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How Soon Is Now? is an 80’s classic, instantly recognizable, and a great song. The guitar, Morrissey’s vocals, the industrial sounds, it all really works, and like many, I can identify with the themes of shyness and alienation expressed by the protagonist.

From Wikipedia:

The song contains only one verse which is repeated twice, plus a chorus and a bridge. The subject is an individual who cannot find a way to break out of his shyness. Two couplets from the song are well known in pop culture, the opening to the verse: “I am the son, and the heir, of a shyness that is criminally vulgar / I am the son and heir, of nothing in particular”, and the chorus: “I am human and I need to be loved / Just like everybody else does”. The opening was adapted from a line in George Eliot’s Middlemarch: “To be born the son of a Middlemarch manufacturer, and inevitable heir to nothing in particular”.[1] While the track is cited as having changed U.S. media perception of the band as “some wacky gay-rock crusade”, the lyrics have also been taken as specifically relating to contemporary Manchester gay club culture.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

I am the son
and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of nothing in particular

I am Human And I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

Vive Le Rock is a really good song, although I’m really not 100 percent sure what it’s exactly about. Lyrically, many of Adam’s songs are self-referential, and perhaps this one is as well. He has written many songs about being famous, his personal life, etc., and I must wonder if this is the same. I think perhaps this time he’s referring to the press, although it’s hard to say.

That being said, I like the song for several reasons. Number one, it rocks. It sort of bridges the line between 70’s glam and 80’s hair metal–okay, perhaps that’s not quite a good comparison, but somewhat close. Additionally, it’s Adam, and I just think he tends to make things fun. I really feel he’s one of the more underrated artists over the last 30 years or so.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

Bang bang you’re dead
Did not did too
Stop diddy-bopping buddy
Bouncing betty on you

Look ma, I’m on top of the world

I’m not the biggest AFI fan, but I do like this song.

Third Season is a song about rebellion and revolution, a politically themed song about an undercurrent of mounting tension ready to overflow into action. The music captures this feeling well, with the somewhat subdued verses giving way to the angry and unrestrained chorus. The message is clear–the establishment is going to be blindsided by the revolution, and you had best get out of the way or be trampled.

I like the song because of the music and the vocals, and because it just plain rocks. The vocals work perfectly, particularly in the chorus.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

Can you feel the pulse?
Can you feel the heat rising from below?
Can you feel the energy? It’s gaining strength, oh so slowly
But I’ll wait…I’ll wait…till the seasons change.
Why wait?…Why wait?… till the fall comes.
(Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!)
Ohhh. And I’ll say..
I’ll give you nothing but a mirthless laugh.
Ohhh.
Can you see the signs?
Can you sense the changing of the winds?
Can you sense the stillness in the air?
Calm will remain…oh so shortly.
But I’ll wait… I’ll wait… till the seasons change.
Why wait?…Why wait?… till the fall comes.
(Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!)
Ohhh. And I’ll say..
I’ll give you nothing but a mirthless laugh.
Ohhh. And I’ll say..
Gonna take you by… Gonna take you by…
Gonna take you by surprise as it rises.
Gonna take you by… Gonna take you by…
Gonna take you by surprise as it rises.
Ohhh.. (Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey)
Ohhh. And I’ll say..
I’ll give you nothing but a mirthless laugh.
Ohhh. And I’ll say..
Whoa! Whoa!
Gonna take you by surprise
Whoa! Whoa! Ohhhhh………..

I think the best thing I can say about this song is that no matter how many times I’ve heard it, I still love it. It’s a great pop song, very catchy, great chorus, easy to sing along to, just fun. I personally always enjoyed Blink 182 for what they were: a pop band that had co-opted a punk sound and made it work. The songs are good, and that’s what matters.

From Wikipedia

Tom DeLonge was inspired to write the song after Tom’s then girlfriend, and now wife, complained that he had written many songs about all the other girls he had known in his life, but none about her. The line in the song “she left me roses by the stairs/ surprises let me know she cares” references an actual incident where Tom came home late one night and had been left flowers by his girlfriend.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

All the, small things
True care, truth brings
I’ll take, one lift
Your ride, best trip

Say it ain’t so, I will not go, (Na, na…)
turn the lights off, carry me home (Na, na…)
Keep your head still, I’ll be your thrill, (Na, na…)
the night will go on, the night will go on, (Na, na…)
my little windmill

I’m the Man is a classic and fairly timeless song about a huckster–or rather, the huckster–that sells “everything from a thin safety pin to a pork pie hat”.

The song isn’t just a classic for it’s subject matter, but also because it’s a great sounding song. The pounding, slightly manic beat plays aids and abets the angry, sardonic lyrics nicely. And it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

Pretty soon now
Yknow I’m gonna make a comeback
And like the birds and the bees in the trees
Its a sure-fire smash
Ill speak
To the masses throughout the media
And if you got anything to say to me
You can say it with cash
cause I got the trash and you got the cash
So baby we should get along fine
So give me all your money cause I know you think I’m funny
Cant you hear me laughing
Cant you see me smile

I’m the man
I’m the man that gave you the hula-hoop
I’m the man
I’m the man that gave you the yo-yo

Sheila Take A Bow might not be the Smiths best known song, or even their best song, but it’s a very good song, with a very good melody.

There’s a fair amount of contention as regards the song’s origins and meanings. I got the following from SongMeanings:

“Interesting enougth this film is about a teenage pregnant girl and her realationship with a young gay man.Thay love each other but in the end the pressures from the outside (mostly the girl’s mum) forces them to separate. ”
Mark Simpson has a very interesting theory in his book “Saint Morrissey” that Morrissey identified strongly with the main character of the play - the girl, Jo. From what I know about the play and the character, it seems quite probable: she has an overbearing mother, she is bored in school and generally unhappy, then, wishing some excitement in life, she has a one-night stand (with a black sailor who she would not see again) which leaves her pregnant. Then she finds real love as non-sexual love. Unhappy teenager, sick of school and family, trying to escape an overbearing parent, looking for love - sounds a lot like “Shakespeare’s Sister” as well as “Sheila Take A Bow”.

Sheila is probably a nod to Shelagh Delaney, and I totally agree that the girl Sheila is the imagined “female Morrissey” (kind of like the girl in the “Everyday Is Like Sunday” video, don’t you think?) and that all he tells her can be said to him as well. He seems to be speaking to himself in several of his songs, adivising himself: Accept Yourself, Handsome Devil (”there’s more to life than books you know”, in Moz’s words the song is aimed at a scholar who should get more physical instead of jsut reading), Sheila Take A Bow, you migh say Ask as well.

She might also be his ideal partner:
“Take my hand and off we stride/ You’re a girl and I’m a boy”
/Take my hand and off we stride / I’m a girl and you’re a boy ” - the switching of gender roles back and forth (nicked by Massive Attack 10 years later in Protection LOL) is very much in tune with Morrissey’s views, too. In Girl Afraid we see that traditional gender roles hinder understanding and contact between two people who like each other. Here we see that traditional gender roles should be disposed of,, in order for people to trully understand themselves and each other.

From Wikipedia:

The single’s cover features actress Candy Darling from the film Women in Revolt (1971). Candy Darling was a transwoman born James Lawrence Slattery and part of Andy Warhol’s entourage.

Perhaps there was some empathy for the things that Candy Darling likely went through. I don’t know myself. I do know that I think it’s a really good song.

Here’s a link to what was likely a performance on Top of The Pops or some similar show

And of course, the lyrics:

Is it wrong to want to live on your own ?
No, it’s not wrong - but I must know
How can someone so young
Sing words so sad ?

Sheila take a, Sheila take a bow
La …
Throw your homework onto the fire
Come out and find the one that you love
Come out and find the one you love

Watusi Rodeo is one of those songs that worms it’s way into your brain and sits in your happy space until you have to pay some attention. It’s a light hearted, tongue in cheek song about Western Colonization, as the cowboys don’t seem to understand how they could possibly be angering the natives while violating a burial ground and forcing them to wear Western wear. Plus, it’s a good, fun tune.

You can listen to the song below:

And of course, the lyrics:

Come along with me to the Congo land
Got a zebra by the tail and a python in my hand
Once my home was a Texas plain
But now I swing a lasso on an alien terrain

Natives are restless under these Stetsons
What are these cowboys doing in the Congo
Look like cows but they’re water buffaloes
Ropin’ and a riding in the Watusi Rodeo
Oh they look like cows but they’re water buffaloes
Everybody’s heading for the Watusi Rodeo

Dude, this song fooking RAWKS!!!!!

Really, do I need to say anymore? It’s a rock song. About dying. And having a birthday. And it’s hilarious. And it rocks.

Good shit, Maynard.

Here’s a link to a mashup

And of course, the lyrics:

Many years ago today something grew
inside of your mother…
That thing was you

Happy Birthday
You’re gonna die

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!)