Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCLXXXVII--Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville (Album)

Just a wee bit late with this one....

It's my once yearly "It's My Blog and I'll Write About an Album If I Want to" post, and this year it's an album that's not quite as well-known as some I've written about in previous years, Liz Phair's classic debut, Exile in Guyville.  I wrote about Phair's song "Perfect World" for a post in 2018, so no need for a recap bio (plus this year's album has 18 tracks which will make it long enough as is), but I would like to note that on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time, Exile was ranked #328 in their 2003 version, #327 in their 2012 update, and in their 2020 revision had jumped all the way to #56.

I have to admit that while I was familiar with (and loved) the track "Never Said," I didn't discover the album until twenty years after its release when I found it for a dollar while I still worked for the thrift shop.  One day I popped it in the CD player in my car, and it spent the next six months as the soundtrack to my drive to work in deepest darkest Detroit.

And away we go...

6'1"--Phair opens with a guitar driven rocker that gives you a taste of a) her unconventional vocal style, and b) her often unbridled lyrics (Phair has said the album is not autobiographical, for those wondering, and that the characters/thoughts therein were created from her imagination).  Favorite Line:  "And I kept standing six-feet-one/Instead of five-feet-two/And I loved my life/And I hated you..."

Help Me Mary--A prayer of sorts that we've all had at one time or another: make me rich or famous so all the people who treated me like shit will be jealous.  But with great guitar work.  Favorite Line:  "Weave my disgust into fame/And watch how fast they run to the flame..."

Glory--Phair slows it down with an acoustic number that also shows a touch of the spiritual--just who is that guy in the bar?  Favorite Line:  'You are, you are shining some glory on me..."

Dance of the Seven Veils--A sparse song that features two breaks where Phair's voice goes from its usual low tone (contralto?) to a much higher (and tuneful) range (soprano?).  A little on the dark side, lyrically.  Favorite Line:  "I know all about the ugly pilgrim thing/Entertainers bring May flowers..."

Never Said--Sounded great the first time I heard it, sounds just as great today.  A pop song with an edge, one of Phair's all-time bests.  The song is about how catty the music industry is but works in numerous other contexts.  A great, great tune.  Favorite Line:  "And don't look at my hands in my pockets, baby/I ain't done anything wrong..."

Soap Star Joe--One of the great things about this album is the diversity of the songs--so many different musical and vocal styles.  This one has a bit of harmonica, and the guitars owe a little to Eddie Cochran.  Still culturally relevant, as it could be about half the men in MAGA.  Favorite Line:  "Check out the thinning hair/Check out the aftershave/Check out America/You're looking at it, babe..."

Explain It to Me--This is the one where it dawns on me what an incredible album this is for guitar lovers, with a cutting acoustic that repeats from beginning to end.  May be about star athletes or their role in sports?  The drum at the end mimicking a heartbeat is eerie.  Favorite Line:  "Give 'em your medicine/Fame injection..."

Canary--And of course the next song merely features a stark piano....  Though the album is supposed to be a song-by-song response to the Rolling Stones' classic Exile on Main Street (heard it but not enough to know--both albums feature 18 songs for what that's worth), this one actually sounds more influenced by the Velvet Underground (to me).  A diatribe about women and the dangers of submissiveness for all concerned?  Favorite Line:  "I jump when you circle the cherry/I sing like a good canary..."

Mesmerizing--The Stones are all over this one, both vocally and with the guitar riffs.  Playing hard to get? Wishing for a wizard?  Favorite Line:  "You tossed the egg up/And I found my hands in place, boy..."

Fuck and Run--This one is actually a lot more romantic than the title suggests, and one of the more catchy songs on the album.  Though many folks far more skilled than I have written about this one, I think it's about the havoc our inner demons wreak--or maybe it's as simple as romantic longing.  Favorite Line:  "And whatever happened to a boyfriend/The kind of guy who tries to win you over?"

Girls! Girls! Girls!--A killer queen, and another one that reminds me of the Velvet Underground.  The staccato guitar shows the beauty of simplicity.  Favorite Line:  "You've been around enough to see/That if you think you're it, you better check with me..."

Divorce Song--This one became one of my favorites, mostly for the bits of kindness amidst a relationship on the brink.  A nice character study, and one of the better written songs on the album. Surprisingly catchy, too.  Favorite Line:  "But you've never been a waste of my time/It's never been a drag..."

Shatter--At the risk of sounding like a broken record (CD?), this is another one that reminds me of the Velvet Underground.  The guitar is a wonder, capturing the dizzying and frightening prospect of maybe, just maybe being in love.  Favorite Line:  "But something about just being with you/Slapped me right in the face, nearly broke me in two..."

Flower--This one isn't your usual rock and roll fodder--backed by an industrial vibe Phair recites over a choral backing lyrics that are raw and racy.  I vacillate between liking and hating this one...which is probably the point.  Favorite Line:  "Your face reminds me of a flower/Kind of like you're underwater/Hair's too long and in your eyes..."

Johnny Sunshine--The effects of bad romantic decisions?  Similar to the previous song Phair sings over (and over and over) her vocals, in an endless loop, somewhat like the life the protagonist is living.  Favorite Line:  "You took the house, you went and changed the locks/Now I am stuck living out of a box..."

Gunshy--The ennui of timidity?  This one is another guitar driven (amazed at how much more I've noticed the guitars as I write this post) song, with an understated vocal for an understated life.  Favorite Line:  "See-monkeys, do monkeys/Story of my life..."

Stratford-On-Guy--An airplane flight, and all that is seen or seemed by Liz Phair.  The deeper I get into writing this, the more I wonder how the hell Rolling Stone only put this album at #56.  Favorite Line:  "It took an hour, maybe a day/But once I really listened the noise just fell away..."

Strange Loop--Phair closes with one of the more straightforward rockers on the album, with an extended break of jangly guitars.  Being true to yourself and true to your lover isn't as easy as it seems. Neither is writing an album full of eighteen iconoclastic songs--a fine ending to a monumental album.  Favorite Line:  "They're saying I can't be true/But I only wanted more than I knew..."

Sorry it took a while...thanks for reading!  Enjoy:

Republican = Traitor

Peace,

emaycee

Crock and roll music

Roll over Chuck Berry, tell T. Rex the news

Some conservative idiot (I won't reference anyone--or the organization he works for--that is so incredibly stupid) said this week that Barack Obama destroyed rock and roll, as if a) anyone could destroy it, and b) rock and roll is an art form that is a mainstay of conservatism.

The stupid, it burns.

Every rock and roll record burning or breaking event that ever occurred was ran by a conservative.  Every person whoever said rock and roll was the music of Satan was a conservative.  Every person who lost their shit when John Lennon said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus was a conservative.  Every person who advocated for parental warnings on rock and roll recordings was a conservative.  And the creme de la creme?  African-Americans, 90% of whom vote against conservatism's political party, from Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters to Chuck Berry to Little Richard, were the progenitors of rock and roll--whining about the fate of rock and roll when you have spent your whole lives fervently wishing its founders were back on the plantation is just a tad disingenuous, don't you think?

Rock and roll is and always has been the antithesis of conservatism.  It's anti-racism, anti-corporatism, and anti-violence.  It celebrates peace and love and people living in harmony.  It doesn't celebrate hate.  It embraces the truth because the truth sets us free.  It celebrates inclusivity, living in a world where your race or your sex or your sexuality is a badge of honor.  It has fought against AIDS, Apartheid, war, and hunger.  It's fought for women's rights, gay rights, and for the environment.  It's about people power and its songs celebrate the common man not whiny ass rich people.  Does anything in this paragraph sound remotely like it's part of the conservative agenda?

Not even in an alternate universe.

Just because some lame-ass, second-rate guitarist like Ted Nugent occasionally plays loud music at one of Trump's rallies for losers doesn't mean that you have the slightest claim to rock and roll.

So do us all a favor and shut the fuck up about how Obama destroyed rock and roll, and crawl back into that hole you slunk out of in Idiotville.  And while you're there, remember you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you just might find you get what you deserve:  nothing.

The Republican Party Is Now a Fascist Cult Just Like Nazi Germany

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXXXI--The Verve: Bittersweet Symphony

Every now and again when I revisit a tune picked for Friday Night Jukebox, I'm surprised to find out a song I thought was great was even better than I originally thought (if that makes any sense).  Such was the case with this week's song as the U.K. is again this week the home of the band that produced it.

The Verve formed in 1990 in Wigan, England and were originally just known as Verve, but eventually they felt it was much cooler to all themselves The Verve, as the word "the" makes all the difference (not serious--it was actually for legal reasons as there is a jazz label called Verve that made a stink about the band having the same name as their music company).  To say that The Verve had a volatile relationship would be an understatement--the band split up three times (1996 for a year, 1999 for eight years, and 2008 without yet recommitting to a reunion) in its relatively brief run.  Over the course of their career, The Verve released four LPs, three EPs, and amazingly after the Eagles and The Clash, only two compilation albums.  They've had two number one albums in the U.K., two #23 albums here in the States, four top ten singles on the U.K. charts (including one #1), and one top fifteen single in America.  Courtesy of this week's tune (and its album), the band also shows up on numerous best alternative'Britpop/90's all-time lists, and are considered one of the better bands to come out of the Britpop movement.  They also won 2 Brit Awards and were nominated for a Grammy Award.  Lead singer Richard Ashcroft has had some solo success in the years when the Verve wasn't a band, and the rest of the band has continued playing music in various incarnations through the years.

(Not So) Fun Fact:  Due to legal complications (which really aren't interesting enough to discuss), the band was forced to give credit for the song to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as it sampled an orchestral string version of their song "The Last Time."  This likely cost The Verve a hefty sum of money, though Jagger and Richards did sign over the rights back to the band earlier this year.

"Bittersweet Symphony" was the first song and first single released (1997) from their seminal album Urban Hymns.  The song would go on to reach #2 on the British charts and #12 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  The album was on of their two #1's in England and one of the two that reached #23 in the United States.

(Actual) Fun Fact #2:  The photographer of the album cover said that it's simplicity was the result of Ashcroft wanting fans to just "listen to the fucking record."

Amazingly enough, "Bittersweet Symphony" is exactly as its title suggests:  a bittersweet symphony.  The melody is 99% driven by orchestral strings--I heard a touch of other instruments, but not enough to really make note of.  The lyrics are 99% driven by Ashcroft's vocals, which are an amalgamation of regret, sorrow, and anger.  The song is a look into the hope borne out of desperation--there's a lot of nuance in "Bittersweet Symphony" as it takes a look inside the human soul, the bitter and the sweet, the hope and the sorrow.  In the end, The Verve took a shot at greatness and didn't miss.  The song isn't merely one of the best of the 90's--it's quite conceivably one of the best of all-time.  A true masterwork.

Lyric Sheet:  "'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life/Tryna make ends meet/You're a slave to money then you die..."

Enjoy (Note the Official Video is one of the few "Official Videos" worth watching...):

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CXCIV--The Rolling Stones: Before They Make Me Run

No, it's not becoming Everyday Jukebox--I've just fallen three weeks behind and I'm trying to get caught up...and wish me luck with that.

Unfortunately, I've never had a job I liked (there are much worse fates), but I can guarantee you that if I ever win the lottery and get to tell a boss they can blow this job out their ass, this week's tune is going to be the one I'm playing in my car on the way home.  Defiantly.

I've done a Jukebox about the Rolling Stones before ("Gimme Shelter"), and what I said then about the weekly brief band bio pretty much holds true still--there are many people who have written about the Rolling Stones who can do a much better job of it than I, and their history is a bit long for a paragraph.  Most students of pop music would place the Stones right behind Elvis, Dylan, and the Beatles, and while I'd probably put the Who ahead of them, that's just a personal preference.  I always thought the Stones were the greatest singles band ever--I've only heard a couple of their albums that (for me) held together well, but outside of the Beatles you'd be hard pressed to name another band that could fill a greatest hits album with more, well, greatest hits.  Needless to say, they've been accorded just about every musical accolade you can think of (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriter's Hall of Fame, Grammy Award, etc.), sold over 250 million albums, and just to put the icing on the cake, they've also had three of the top five grossing concert tours ever.

Released in 1978 on what many considered a comeback album (after releasing their seminal Exile on Main St. in 1972 the Stones had several what could kindly be considered uneven efforts), Some Girls, "Before They Make Me Run" was not released as a single, though it definitely should have been, especially if it would have meant they wouldn't have released "Miss You" as a single, which is quite possibly the worst song the Stones have ever done.  In fairness, it seems to have taken the Stones a while to appreciate "Before They Make Me Run"--they never played it live until 1989, but since then it has become a staple of their live shows.

There seems to be some debate as to the theme of the song--some believe it's Keith Richards' defense of his heroin use, others believe it's a paean to giving up his addiction (I hold with the former, for what it's worth), but either way, I've always found the song to be a big picture song, and to be a song about defiance of those who would keep us down.  The song is pretty much a Keith Richards production--though the credits go to The Glimmer Twins, Mick Jagger is said to have only added backing vocals.  Obviously one of the things that stands out about the song is that it's one of the few Stones' songs that Richards provides lead vocals for, and while he might not have Jagger's swagger, he does an incredible job of singing about his life.  He also keeps it simple--it's just guitars, bass, and drums.  Richards and Ron Wood compliment each other smashingly on guitar (just listen to the intro), while Bill Wyman's bass and (especially) Charlie Watt's drumming keep the pace fast and furious (to quote a phrase).  In the end, it's a quintessential Stones song--while they very well may be sons of the devil, who knew Satan's offspring could write such a heavenly tune?

Lyric Sheet:  "Gonna find my way to heaven, 'cause I did my time in hell/I wasn't looking too good but I was feeling real well..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXII--The Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter

The Rolling Stones--ever heard of 'em?

I'm going to dispense with the brief weekly band history--there are many writers much more talented than I who have chronicled the Stones in books and articles numerous times over.  Suffice it to say they have been around longer than the majority of the people in the world have been alive (1962) and have won pretty much every accolade and honor that a band can win.  For me, they are in the triumvirate of greatest rock bands of all-time, which would be The Who, The Beatles, and The Stones in that order (and, oddly enough, considering that we Americans invented rock and roll, they're all English bands).  Three of the original band members--Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Charlie Watts--are still performing, and a fourth, Bill Wyman, is still with us but just got tired of the rock and roll grind after a mere thirty years.

Written by The Glimmer Twins (Jagger/Richard--and what a great epithet that is) as the lead track for their 1969 Let It Bleed  LP, "Gimme Shelter" was never released as a single surprisingly enough.  Considered by some (myself included) to be their greatest song, "Gimme Shelter" also may be the song most emblematic of the 60's--it's hard to think of another song that better encapsulates the assassinations, the Vietnam War, the race riots, the chaos and tumult, and eventually the hope that came out of that era.

"Gimme Shelter" opens with a guitar solo from Keith Richards that could best be described as sounding like what your reflections looks like in a House of Mirrors (wouldn't surprise me at all if the Breeders got their inspiration for the guitar work in "Cannonball" from Richards' stunning guitar work on this song)--it is otherworldly.  Jagger throws in a quick harmonica bit before opening with his ominous vocals:  "Ooh a storm is threat'nin'/My very life today...."  Nine words in and it already has greatness written all over it.  The song continues with more dire imagery as the guitar grows bolder and bolder and is joined by Charlie Watts' background gunfire drumming before the creme de la creme of the song--career background singer Merry Clayton joins in for easily the greatest backing vocals in the history of rock and roll (think Aretha Franklin on steroids).   And as the two wail, "War, children, is just a shot away" again and again and you begin to think it's all doomed, it's all said and done, Jagger cuts in with this  "Love, sister, is just a kiss away...."  How fucking fantastic is that?  No matter how bad it gets, love is always right in front of you.

It's a once in a lifetime song from a once in a lifetime band.

Lyric sheet:  "Gimme, gimme shelter/Or I'm gonna fade away...."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Practiced at the art of deception

I've noticed that when news channels play clips of  the end of Donald Trump rallies, when he's walking around glad-handing, his organizers play the Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and it dawned on me that it was the perfect song for the line of bullshit the republicans are pushing.

I mean, many in America just want good paying jobs, but republicans think they need to suck it up so that CEOs can make even more money.  Most Americans just want a hand up when financial troubles arise, but republicans think they need a good kick in the fanny to keep them going.  Most Americans just want to feel safe, but republicans think they need to be scared shitless.  Most African Americans just want the police to stop shooting their family members willy-nilly, but republicans think they need to believe that white folks lives matter,too, even though they're not being gunned down daily by police officers.

See what I mean?

Either that, or I have waaaaayyyy too much time on my hands these days.

Just for kicks, enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee