Thinking the Thinkable About John Lennon

The Beatles were most of all a moment. But their generation was not the only generation in history, and to keep turning the gutted lantern of those dreams this way and that in hopes the flame will somehow flicker up again in the eighties is as futile a pursuit as trying to turn Lennon's lyrics into poetry. It is for that moment--not for John Lennon the man---that you are mourning, if you are mourning. Ultimately you are mourning for yourself. - Lester Bangs, "Thinking the Unthinkable About John Lennon" (1980)

John Lennon would have been 73 years old on October 9.

When I'm With You, I Get An Extension: 10 Songs Sung While on the Phone

You'd think a post about telephone songs would be an easy one, but the catch here is that the singer has to actually be on the phone. The song can't just be about telephones, it has to be a telephone call itself. So with that in mind...

Happy 64th Birthday, Boss

Thought I'd forget, didn't you? (more likely, you didn't care)

Do young, contemporary bands put out this kind of energy and imagination?

I Been Shown Up, But I've Grown Up: Songs to Lift You From the Pits

Yeah, it's been that kind of week on my end. How about you?

Nothing But Teardrops: Songs About 9/11

I have nothing especially profound to say about this anniversary or this list of songs, except to say that throughout the years of war and flag-waving and cries of vengeance and boots up asses, the prevailing emotions about this day continue to be loss and mourning and horror. All those people. All those families.

10.

Keep Me in Your Heart: Warren Zevon Remembered

Zevon died ten years ago this past Saturday. One of those artists who works his way into your system, whether you like it or not (and I do).

Here's a remembrance.

Zevon had always written songs that referenced death, baiting the very thing that terrified and fascinated him: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, Life'll Kill Ya, Don't Let Us Get Sick. The Wind contains some of his most beautiful reflections on mortality, including Knocking on Heaven's Door and Keep Me in Your Heart: "Sometimes when you're doing simple things around the house / Maybe you'll think of me and smile / You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on the blouse / Keep me in your thoughts for a while.

 As Zevon predicted, it would become one of his most critically lauded albums, but he barely lived to see the plaudits: two weeks after the album was released, he died on 7 September 2003.

One of the most unbearably heartbreaking songs of all time:

There Once Was a Union Maid, She Never Was Afraid: Songs About Labor

Just a reminder that the 40 hour work week, 9-5 hours and vacations did not come about via the big-hearted benevolence of rich, powerful CEOs, but from the blood, sweat, and anguish of our grandparents and their parents.

Boys Say, Boys Say: 80s Female Hits As Sung by Fellers

Stay Free - Happy Birthday Joe Strummer

Happy 62nd Birthday, Fender Telecaster!

This blog's head cheese reports that today is the Tele's 62nd birthday, which dovetails well into Leo Fender's memories of its development aside from the year; there are 1950 Teles that are clearly Teles except for the headstock decal reads either "Broadcaster" or nothing at all, the semi-legendary "No Caster."

I've occasionally written about the Tele in the past, and I'm on deadline now, but I'd like to share some iconic Telecaster recordings, some that one might not know were recorded with a Tele, and some because I still find headless-guitarist YouTbue videos terribly hilarious.

FYI, I'm not including any twang-assed country chicken-pickers because reasons, nor is Bruce Springsteen included because 1.] man, fuck that guy and 2.] his famous Tele is actually a Fender Esquire that's been modified to look like a Tele, which is like buying a pair of wingtips to wear with a tuxedo T-shirt [see reason #1].

Sorry About That, Chief: 10 Songs of Apology and Regret

WANT

U2, "All I Want is You"

No Reason At All

Time for a sad love song, with trumpet.

Great Rock Books I Have Read, Part 2

Paperback Writer: The Life and Times of the Beatles, the Spurious Chronicle of Their Rise to Stardom, Their Triumphs and Disasters, Plus the Amazing Story of Their Ultimate Reunion Mark Shipper, 1979

Even before John Lennon's demise it seemed a new Beatles book was published about every two weeks, and Paperback Writer was in some ways a response to that glut. It is a blissfully funny parody, a fictionalized madhouse version of the Beatles story (the premise being that author Shipper interviewed Ringo Starr, lost his notes on the way home, and decided to make the whole thing up), and it skewers not only the stifling worship fans have laid on the band but the Beatles themselves. Puns abound in record-breaking number, from a photographer's name (F. Stop Fitzgerald) to a great running joke concerning Ringo's faltering solo career:

By 1976, Ringo Starr was no longer enjoying hit records with the same sort of regularity that he had in the early 70s. An occasional record appealed to him, like Elton John's Philadelphia Freedom, but by and large he found little to enjoy.

The last quarter of the novel has to do with a fictional Beatles reunion, and it's where Shipper's teeth start to sink in longer. Having failed on their own (especially John and Yoko's ill-fated team-up with Sonny and Cher, The Plastic Bono Band), the Fab Four reluctantly and under great pressure return to the recording studio to re-create their magic. Unfortunately, time has taken its toll, and the Beatles are reduced to a spate of uninspired and hilariously terrible songs, such as George's "Disco Jesus" and John's paen to Gilligan's Island:

Bob Denver, Jim Backus, each day they attack us
With laughter, fun and mirth

Their much-anticipated tour is a disaster, as their new material meets with stony silence and righteous anger. Frustrated, the Beatles end their ban on older material, and the moment they hit the first chord of one of their early hits, the crowd goes wild, and all is forgiven. Later, exhilarated but puzzled, the band struggles to understand why fans wanted a reunion, when all they really wanted was the Beatles of old, exactly as they were.

“I guess,” McCartney said as he took his wife’s hand, “it’s because you can’t live in someone’s past and live in their future, too.”

CWA

None of these women care what you think.