was also featured in an early episode of Dawson's Creek, and the possible reason it always sounds so damn familiar to me is that it got some radio airplay in the late 90s.
So what does all this tell me? What should all this tell you? That the music industry sucks. That the day that American Idol is cancelled, the day MTV self-destructs into cultural insignificance (Ed. Note. This already happened, at 2:15 AM on Nov. 6, 2004 to be precise.), the day that we finally hear a decent song on the radio again - on that day, to paraphrase George Carlin, "Can you almost make it?"