Fine? Why Fine?

What the World Needs Now

Ooof.

It's a shame Burt Bacharach's "At This Time" doesn't come in two versions: one with lyrics and one without. The latter would definitely be the one to buy.

This One Goes Out to...

Sounds like a cool wedding.

A few hundred lucky wedding guests got the surprise of their life Saturday (Oct. 8) as R.E.M.'s original four members reunited to play a seven-song set at the wedding of R.E.M. guitar tech Dewitt Burton. The action went down at Kingpins Bowl & Brew in the group's Athens, Ga., home base and marks just the second time Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills have performed with drummer Bill Berry since his 1997 departure.

"Nobody really knew it was going to happen," Kingpins owner Ed Connolly tells Billboard.com. "As a matter of fact, I think it was fairly hit and miss up until the time it happened. I heard they didn't know if Bill was even going to make it, and I don't know if they had a chance to rehearse."

Which reminds me that maybe I should write a post about the time I went to Stevie Wonder's daughter's wedding a few years ago.

Been Thinking of This For Some Reason...

If I were in a cover band I'd open every gig with "Drown" by Son Volt. It's perfect.

Sky cracks open

Like walls falling through the floor

You can hear the song/see the video here. Hit the "Re-chyroned Version," and while I don't know what that means exactly, you should be able to understand that if you were to start a cover band this is the song to open with.

Unless it's a KISS cover band then you have to open with "Detroit Rock City."

Good Line

I'm watching the Mets game in one room (the room with the computer) my wife's watching the Katrina concert in the living room on the good TV. I have the sound off in here so I can hear the music. Neither one of us caught what Chris Rock just said, but it looks like he may have just said, "George Bush hates midgets."

Which is fucking hysterical.

...Also it would be nice if someone did Tom Waits' "I Wish I Was in New Orleans." Well it would be really nice if Tom Waits did it but I'd settle for someone of lesser value covering it. I've been listening to this song a lot this week and I think it captures the city as well as anything.

Well, I wish I was in New Orleans
I can see it in my dreams
arm-in-arm down Burgundy
a bottle and my friends and me
hoist up a few tall cool ones
play some pool and listen to that
tenor saxophone calling me home
and I can hear the band begin
"When the Saints Go Marching In"
by the whiskers on my chin
New Orleans, I'll be there

I'll drink you under the table
be red nose go for walks
the old haunts what I wants
is red beans and rice
and wear the dress I like so well
and meet me at the old saloon
make sure there's a Dixie moon
New Orleans, I'll be there

and deal the cards roll the dice
if it ain't that ole Chuck E. Weiss
and Clayborn Avenue me and you
Sam Jones and all
and I wish I was in New Orleans
I can see it in my dreams
arm-in-arm down Burgundy
a bottle and my friends and me
New Orleans, I'll be there

You can hear a sample of the song over at Amazon.

...Holy shit, they just played it over a montage of images. Still it would be better if TW was there.

...9:51pm

On to this Fashion Rocks show (I'm still watching the game) which can only lead to the question: Who tuned up David Bowie?

("tuned up" in the Mafia sense, not the muscial one.)

QOTD

Some say the Good Lord invented iPods so we could hear just the good songs.

You might also say that's why the Good Lord invented Johnny Cash.

Can I get an Amen?!?!?

Life Is...

I still have a soft spot for Canadian rocker* Bryan Adams. The first record I ever bought was Cuts Like a Knife. I actually caught the video for "Cuts..." on VH1Classic the other day and became reacquainted with the curvy brunette from the video. You know, the one who dives into the empty pool and Bryan and the boys watch. I can't find a picture of her, but I think you can see the video here in RealPlayer. (I couldn't get it to work for some reason.)

Oh, the point of this jaunt down memory lane is just to say that I'm beginning to get mighty sick of ESPN's 50 in 50 promos where they use BA's new song "Open Road."

Not much of a post, I know.

*It appears to be a rule that he must be referred to as "Canadian rocker."

Keep a Close Watch

(Via Slublog.) I was unaware that they were making a movie about Johnny Cash. The trailer looks like it might be pretty good and Joaquin Phoenix seems to nail the role, especially the singing out of the side of his mouth thing that Cash did.

Sad

Ann Althouse links to this article in the Guardian that offers a list of the "25 Saddest Songs." Althouse offers her readers to put other suggestions in her comments. A couple of people suggested "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones, which I remember well from my youth. (It's one of my dad's all-time favorite songs.)

So here a couple I didn't see on the list or in Althouse's comments:

• "Lucille" by Kenny Rogers. Big tough guy turns to whimpering puss while Kenny watches. Very Sad.

In a bar in Toledo across from the depot
On a bar stool she took off her ring
I thought I'd get closer so I walked on over
I sat down and asked her name
When the drinks finally hit her she said I'm no quitter
But I finally quit livin' on dreams
I'm hungry for laughter and here ever after
I'm after what-ever the other life brings

In the mirror I saw him and I closely watched him
I thought how he looked out of place
He came to the woman who sat there beside me
Had a strange look on his face
The big hands were calloused he looked like a mountain
For a minute I thought I was dead
But he started shaking his big heart was breaking
He turned to the woman and said

You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille
With four hungry children and a crop in the field
I've had some bad times lived through some sad times
But this time your hurting won't heal
You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille

After he left us I ordered more whiskey
I thought how she'd made him look small
From the lights of the bar room to a rented hotel room
We walked without talking at all
She was a beauty but when she came to me
She must have thought I'd lost my mind
I couldn't hold her 'cos the words that he told her
Kept coming back time after time

You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille ....

• "Keep Me In Your Heart" by Warren Zevon. This is the last song on Zevon's last album before he died. Knowing that he wrote this song while he was dying makes it all that much sadder. C'mon with this.

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 your blouse
Keep me in your heart for while

      Full lyrics here.

Good Stuff

I liked Soul Coughing, I wasn't a huge fan but had a couple of friends who were very much into them. I only own Irresistible Bliss, which is a truly amazing album. ("Super Bon Bon" is my entrance song for my imaginary major league career.)

I haven't followed lead singer/songwriter Mike Doughty's post SC solo career but he's got a new album out. From the samples, I think I'm going to have to pick it up. Amazon has a free download of one of the songs, "Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well" and it is really f-n good. I've been listening to it all day. GO!

A-Z

Here's one via Michele:

Put your iPod list or whatever music thing you use in alphabetical order, and list the first song for each letter.

This, I can do.

• 100 Years-Five for Fighting
• 2:45 A.M.-Elliot Smith
• 3 Libras-A Perfect Circle
• 40-U2
• 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover-Paul Simon
• 7-Prince
• 9 to 5-Dolly Parton
• A Boy Named Sue-Johnny Cash
• B.O.B.-Outkast
• Cadillac Ranch (Live)-Bruce Springsteen
• Dammit (Live)-Blink-182
• E Chiove-Andrea Bocelli
• Fa Fa-Guster
• Galapogos-Smashing Pumpkins
• Hackensack-Fountains of Wayne
• I'd Rather Go Blind-Rod Stewart
• Jackie Brown-John Mellencamp
• Kalamazoo-Ben Folds
• Lady-Commodores
• M'Lady-Sly & The Family Stone
• Naked-Goo Goo Dolls
• O Girlfriend-Weezer
• Painkillers-Candy Butchers
• Quarantined-At the Drive-In
• Racing in the Street-Bruce Springsteen
• Sad Songs-Matt Nathanson
• Tailspin-The Jayhawks
• Ultimate Sacrifice-Ben Folds
• Valentine-Old 97's
• Waitin' on a Sunny Day-Bruce Springsteen
• X.Y.U.-Smashing Pumpkins
• Yahweh-U2
• Zak and Sara-Ben Folds

Well that's that. A lot of Bruce & Ben. Huh.