Los Angeles is one of those songs that makes you want to both bang your head and shake your ass at the same time. I love the way it slips from an easygoing folksy tune to a balls out rocker. Also, it’s a great tune, easy to sing along with, easy to enjoy on many levels.
The song itself really is about Los Angeles, from the one in South Patagonia to the one from Bladerunner and each one in between.
And of course, the lyrics:
I met a man
He was a good man
Sailing and shoring
Dancing the beta can-can
Making me foreign
Oh yeah
I want to live in Los Angeles
Not the one in Los Angeles
No, not the one in South California
The got one in South Patagonia
I want to live in Los Angeles
Not the one in Los Angeles
They got a bunch down in Moleville
They got a bunch more still
I want to live in Los Angeles
Not the one is Los Angeles
They got one in twenty-five two five
Works just like a beehive
I want to live in Los Angeles
Not the one in Los Angeles
Counting helicopters on a Saturday night
The symphony of the fair light
I hear them saying Los Angeles
In all the black and white movies
And if you think they star-spangled us
How come we say los angeleez?
I’ll wait in Los Angeles
I’ll wait in the pouring sun
No way
For not anyone
No way
I met a man
He was a good man
Sailing and shoring
He got a betatron, man
Talking that foreign
Oh yeah
I’ll wait in Los Angeles
I’ll wait in the pouring sun
No way
For not anyone
No way
I first heard this song about 3-6 months after Bust A Move hit, and I was impressed then. Later, I saw one of those Showtime at the Apollo type shows, this one featuring performances by East coast and West Coast rappers. This was during the beginning of the silly “East Coast/West Coast” rap feud, as well as also the feud between pop rappers and so-called gangsta rappers.
Young MC hit the stage and started performing this song. At the beginning, as a West Coast based pop rapper, he was booed soundly by the crowd. By the end of the song, he got a standing ovation. It’s that good a song–you enjoy it in spite of yourself, at least if that’s part of your thought process. It’s got a great bass line and rhythm, a nice chord progression, and it’s just a cool song.
And of course, the lyrics:
aah na-na, na-na
Now I wrote this record for when I perform,
from the nights inside a university dorm,
I put pen to paper with a paper and pen,
for the times I’m rockin’ the mic in front of women and men,
I get raw like Eddie, rough like Freddy,
Kreuger with a luger turnin’ men into spaghetti,
I’m like Fats Domino, up on Blueberry Hill,
’cause my rhymes are funky fresh not run of the mill,
And like a king has palaces I give an analyis,
You can’t talk because you suffer from paralysis,
of the mouth, of the lip, of the tounge, comin’ to you complements of a
brother named Young,
Now you can’t talk because I’m leaving you speechless,
so be quiet and let an educater teach this,
It’s due to my producer, so he’s in a rage. And Mike you control the vinyl
I’ll control the stage ’cause I come of,
Chorus
Four score and seven years ago
there were a whole bunch of rappers who were in the know
Four score and seven years later
I dig a hole in those rappers like the moon with a crater
Because they battle me they’re really taking a risk,
Cause you’re an eight track tape and I’m a compact disc,
And like Tyson drops boxers in rapid succesion,
I’m droppin’ MCs in the rappin’ proffesion
I’m comin’ off, just like the clothes on a hooker,
and I can fly like Jimmy Superfly Snooka,
Like a shuttle goes up into outer space, people’s hands go up when I enter
the place,
I don’t mean to brag or boast just to tell ya I’m great, but I can rock the
microphone like Dorothy Hammil can skate,
Yeah, I can say a funky rhyme like Greg Luganis can dive, Don’t have to be
Saturday night for Young MC to get live ’cause I come off,
Chorus
Yo I come off, My name is Young MC and baby I come off
Yo the brother’s comin’ off, Bust this, Here we go
Now one behold, Young MC struck gold,
form the rhymes that I’ve been sayin’ to the young and the old,
From the battles I’ve been havin’ with the smart and the dumb,
From the records I’ve been makin’ with the mic and the drum,
You know the other rappers wanna play a game with me,
they run and hide when they hear the name of Young MC,
Like a kid playing tag, that’s how it’s got to be
so when I start I say Oli Oli Oxenfree,
Yo, you can never write a rhyme as strong as this one,
So pay attention ’cause you don’t wanna miss one, of my healthy rhymes
nobody’s are healthier, New York, New Jersy, LA or Philidelphia,
City to city, and town to town, place to place
country to country, cause I get around
Even if you were in prison you’da heard me play
cause the warden had me rock and I’m on the PA,
So when you get out come and see my show
and if you start static back in you go
‘Cause comin’ off is the title and the theme of the jam,
and when the rhymes are finally finished people say God damn
cause I come off
Chorus
I come off. Yo baby, I come off. Here we go
Fun. Fun with a capital ‘F’. Fun. That’s Punk Rock Girl for you.
A satirical love song about the relationship of two ‘anarchists’, this song is just plain fun. It’s a great song to sing badly, great fun for karaoke (I suppose for some people that’s one and the same), great fun to dance to, great fun to listen to.
Did I mention that it’s fun?
And of course, the lyrics:
One Saturday I took a walk to Zipperhead
I met a girl there and she almost knocked me dead
Punk rock girl
Please look at me
Punk rock girl
What do you see?
Let’s travel round the world
Just you and me punk rock girl
I tapped her on the shoulder
And said do you have a beau?
She looked at me and smiled and said she did not know
Punk rock girl
Give me a chance
Punk rock girl
Let’s go slam dance
We’ll dress like Minnie Pearl
Just you and me punk rock girl
We went to the Philly Pizza Company
And ordered some hot tea
The waitress said well no, we only have it iced
So we jumped up on the table and shouted anarchy
And someone played a Beach Boys song on the jukebox
It it was “California Dreamin”
So we started screamin
On such a winter’s day
She took me to her parents for a Sunday meal
Her father took one look at me and he began to squeal
Punk rock girl
It makes no sense
Punk rock girl
Your dad is vice president
Just like the Duke of Earl
Yeah you’re for me punk rock girl
We went to a shopping mall
And laughed at all the shoppers
And security guards trailed us to a record shop
We asked for Mojo Nixon
They said he don’t work here
We said if you don’t got Mojo Nixon then your store could use some fixin
We got into her car away we started rollin
I said how much you pay for this
Said nothin man it’s stolen
Punk rock girl
You look so wild
Punk rock girl
Let’s have a child
We’ll name her Minnie Pearl
Just you and me
Eat fudge banana swirl
Just you and me
We’ll travel round the world
Just you and me
Punk rock girl
Seedy Films was a huge highlight from Soft Cell’s Non Stop Erotic Cabaret. What really makes this song work–in fact, something that generally made Soft Cell work–is singer Marc Almond’s voice. He really does a great job of interjecting emotion and presence into his voice, and on this song he’s just dripping with sleaze. I love it.
The song itself is about a man whiling his time away in an adult movie theater (yes, they had those way back in the day–ask Pee Wee Herman), possibly with a prostitute soliciting easy favors from overworked, over-stimulated men. That being said, one of the other things that makes this song work is whomever is doing the female vocals (the only credit I can find is for Vicious Pink Phenomena). Whoever she is, she brings a nice casual, but equally sleazy counterpoint to the song, and their banter sounds almost natural. Throw in the cool saxaphones, and it’s really a winner.
Here’s a link to the video (I didn’t even know there was a video until tonight)
And of course, the lyrics:
Sleazy city
Seedy films
Breathing so heavy
Next to my neighbour
Let’s get acquainted
Getting to know you
Feeling sleazy
In seedy sin city
Feeling sleazy
In seedy sin city
Sleazy city
Sleepy people
Down in your alleys
Seems that anything goes
Blue films flicker
Hands of a stranger
Getting to know you
And I’m getting to like you
Hey that’s fine
Got no time
Meet me on Friday
Down, down, down in blue city
Got no address
Just a telephone number
Phone me tonight
And maybe we can talk dirty
Phone me tonight
And maybe we can talk dirty
Sleazy city
Sleepy people
Down in your alleys
Seems that anything goes
Blue films flicker
Hands of a stranger
Getting to know you
And I’m getting to like you
Sleazy city
Seedy films
Breathing so heavy
Next to my neighbour
Let’s get acquainted
Getting to know you
Feeling sleazy
In seedy sin city
Feeling sleazy
In seedy sin city
Sleazy city
Sleepy people
Down in your alleys
Seems that anything goes
Blue films flicker
Hands of a stranger
Getting to know you
And I’m getting to like you
Hey isn’t that you on the screen
Isn’t that you on the screen
(No that’s not me)
Getting to know you
Getting to like you
etc…
This is another one of those songs that I really enjoyed from the first time I heard it. It’s a pretty basic song about finding and losing love, but what I’ve really always loved about it was Graham Maby’s bass. He’s a criminally underrated bass player, faster than lightning, and it shows on this track. It’s got a great beat, you can dance to it, or you can just sit and listen to the music. To me, that’s a great song.
You can listen to the song below:
And of course, the lyrics:
We walked out one autumn evening
Someone up there made a fair appear
Coloured light that caught our eyes
And reggae music caught our ears
We laughed as they played all the songs
We wanted least of all to hear
I guess that’s when I knew
That we’d be more than just good friends
It happened just by chance
Someone up there - someone up there makes the sun and sea
Someone up there - someone up there brought my girl to me
Someone up there - someone up there makes the wind and rain
Someone up there - someone up there took her back again
And just for once
You can’t fight back
No messing with the hand of fate
Oh no
The paper ran an ad
That had you running to the other side of town
Working for a man I never could make out
Who started hanging round
Someone up there got me drinking got me drunk
And made me put him down
The way you looked at me I knew
That we’d be coming to an end
It happened just by chance
Someone up there - someone up there makes the sun and sea
Someone up there - someone up there brought my girl to me
Someone up there - someone up there makes the wind and rain
Someone up there - someone up there took her back again
And just for once
You can’t fight back
No messing with the hand of fate
Oh no
This is just a good old fashioned shake your booty get down get back up again get funky with your bad self jam. It’s almost impossible for this song to not elevate your mood. Just listen to it and enjoy.
Here’s a link to a live performance
And of course, the lyrics:
Freddie: Feeling’s gettin stronger
Larry: Music’s gettin longer too
Rose: Music is flashin me
Sly: I want to take you higher
Baby baby baby light my fire
All: Boom shaka-laka-laka Boom shaka-laka-laka
Freddie: Feeling’s nitty-gritty
Larry: Sound is in the city too
Rose: Music’s still flashin’ me
Sly: Don’t ya want to get higher
Baby baby baby light my fire.
All: Boom shaka-laka-laka Boom shaka-laka-laka
Sly: Harmonica solo
All Repeated: Higher!
Sly: C’mon light my fire
Want to take you higher
All: Boom shaka-laka-laka Boom shaka-laka-laka
Freddie: Feeling that should make you move
Larry: Sounds that should help you groove
Rose: Music still flashin’ me
Sly: Take your places
I want to take you higher
Baby baby baby light my fire.
Freddie: Guitar solo
All: Boom shaka-laka-laka Boom shaka-laka-laka
All Repeated: Higher!
Sly: Let’s take you, do you wanna go, etc.
Cynthia: Trumpet solo
All Repeated: Boom shaka-laka-laka Boom shaka-laka-laka, Higher!
Larry: Bass solo
All Repeated: Boom shaka-laka-laka Boom shaka-laka-laka, Higher!
Jerry: Sax solo
All Repeated: Boom shaka-laka-laka Boom shaka-laka-laka
Alec Eiffel has long been my favorite Pixies song. I love the driving beat and the kick ass guitar solo, as well as the closing parts.
Regarding the song’s meaning, from Wikipedia:
The song references the French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, who designed the Eiffel Tower; (Black) Francis thought it was a “fascinating subject” to compose a song about. Francis also mentioned another meaning of the song: “Because of Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, but also because it’s funny: in the USA and in Australia, you often say ‘It’s a smart Alec’ for [sic] a guy who’s nice but not very bright.
And of course, the lyrics:
Pioneer of aerodynamics
(little Eiffel, little Eiffel)
They thought he was real smart alec
(little Eiffel, little Eiffel)
He thought big they called it a phallic
(little Eiffel, little Eiffel)
They didn’t know he was panoramic
Little Eiffel stands in the archway
(little Eiffel, little Eiffel)
Keeping low doesn’t make no sense
Sometimes people can be oh so dense
They didn’t want it but he built it anyway
(little Eiffel, little Eiffel)
Little Eiffel stands in the archway
(little Eiffel, little Eiffel)
k\Keeping low don’t make sense
Keeping low doesn’t make no-sense
(little Eiffel, little Eiffel)
Little Eiffel stands in the archway
Oh alexander I see you beneath
The archway of aerodynamics.
In my opinion, this is a fairly classic pop song about a not so classic subject, that of a couple who live on the edge knowing that burnout–or total self destruction–is inevitable. Maybe next week, maybe years from now, but sooner or later it will all catch up.
I like the song because it’s really a nice tune, very melodic, great hooks, and while I love a fun song, I also love thoughtful ones too.
And of course, the lyrics:
She said “I’m fine, I’m okay”
cover up your trembling hands
There’s indecision when you
Know you ain’t got nothing left
when the good times never stay
And the cheap thrills always
seem to fade away
When will we
When will we fall down
Jump back, got to get out of here
Been too long this time
Jump back, got to get out of here
When will we fall down
She hates her life
She hates her skin
She even hates her friends
Tries to hold on to all the
reputations she can’t mend
And there’s some chance we could fail
but the last time someone was
always there for bail
When will we fall down
Jump back, got to get out of here
been too long this time
Jump back, got to get out of here
When will we fall down
For the last time conscience calls
For a good friend I was never there at all
When will we fall down
It’s really interesting the stuff you find out sometimes when researching these posts. I’d always thought this song was an hilarious tale of someone who chose to bore people to death, but I have discovered the song is based on The Killer Inside Me, a novel by James Thompson.
The song is set from the point of the protagonist, a man who seems to be friendly, laconic and perhaps a little bit slow, but that’s apparently only a veneer hiding the truth–he’s a serial killer.
I’ve always liked this song because it has a good hook and because of the humor, but I’ll be listening to it with different ears from now on.
And of course, the lyrics:
You’ve probably seen me hanging around
I’m a very familiar face in this town.
A day doesn’t go by that I don’t meet
a lot of my friends walking down the street.
I’m never too busy to stop by the way
and I’ve always got something pleasant to say.
Maybe some perceptive thoughts about the weather
or the latest news from Wall Street, whatever.
I could stand around all day making small talk
gushing platitudes, blocking the sidewalk
tying people up for hours with ease,
my one big talent is shooting the breeze.
When they start to squirm, I really get going
but only my happy-face smile is showing.
Why can’t the y see what I’m trying to hide,
I’m bustin’ a gut, laughing on the inside.
It’s in their smile when I say hello
I can see they think I’m a little bit slow.
But after a while with me, they look dazed
their eyes covered with a donut glaze.
I really start to cook when I see that look
I hit ‘em with every cliché in the book.
Their knees wobble and they start to weave
it’s like they’re begging for permission to leave,
they think they are having a brush with stupidity
I don’t laugh, even though it’s killing me.
Watching them wilt like day-old flowers
Ticking off the minutes as they turn to hours.
They are wondering how much more they can take
I give ‘em a friendly smile and a handshake.
We say goodbye very politely
Now say hello to the killer inside me.
Everybody has their doubts about my sanity
But nothing happens ‘cause they all feel sorry for me
I’ve got the whole town under my thumb
and all I’ve gotta do is keep acting dumb.
“Oh that boy Lou” they say “what a guy,
a little on the slow side but wouldn’t hurt a fly”
“and such a gentleman!” “Oh yes I know.
he sure can talk your ear off though!”
I tip my hat and pretend I don’t hear
grinning like a half-wit from ear to ear
I can think of a thousand ways to say hello
so I start through ‘em all, and go real slow.
They listen hard, and act like they care.
How can they be so completely unaware
of the truth the answer is always denied me -
so I introduce them to the killer inside me.
Yes, I’m a Falco fan. Wanna make something of it?
I think the reason I’ve always enjoyed Falco is that A) I thought his music was pretty good, B) he brought an over-the-top sense of bombast to many of his songs and C) he just seemed to be having so much fun. This song is no different.
The Sound Of Muzik is a nice celebration of what a cool thing music is, and also it’s unifying aspects as well. The song is fun, the video is fun, it’s all just F-U-N.
And of course the lyrics:
Es beginnt in einem Wald, alle Rechte sind bezahlt
Es es endet doch daheim.
Meine Häende sind so kalt, denn die Zeit die ging ins Land
Meine Seele ist so rein.
Die Rose kennt den Duft
Meine Stimme braucht die Luft
Denn der Wind ist so heiß wie nie
Sei es Rock, Punk, Heavy Metal, Politics, or Classical
It’s all to Musik to me
Hey, das waren Zeiten when Hard Rock was Hard Rock
Musik was as tough as a nail
Und unsere Jungs, die waren nicht lazy they got out and made
It crazy but no one left to tell the jail
Der Bube fragt den König
Hey babe do you wanna dance?
Sie machen History dann sie sind scharf wie nie
The first pre-elected Rock n Roll band
The Sound of Musik
Do the bang-bang-boogie, say up jump the boogie
Do the rhythm on the boogie the beat
Do the bang-bang-boogie, say up jump the boogie
Do the rhythm on the boogie the beat
Do the hip do the hop do the oh-oh-bebop do the freestyle
Rock’n and we never gonna stop
Herr President, wir kennen eine Sprache
Und diese Sprache heißt Musik
The Sound of Musik
Can you hear the band playing, can you feel the bodies swaying
And if you feel the groove you better start to move
Step in time to the rhythm and move your feet to the beat
Hey everybody give Musik a chance and do the universal dance
The Sound of Musik
Hear the James Brown song, hear the church choir sing
It’s the people’s voice they’re gonna bring up that bell and ring
The Vienna Lipizzaner, they’re doing the rhythm and blues
It’s the Jailhouse-Rock, it’s steppin on my blue suede shoes
The Sound of Musik
It’s Pavarotti, he’s the biggest Bobby Dylan fan
Sie machen alle Musik for boys, girls and big tall man
It’s Otis Redding, he’s sitting on the dock of the bay
Listen to the band, listen to the Big-Band, to the bang-bang
Listen to the bang-bang, blow horn
Hey - listen to the band
Listen to the band
Hey - listen to the band
Listen to the band
I want you listen to the band
Hey - listen to the band
The Sound of Musik
It’s Lennon-McCartney, Cole Porter too
They’re dancin with my babe, babe - ba - ba - ba - babe - blue
Hey daddy - don’t you bother me - it’s gonna be my
Rock and Roll day - give the children what they want
Hear the universal choir pray
Hear the James Brown song, hear the church choir sing
It’s the people’s voice they’re gonna bring up that bell and ring
It’s Otis Redding, he’s sitting on the dock of the bay
Give the children what they want, hear the children do the boogie
Do the bang-bang, do the boogie-bang
Hu-la-la-hu-la-la-e
E-oh