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Hotel Yorba was a breath of fresh air the first time I heard it on MTV2 (or was it VH1?).–you know, back when MTV2 played music videos. The song’s simple sound really stood out amongst the overly produced “alternative” crap, the lousy hip-hop, the terribly bad girl-pop, and the excrescent bad metal. Three chords, very minimal and hopeful, heck, the first time I’d heard skiffle since Lonnie Donnegan, just a really great sound. I fell in love with the song immediately.

The meaning of the song is very straightforward, about a man and woman in love. I love the heartfelt, honest feeling behind Jack White’s vocals, however, and that’s something else that really makes it all work.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

I was watching
With one eye on the other side
I had fifteen people telling me to move
I got moving on my mind
I found shelter
In some thoughts turning wheels around
I said 39 times that I love you
To the beauty I had found

And it’s 4 5 6 7
Grab your umbrella
Grab hold of me
‘Cause I’m your favorite fella
All they got inside is vacancy

Flagpole Sitta. was the first song I heard by Harvey Danger (and thankfully not the last). It’s a really strong pop song with some very clever, outstanding lyrics. Seemingly about a man confronted with life’s ills and slowly being driven crazy, it’s got a great hook, that very lovely singalong chorus, and it’s a very well crafted classic rock and roll song.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

I had visions, I was in them,
I was looking into the mirror
To see a little bit clearer
The rottenness and evil in me

(One, two, three, four!)

Homebrew is a pretty cool, high energy song that is most likely about an acid trip. I love the guitar, and the chorus, and it’s just got a nice feeling to the song. It’s a cool, cohesive flavor that just eases along nicely.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

Now I know fools get their own when they chit chat
haven’t heard yet but you can bet I’m not with that
with that talk with the digi walk
I struck a bird you heard absurd word to the fact
I’m a cat, nippin’ sippin’ on the flask
passin’ it talkin’ shit but only if you ass
in front of me cause you could run from me but
in the end revenge send ends to the defendant
I cant get caught in the spiral
cause every bit of energy it goes to my survival
out my way, I’m a flicka flacka blotter
ya try to find a weakness but the shit keeps gettin’ harder

Fourth of July
with Lucy in sky
I remember pine trees and the coat of many colors
I was nineteen
I’d do anything
shit like that now scares me but I’d like to do it again
It was Independence day
I’ve seen the other side and I say
oh, I’ve been insane
and I wont ever be the same

All Night Long is one of those great late 70’s metal songs, dripping and oozing with testosterone. It’s a song that’s about one thing, and one thing only: sex. That’s not a bad thing either. Heck, do people even make songs like this anymore?

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

You’re walking up with your eyes on me
It’s looking good but I just don’t know
I need a girl who can keep her head
All night long
You didn’t came just to see the show
I guess you know what you wanna see
The way you smile lets me know
I can’t go wrong
I wanna touch you
I wanna feel you
I wanna make you mine
I wanna love you all night long
I wanna be with you all night long
I wanna love you all night long
I wanna be with you all night long
I saw you standing down by the stage
Your black stockings and you see - through dress
Your mouth is open but I don’t wanna hear you
Say goodnight
You’re sort of young but you’re over age
I don’t care ’cause I live your style
I don’t know about your main but
You look alright
I wanna touch you
I wanna feel you
I wanna make you mine
I wanna love you all night long
I wanna be with you all night long
I wanna love you all night long
I wanna be with you all night long
Your mind is dirty but your hands are clean
You show no class but your legs are long
I know I can’t stand another night
On my own
Hey girl would you like some wine
What’s your name are you by yourself
Are you the one what do you say
Can I take you home
I wanna touch you
I wanna feel you
I wanna make you mine
I wanna love you all night long
I wanna be with you all night long
I wanna love you all night long
I wanna be with you all night long

No, I am not going to talk about Fiona Apple’s cover. That deserves it’s own post.

The original is quite strong in it’s own right. The song starts out slowly and quietly, builds up through anger and sadness, ending with quiet regret. it’s one of Elvis’s best vocal performances as he conveys the feelings of a man who’s lost his love to someone else quite well.

The Attractions, as always, are on top of their game as well. The song isn’t as complex musically as some of the other songs they’re famous for, but they show excellent restraint in building an atmosphere of changes in movement during the song.

Here’s a link to a mashup

And of course, the lyrics:

Oh my baby baby I love you more than I can tell
I don’t think I can live without you
And I know that I never will
Oh my baby baby I want you so it scares me to death
I can’t say anymore than “I love you”
Everything else is a waste of breath
I want you
You’ve had your fun you don’t get well no more
I want you
Your fingernails go dragging down the wall
Be careful darling you might fall
I want you
I woke up and one of us was crying
I want you
You said “Young man I do believe you’re dying”
I want you
If you need a second opinion as you seem to do these days
I want you
You can look in my eyes and you can count the ways
I want you
Did you mean to tell me but seem to forget
I want you
Since when were you so generous and inarticulate
I want you
It’s the stupid details that my heart is breaking for
It’s the way your shoulders shake and what they’re shaking for
it’s knowing that he knows you now after only guessing
I want you
It’s the thought of him undressing you or you undressing
I want you
He tossed some tattered compliment your way
I want you
And you were fool enough to love it when he said
“I want you”
I want you
The truth can’t hurt you it’s just like the dark
It scares you witless
But in time you see things clear and stark
I want you
Go on and hurt me then we’ll let it drop
I want you
I’m afraid I won’t know where to stop
I want you
I’m not ashamed to say I cried for you
I want you
I want to know the things you did that we do too
I want you
I want to hear he pleases you more than I do
I want you
I might as well be useless for all it means to you
I want you
Did you call his name out as he held you down
I want you
Oh no my darling not with that clown
I want you
You’ve had your fun you don’t get well no more
I want you
No-one who wants you could want you more
I want you
Every night when I go off to bed and when I wake up
I want you
I want you
I’m going to say it again ’til I instill it
I know I’m going to feel this way until you kill it
I want you
I want you

This song screamed “one-hit-wonder” from the first time I heard it. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad song–I wouldnt’ be writing about it if I felt it was–but it does have that feel and appeal. I love the strange percussion–I believe that one of the instruments the drummer is playing is a frying pan–and the oddness of Stanard Ridgway’s vocals. Also, it’s a great sing-along song as well.

From Wikipedia:

Wall of Voodoo vocalist Stan Ridgway and guitarist Marc Moreland traced the inspiration for the song to listening to high-wattage unregulated AM border-blaster Mexican radio stations (among them XERF, XEG, and XERB) which, starting circa the 1930s, were received practically around the globe (”I turn the switch and check the number / I leave it on when in bed I slumber”). Some of the stations boasted a million watts, which was 20 times higher than allowed in the US.

Sitting just south of the Rio Grande (”I feel a hot wind on my shoulder / I dial it in from south of the border”), these stations avoided American broadcast and trade regulations, and became the medium of favor for countless quacks spouting political rants (”I dial it in and tune the station / They talk about the U.S. inflation”), selling homemade pharmaceuticals pre-FDA (”… I buy the product and never use it”), self-published manifestos, and may have even been the starting point for Televangelism as we know it. Wolfman Jack started his career in that market, spinning a schizophrenic mix of genres.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

I feel a hot wind on my shoulder
And the touch of a world that is older
I turn the switch and check the number
I leave it on when in bed I slumber
I hear the rhythms of the music
I buy the product and never use it
I hear the talking of the DJ
Can’t understand, just what does he say?

Radio, radio, radio, radio, radio, radio, radio…
(What does he say?)

I love it when there’s tons of information about a song and you don’t have to listen to me blather on about how fun it is, or how it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it.

Tales Of Brave Ulysses is one of those classic songs that thankfully has reams written about it, but there’s not a whole lot you really need to know about the song–other than that it rocks! And rocking is good.

At the same time, the song has some cool, evocative lyrics and a really nice chord progression. The story behind the song and the lyrics can be found at Wikipedia:

The lyrics are inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, an account of the adventures undertaken by Ulysses. This can be seen in the song’s reference to “naked ears … tortured by the sirens sweetly singing,” an event from Homer’s epic. When interviewed on the episode of the VH1 show, Classic Albums, which featured Disraeli Gears, lyricist Martin Sharp explained that he had recently returned from Ibiza, which was the source of many of the images in the song (e.g. “tiny purple fishes run laughing through her fingers”) and the general feeling of having left an idyll to return to “the hard lands of the winter”; Clapton stated in the same show that he had been independently writing a tune based on the Loving Spoonful’s “Summer in the City”, and when Sharp gave him the words (on the back of a bar napkin) they fit the tune.

As a special treat, I give you not one, not two, but three different links to videos:

• Here’s a link to a tribute video
• Here’s a link to a live performance from the 1960’s
• And here’s a link to a reunion tour from a couple of years ago

And of course, the lyrics:

You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever,
But you rode upon a steamer to the violence of the sun.

The tiny purple fishes run lauging through your fingers,
And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the winter.

Fountains of Wayne is one of those quirky bands that enjoy their quirkiness. Denise is a nice example of that. It’s almost a very sweet pop song, but what the listener really comes away with is an undercurrent of despair that the singer will not be able to hold on to his golden girl.

Personally, I love it because it’s a great tune, it’s very catchy and listenable, plus I find myself singing snatches from it all the time. I don’t mind a song like this that gets into your system, at least not when it’s a good song (one of these days I’ll vent about Kelis’ Milkshake, but the less said about that, the better).

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

I know this girl named Denise
She makes me weak at the knees
She drives a lavender Lexus
She lives in Queens but her dad lives in Texas

[sha la la la la la la]
She controls me
[sha la la la la la la]
She can’t help herself
[sha la la la la la la]
Won’t you tell me
Do you love me Denise?
Whoa-oh
Do you love me Denise?
Oh baby tell me please
[do ya do ya ah-oh do ya do ya]

I honestly don’t know that much about the song Sticky Jazz–I have no idea what it’s about, if it has any meaning whatsoever, what anyone was thinking that day, no clue.

I do know that I loved it from the first time I heard it. The bass line captivated me and got me dancing. The moody feel got me into my head a little bit, and the sheer joy of the combination of instruments, melody and rhythm made me sit up and say, “Hell yeah!”. It was easily a three banana song.

Back in the days before the internet, I would sometimes hear a song I loved but rarely heard on the radio, and write my own lyrics for it, and I know I did this for Sticky Jazz. And no, even if I had any idea where those lyrics were, I wouldn’t post them.

You can listen to the song below:

And of course, the lyrics:

Wider than the sea - bigger than my big canoe and me
Blacker than a bullet - shiny as the stars we cannot find
And the blue, blue music - nothing ever was so sweet
Everything is fine: Higher Mathematics of the mind…

…Do-do the cruel immersion: do-do the flaming tongue
…Do-do the holy mash-up: (something for everyone)
…Do-do the cruel immersion: do-do the flaming tongue
…Do-do the holy mash-up…

Walk Like An Egyptian is one of those songs that you probably like in spite of yourself. It’s one of those insidious tunes that worms it’s way into your brain and sets up shop there. Still, you enjoy the ride. It’s got a great rhythm and a great melody, and it’s just fun.

From Wikipedia:

Liam Sternberg wrote the song after seeing people on a ferry walking awkwardly to keep their balance, which reminded him of figures in Ancient Egyptian reliefs. The opening lyrics state, “All the old paintings on the tombs/They do the sand dance don’t you know”. The reference to the sand dance possibly refers to a music hall routine performed by Wilson, Keppel and Betty where Wilson and Keppel danced around in the postures portrayed on the reliefs wearing the fez while Betty watched. The music video for “Walk Like an Egyptian” similarly featured people dancing in such a pose.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

All the old paintings on the tomb
They do the sand dance doncha know
If they move too quick (oh whey oh)
They’re falling down like a domino

All the cops in the donut shop say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian
Walk like an Egyptian