Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXX--Weezer: Buddy Holly

Oh-wee-ooo....

If you're like me, certain songs have certain moments that for whatever odd reason, take a song from being a great song into being one of your all time favorites.  For example, there's Paul McCartney's scowl toward the end of "Hey Jude" or Steve Miller's "Oooh, Lord" in "Take the Money and Run" that take the songs to another level.

"Buddy Holly" is chock full of them--from Oh-wee-ooo to Oh, Oh, to Hoo Hoo, if ever there was a song with nonsense syllables to gladden the heart, this week's tune is full of them.

Weezer was formed in 1992 (where the fuck did the time go? seems like just yesterday...), by front man Rivers Cuomo and has had quite the career since, still performing and releasing albums nearly 25 years later.  Their first two albums are considered classics and often show up on best albums of all time lists, and they've had a long collection of singles that have charted.  For those who may be curious (or not), "Weezer" was a nickname Cuomo's father had for him when he was a child.  Cuomo is also one of the few rock stars who possesses a degree from Harvard--a Bachelor of Arts in English.  The band has released ten studio albums since its inception, three of which have gone platinum and two of which have gone gold.  Not too bad for a power pop band.

Released on their Weezer (Blue Album)--not to be confused with Weezer (Green Album). Weezer (Red Album) or Weezer (White Album (hey that one's been used before!)--"Buddy Holly" was actually the second single released from the album ("Undone-The Sweater Song" was actually first, a piece of trivia I had forgotten over the years).  It would eventually reach #18 (with a bullet!) on The Billboard Hot 100.  Another fascinating (or not) fact:  the single was released on Buddy Holly's birthday.  Not really sure why since the song has very little to do with Buddy Holly and doesn't sound much like anything Holly ever did, but there you have it.  Also, we have Ric Ocasek (former Cars front man) to thank for the song--Cuomo thought it was too stupid and didn't want to put it on the album but producer Ocasek campaigned for it and eventually won out.  Thanks, Ric!

"What's with these homies dissin' my girl?"  Uh--how can you not love a song that opens with that line?  Jesus, it's one of those "You had me at hello" moments.  And the song gets nothing but better. There's heartfelt but not overwrought vocals by Cuomo, all the joys and horrors of young love, all kinds of power guitars, a catchy as all hell chorus, a reference to the delightful Mary Tyler Moore , and as noted earlier, plenty of nonsense syllables to help you sing along.  There are plenty of songs that when I hear I am reminded of how good they are, or sound just as good as ever, but there aren't many that get nothing but better with time and "Buddy Holly" is one of them.  It's a song that will get stuck in your head and you'll be smiling all day because it is.  A true power pop classic.

Lyric sheet:  "I don't care what they say about us anyway/I don't care 'bout that..."

Oh--wee-ooo--enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Money, it's a gas

About the only thing I miss from subscribing to The Detroit Free Press are the columns they used to run regularly featuring Leonard Pitts.  For those not familiar with Pitts, he's an exceptionally good op-ed writer for The Miami Herald who has a genuinely unique take on the state of America and isn't afraid to share it, consequences be damned.

As is Pitts' wont, he had a slightly different take than many on the Flint water crisis this past week.  Pitts said for all the hoopla over it being just another in a long line of racism run amok in America, what the poisoning of Flint's children is truly about is poverty.  Pitts points to the city of Morgantown, West Virginia where whites outnumber blacks and those living beneath the poverty line is near 40%--and says he can easily imagine a similar situation as Flint happening there, but not so much in the Hamptons or Orange County, or any number of wealthy communities across America.

And Pitts is exactly right.

And again I ask:  what does it say about a nation when the needs of the privileged few take precedence over the many?  Isn't that in many ways what the Pilgrims first came to America to escape?  And so many immigrants after them?

Remember this?  "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity...."

Somehow when the Founding Fathers wrote those words I don't think they envisioned a nation where children would be poisoned for a lack of money.

They wanted us to be better than that.

And so should we.

Peace,
emaycee

An idea that's time has come

While Bernie Sander campaign is "berning" down, so to speak, he has begun to push for issues that can be a part of the Democratic Party Platform at this summer's convention in Philadelphia.  Medicare for all, free college tuition, breaking up the big banks, and an end to Citizen's United are all worthy goals and Sanders is right to use his electoral success this year to drive our party to the left.  Surprisingly, though, one issue Sanders has not broached is the idea of a basic income guarantee.

For those not familiar, a basic income guarantee  is a policy wherein the government guarantees each of its citizens an income (usually, though not necessarily) around the poverty level.  What each citizen does to improve upon that money is up to each individual citizen.  While I was familiar with the idea of a basic income guarantee, I did not know that it has actually had several trial runs in the United States in the mid 60's (Indiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Seattle among others), Canada in the early 70's, and is being tested as we speak in London among derelicts.  Believe it or not, the results have been exceptional--it's been found that people are healthier, happier, do not work much less than before, and amazingly enough, just a bit wealthier, too.

Richard Nixon actually put forth the idea for all Americans in the late 1960's and it passed the House but was never able to get out of the Senate (and that there will tell you just how much the republican party has changed--anyone imagine a republican putting forth such an idea today?).  With the continued downfall of America's middle class and poor since the 1970's you have to wonder just where we would be as a nation economically had it passed.

But better late than never, and when you consider wage stagnation, the lack of good paying jobs, and a future in which computers will do more and more of the work we do now which will mean less and less jobs, it's perhaps time to revisit the idea of a basic income guarantee.

Methinks it's either that or a second American Revolution--and my guess is the second one will be a lot less pretty than the first, especially for those who have a disproportionate share of the M-O-N-E-Y.

Peace,
emaycee

Snyderly whiplash

Is there a lamer Governor in America than Michigan's own Rich Snyder?  I mean Scott Walker  and Paul LePage are outwardly bigger assholes, and Rick Scott and Pat McCrory are equally as incompetent, but for sheer buffoonery, it's impossible to beat Snyder.

For those who may have missed it (and lucky for you if you did), Snyder has courageously volunteered to drink Flint water for the next month.  Leaving aside that I'd be willing to bet all I own and then some that Snyder (or more likely, his minions) pour it down his gold plated sink before it gets anywhere near his lips, what the Snyder administration didn't so courageously tell you is that Snyder has yet to do shit to fix the pipes in Flint--zip, zero, nada, nothing.

Let's see...drink some water or actually fix the problem?  Which do you suppose would do the most to help Michiganders?  And which is nothing more than a half-assed spectacle?

Snyder proves once again that republicans are quite adept at being little more than circus clowns--they can stage a show, but unfortunately it's not funny in the fucking slightest.

Get busy livin'

There's an old story wherein F. Scott Fitzgerald supposedly told Ernest Hemingway, "The rich are different than you and me."  To which Hemingway purportedly quipped, "Yes, they have more money."

Alas, the story is most likely not true, but the gist of it remains truer than ever.  A recent study shows that men in the top 1% in income outlive the the poorest men by fifteen years.  For women, it's ten years.

While it will be interesting to see if Obamacare will eventually shrink that difference, I have to admit to being quite shocked the difference was so pronounced.  And to being not just a little angry--there is something seriously wrong with a nation that would allow so many people to die early simply for a lack of funds.

And makes Bernie Sanders call for Medicare for all that much more significant and all the more important to put in this summer's Democratic platform.

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXIX--Jesse Malin: Brooklyn

Truth be told, I know nothing by Jesse Malin other than this song.  I originally found it in the Appendix of Nick Hornby's fine dissertation on his favorite songs, Songbook--"Brooklyn" was merely a song on a list of newer tunes that Hornby had been enjoying.  I downloaded it on Kaaza and fell in love with it instantly.

Malin started in music at the ripe old age of 12 (seriously? who's in a real band at 12?) in 1980 leading a hard core punk band called Heart Attack, which auditioned at the famed club CBGB's only to not get a gig because it was feared the young members couldn't attract a drinking crowd.  Heart Attack is actually quite well known throughout New York City, notably for its youth as the band members raged in age from 12 to 16.  Malin would later go on to form the glam rock band D Generation in the 90's which was apparently quite well received critically, not that I'd ever heard of them before (and I don't live in NYC, either, so there).  Eventually Malin would go solo, with his first album produced by Ryan Adams (also the first album produced by Adams), and he's still performing today, some thirty-six years later.

Released on his solo debut record The Fine Art of Self Destruction  (and what a great LP title that is), "Brooklyn" had little or no commercial success outside of New York (if even there).  I'm not one hundred percent certain what the song is about--it's obviously a remembrance of things past, but whether the "you" in the song is a past love (most likely), best friend, or sibling really isn't made clear.  Malin's lyrics for the song are nothing if not subtle, so we're left with a lot of thoughtful images that evoke the loss he sings of.

The song starts with a nice acoustic guitar intro (soft but full), though the guitars eventually fade into the background and give way to a quiet piano that sets the mood and continues to the end.  The highlight of "Brooklyn" is by far and away Malin's vocals--it's a song about loss and his singing evinces the protagonists sadness throughout.  The simplest way to say it is that he just nails it.  The chorus is repeated often (emaycee fave!), though in an odd twist, the lyrics leading up to the chorus are short so it just seems like the story is starting before you're back in the middle of it.  But somehow it all works--I'd be hard pressed to name too many songs by unheard of artists with no commercial success (though there are a few) who recorded a song that would make my top 100 of all time, but "Brooklyn" would.  It's a gem.

Liner note:  "You used to like the sad songs of doom and gloom..."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Busted

There's a movement afloat called "Bernie or Bust" wherein participants are vowing that if Sanders doesn't win the Democratic nomination, they'll stay home come Election Day this November.

I won't speak for most Democrats, but I became a member of the Democratic Party because, at least in theory (doesn't always work as it should in today's world), Democrats put people first.  While we have never been perfect, politically we've done a lot more good than ill for the American people.  And that's why our tent is so much bigger than republicans--we're a party of the people, not of overzealous religious organizations or greedy corporate trusts.

I would be hard pressed in my forty years of following the Democratic Party and its liberal wing to find a movement that was more short-sighted than the Bernie or Bust movement.  There would be very real consequences for very real people, most of whom are going to be poor and minorities, if the republican party held all three branches of our government.  And, no, it wouldn't lead to a the revolution so many of its supporters dream would happen--just ask the folks in Wisconsin and my current home state of Michigan, where Scott Walker and Rick Snyder cruised to re-election despite running their prospective states down the shitter.

When you sign on with an organization like Bernie or Bust, you are the antithesis of everything Liberals stand for--you are in effect saying principles are more important than people.

And you should be voting republican in this fall.

Peace,
emaycee