Again by Janet Jackson

Michael Jackson’s little sister grew up before our eyes.

First there was her time as a child actress and then there was her evolution as a pop music icon. The moment when Janet Jackson became more than simply Michael’s younger sister was in 1993 when she released Janet.

The album cover, first seen on the cover of Rolling Stone shocked the world. I still remember a girl in my middle school who came to school with a t-shirt that had this image, being sent to the principal’s office and being forced to wear that shirt inside out for the rest of the day.

Janet backed up the controversy surrounding this image with great music. “If,” is a thunderous and aggressive dance song with a clever sample of a Motown classic and “That’s The Way Love Goes,” is a groovy, relaxed and unforgettable R & B classic. These songs demonstrated a strength and confidence but the song that always got to me was “Again,” which showed a more vulnerable and sensitive side of Janet.


As a middle school boy, this video blew my mind. There was something about this video that combined Janet’s beauty with a gentle sensuality that was so much more memorable and powerful than many “sexy,” videos of that time or that I’ve seen sense. There’s giggling, there’s fun, there’s anticipation and then there’s the quiet moments, a look in that eye that lingers in the memory like a ghost that you want to go away but you hope never leaves.

There’s not a lot of songs that deal with the aftereffects of a break-up this way. We don’t’ want to show that we actually want to get back together with that person after its over. The strength is in being “Stronger,” like Kelly Clarkson, but the reality is that most break-ups involve the feelings that Janet deals with in “Again.”

She’s conflicted. Janet sings about the tears and the pain, and while she seems to resolves that she’s not going to go through this again, she doesn’t know if she’s strong enough to not fall in love again.

The songs climax’s as Janet sings with anger “Don't you stand there and then tell me, you love me, then leave again!” Then with a trembling voice Janet realizes that she is falling in love again.

There's strength in walking away from a relationship but there's also strength in facing your feelings and taking a chance.  It's not easy to open yourself up to somebody because the more open you are, the more likely that you will get hurt.  Do people deserve a second chance like Janet's love in "Again"?  Maybe, maybe not.  It depends on the circumstance.  However we should always strive for the strength to give ourselves a second chance and take a chance for love. 

Take Me Or Leave Me (from Rent)

To have a character in a popular film who is a homosexual or transgender is no longer shocking. But once upon a time it was. In 1993, when Rent made it’s premiere off-Broadway, this show about young adults struggling to survive in the Manhattan’s Lower East Side brought important issues out into open.

Like the Jonathan Demme’s film Philadelphia that came out the same year, Rent has characters that are challenged the ideas of the America’s traditional views of sexuality and face head-on the effect of AIDs.

Both Rent and Philadelphia were monumentally important for portraying these characters not as stereotypes but giving these people souls that challenge people’s idea of what it meant to be a homosexual and how serious and devastating AIDs was to all of us.

What is left though when you take away what made Rent “important”? Watching Rent at Northwestern University I wasn’t shocked by the main character Roger dealing with the fact that his ex was now a lesbian. The prevalence of AIDs in the characters honestly made me think:



If you pull away the social issues what you are left with is a musical that is very much like the characters in the film who are full of energy, passion, immaturity, and focus more on the moment than the bigger picture. There are too many songs, many of which are too long, and too many plot threads, but there are also moments of musical and dramatic brilliance that leave you breathless.

For me the most polished and memorable song is “Take Me Or Leave Me.”



This song works far beyond the shock it once had of “Oh My God, it’s two Lesbians singing!!” It’s a great relationship exchange. There’s plenty examples in broadway of this kind of duet but most of the time it’s one sided like “Sue Me” from Guys and Dolls.”



This song is fun and quirky.  The characterizations come clear through the song and while the song is fight at its heart, there's a joy and pride in these characters who embracing there flaws with pride.  That is exactly what has made Rent one of the most popular musicals of all time.  If all this show was about was AIDs, it's influence would be limited.  What this show really is about is people embracing who they are and who they want to be.  There's a brilliant innocence in this show in the face of life's most serious trials and it's in this we find not only the dreams of these characters but our own.

Progress, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Now that the military "Don't ask, don't tell" is no more, we have some inspiring stories like this soldier telling his dad that he is gay.



This video reminds us that the implications of homosexuals serving openly in the military go far beyond military tactics to the lives of the some of the most dedicated and honorable Americans.

While this is amazing news, the news of Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year old in Williamsville, New York committing suicide also entered the public consciousness (click here for the news link).  A victim of bullying based on his sexuality, Jamey's suicide continues a heartbreaking trend of teenage suicides related to this type of bullying.

Jamey made an "it get's better" video last May, describing his bullying but also his hope for a better future.



But thing didn't get better and now Jamey is no longer with us.

We're making progress, but we still have a lot of work to do.  Gay marriage, homosexuality and all of the related issues are not topics of discussion for political posturing.  This isn't an issue about "left" or "right," this is an issue about our lives, our friend's lives and the right we all have to live free of prejudice.

Both of these videos make me cry but for very different reasons.  I am proud of the progress we have made as a country, but we're not even close to where we must be, not "in the future" but right now.  

Round 13: Aerosmith & Run-D.M.C. Vs. Aerosmith & . . .

In 1986 Run-D.M.C. with the help of producer Rick Rubin re-recorded "Walk This Way" with Aerosmith.  This song was originally released eleven years earlier off of Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic.  This duet with Run-D.M.C. revolutionized the music industry as the first mainstream melding of Rock and Rap music.  "Walk This Way" helped legitimize Rap as a musical genre and revitalized Aerosmith's career. 



Vs.

Through the years Aerosmith has tried to recreate the magic of their re-imagining of this song with Run-D.M.C.  In 1989 Bon Jovi joined Aerosmith at a peformance in the UK.



Then in 1999 when Kid Rock joined Run-D.M.C. and Aeromsith at the 1999 MTV VMA's.



 . . .  then there was the Superbowl performance with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake . . .



 . . . then there was Fergie. . .



And just last week . . . SIGH. . . Carrie Underwood joined Steven Tyler the lead singer of Aerosmith at the 2011Acadamy Of Country Music Awards Show (skip to 2:45).



The Winner:

Now I love "Walk This Way."  It's a great song.  The original version features one of my favorite guitar licks.  It's got rapid-fire suggestive lyrics that are clever and hilarious.  Run-D.M.C. really did bring  new life to this song but the following performances well. . . it's just not the same.  Frankly it's getting a little tiring.  I mean Carrie Underwood?  Really?!?  It's not that it was a bad performance but how many time can you bring this song out and expect it to be fresh and exciting.

While the audiences almost always erupts in enthusiasm every time Steven Tyler whips this song out with a new artist, I feel it's a unsuccessful attempt to capture the magic of the original duet with Run-D.M.C.

This is where it all started live in 1977.

Squeeze Box by The Who

“Come on! What happened to the angry defiant Who of ‘My Generation,’ ‘Won't Get Fooled Again’ and ‘Mama's Got a Squeeze Box.’?!?”

Homer’s Simpson’s plea to the Who to rebel against the other side of Springfield in the classic Simpson's episode “A Tale Of Two Springfield’s,” is a hilarious statement about one of my favorite Who songs.



Ok, so “Squeeze Box” isn’t the most socially relevant song and it doesn’t contribute to some grand rock opera like Tommy, but man this song is fun. It’s a song about the mother of a family who likes to play the accordion, ALL THE TIME. I mean even the dog can’t sleep. Dog’s can sleep through preety much anything. My puppy Buffy sleeps through my piano playing, guitar practicing and the loudest most violent action films I watch on the television.

This accordion must be really obnoxious

For a band who used a wide variety of innovative sounds in their music you’d think that if they were going to do a song about an instrument they would include it in the instrumentation. That’s just the thing though. “Squeeze Box” isn’t really about an accordion. It’s about the unbridled joy that come from playing an instrument even if everyone around you hates it.

“Squeeze Box” has a light relaxed groove to it as Daltrey paints a picture of a household tormented by music. Then there’s the whole “in and out” part that some have claimed are suggestive lyrics. Yes, I see how repeating that phrase can imply another meaning but if you take that meaning and place it in the context of the song it doesn't sense, which makes this implication ring false.

Now the bridge is a different story. I don’t know where thye are going with this thing. I could argue for the straightforward meaning of the rest of the lyrics but “squeeze me, c’mon on squeeze, c’mon and tease me like you do.”

Maybe this is the narrator looking into another room in the house or even crazier, maybe it’s the accordion's perspective. Ok, I can’t really explain this section, all I know is that musically it’s a great moment of release. The time stops and there is a sense of freedom and longing that comes from being away from something that you love.

“Squeeze Box,” isn’t meaningful in a social sense but Homer is kind of right grouping this song with “My Generation.” This song is about defiance and rebelling.  It just comes from an unexpected source: a mother who simply loves to play music.



Now, Sheryl Crow singing this song with an accordion brings a whole different meaning to this song.

I Touch Myself by The Divinyls

In 1991 out of Australia came the Divinyls with, "I Tough Myself."



Yeah. . . I don't think I'm going to relate this song to any personal anecdotes or feelings I've experiences in life.  Some music is just . . . eh. . . beyond critical analysis.

Here's a stripped down performance of this song which is interesting (great use of words there Tang):



Just one thought . . . If you're trying to convince someone of how much you want them in your life maybe this isn't quite the right song for that.  On that note: enjoy and have a great Monday.

Sometimes the less said the better.

Just Like A Pill by Pink

When Pink released her second album in 2002 she got personal. Instead of producing contrived dance like her previous album she composed music that expressed a deeper level of emotion.



"Just Like A Pill" is a victorious break-up song.  A statement of strength in the realization of one's worth and beauty.  I never thought I would say this but this girl named Pink really can inspire. 

I’ll Make Love To You by Boyz II Men

Last week when I was at the dentist, I tried to turn my attention away from the oh so pleasurable experience of getting my teeth cleaned and found salvation in the music that was playing over the office speakers.

The music started out was perfectly appropriate: elaxing 1990s, non-offensive love songs “I Swear” by All 4 One. Then as the scrapping part of the cleaning began I heard the unmistakable introduction of “I’ll Make Love To You” by Boyz II Men.



This just felt wrong.

Now this had nothing to do with the hygienist who was cleaning my teeth. She was friendly and professional and didn’t ask me questions when I had no way of answering them (God, I hate it when dentist do that).  It was just that getting my teeth cleaned and listening to a song about “making love” was one of the oddest juxtapositions I’ve experienced in a long time.

“I’ll Make Love To You” was huge. This song was everywhere. It topped of the charts for 14 weeks!! The music video was being played all of the time and if you listened to the radio at all when this song was out it seemed to be played on every single station.

I don’t know what was going on when this song was out. Was there simply nothing else for people to listen to? I was in middle school when this song came out and people my age loved this song, what?!? How did this song appeal to us? I guess I can understand how some lonely spinster would play into the fantasy of the song but the rest of the world?

Maybe there’s some answers in the music video.



The video opens with a man (Dwayne) who is finishing up installing a security system. He talks the woman (Ms. Sparks!!), who asks him out, he can’t go out with her so he gives her his personal phone number if she has any questions about the system. Thinking about Ms. Sparks, Dwayne sits down and tries to write her a letter. Not knowing what to say he copies down lyrics of the song in the letter and sends it to her. Reading the letter, Ms. Sparks swoons.

Boyz II Men are singing “I’ll Make Love To You” as if they are doing something for the woman that they would not normally do, something amazing that she asks for and doesn’t get. If this song was about something that would really take effort for a guy to do for a girl it would be more like “I’ll Clean Up The House For You,” “I’ll Do Grocery Shopping And Do All The Cooking For You” or “I’ll Stop Making Moves On You When You’re Clearly Not In The Mood.”

Wait a second, I think I just figured out the appeal of this song. This song isn’t a fantasy for woman, it’s a fantasy for men. Think about it. Can you imagine if telling a girl that you “would make love to them” was enough to make a girl want to be with you? God knows that most woman would be creeped out beyond belief if a guy who they just met told them that.

Boyz II Men created a song that song that sounded like it appealed to woman, so guys bought it to help them be romantic AND the songs appealed to guys misconceptions of romance.

Anyways, I don't know what's going to bother me more, the fact that when I hear "I'll Make Love To You" I'll think about being at the dentist or the fact that next time I have my teeth cleaned I'll be thinking about "I'll Make Love To You." [shudder].

Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison

In 1967, radio stations banned “Brown Eyed Girl” from airplay on radio stations. Yes, one of the most beloved pop songs in our culture, a seemingly innocuous celebration of life and a quintessential “feel good” song was taken off the radio.



Why? Because the line “making love in the green grass” from the second verse was too explicit so it was overdubbed with a line from the first verse “laughin' and a-runnin', hey hey.”

As silly as that seems to us, it could have been a worse. When it was first being recorded Van Morrison sang this song as a “Brown Skinned Girl." In the 1960s there were many states that still had laws outlawing miscegenation (interracial marriage). That would have gone over REALLY well. Producers convinced Van Morrison to change it to “Brown Eyed Girl” inadvertently creating universal appeal to this song as most of the people on this planet have brown eyes.

What makes “Brown Eyed Girl” such a popular and meaningful song isn’t the once offensive reference in the second verse or even the fact that this song is about a girl that is characterized by a superficial feature. “Brown Eyed Girl” is a song that describes the great memory of sharing a song with someone that you love through a songs that we all can’t help but love.

The light and syncopated bass line creates a simple and relaxed groove. On top of this the guitar simply dances. After playing the opening, the guitar weaves and hops between the melody playfully outlining the chords expressing the feeling of freedom and joy that Van Morrison describes in the lyrics. If there were no singing in the song at all you would know exactly what this song was about.

It always gets to me when Van Morrison sings in the second verse “so hard to find my way, now that I’m on my own.” There’s a tint of frustration in his voice but he lets go when the chorus comes and he’s able to sing like he remembers in his memory.

The “Shalala” part is nonsensical but unapologetically joyful. When you sing along to this part you can’t help but smile allowing you to immediately understand what Van Morrison is singing about. Through this immediate connection to the music, we profoundly understand what is at the soul of this song.

Every time I listen to this song I can’t help but sing along. I know exactly what Van Morrison is singing about and because of his song reminds how great it is to share not only music but life with the people we love.

The only difference is I still have my brown eyed girl in my life.

Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard

My brother and I have this ongoing argument about which Def Leppard song is better “Pour Some Sugar On Me” or “Photograph.” While I can understand the artistic merits of “Photograph,” the slick production and the fact that the lyrics to this song actually make sense, I find myself always ending up arguing for “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” For me, it simply rocks harder.



What does it mean to rock? Well, let's figure that out.

Something that separats Def Leppard from many of the other bands of their time was the fact that their songs had multiple musical layers that were audible through the incredible production work of Mutt Lange (who later went on to make Shania Twain famous).

There is so musical nuance throughout this song, like in the opening. The word “bomb” in the opening of the song travels from the left to the right speaker rhythmically (you got to check it out with head phones on). Along with this, there grating guitar paired another guitar line, howling like a wolf that slowly builds as the vocal line disintegrates all sense of meter. All of this builds up to four drum hits that sound like a gunshot paired with a scream that sounds like the devil unleashed.

As the drums lay down the beat, different guitar lines accent parts of the pattern until you notice that on the offbeats there is a chorus of men grunting “huah, hey.” Like cavemen they chant along with the forceful, primal drum beat.

Like great jazz music that swings, the relatively slow tempo of “Pour Some Sugar On Me” lays back in the beat swinging in its own unique way. This style of beat comes from slower blues inspired song of the Rolling Stones that proved that the dirtiest sounding music had no need to rush.

Joe Elliot raps with such swagger and attitude that you simply don’t care that the line “Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp, demolition woman, can I be your man?” makes no sense. It’s more about attitude and words that sound dirty and intriguing like “lover” and “Little Miss Innocent.” The phrases don’t have meaning in a literal or metaphoric way but instead they create a mosaic that expresses the spirit of rock.

It’s hard to know what rocks harder, the lead into the chorus of the chorus itself. Both have well-crafted call and response melodies that are easy to sing along. You barely have to listen one note to know what is coming next and its this predictability that makes the chorus such an infectious anthem.

Oh, and you can't forget the end of the bridge: check out how the back up and lead singers interact and line up.

Bold: lead singer and back up singers together
Plain text: lead singer
[Bracket]:back-up singers

You got the peaches I got the cream,
Sweet to taste [saccharine].
I’m hot [hot] so hot, sticky sweet,
From my head [head], he- [head to my feet].

Borrowing from the way rap groups like RUN DMC utilize back up vocals to create rhythmic power and musical energy, the bridge is a whirl of words that build to the ultimate climax of the last chorus.

Thus is why this song rocks.

Oh and Taylor Swift performing this song with Def Leppard . . . it’s hard to know what’s more amazing, how hard Def Leppard can still rock or Taylor Swift’s performance.

You’re Still The One by Shania Twain

Taylor Swift was not the first lady in country music I fell in love with. First there was Wynonna Judd. KIDDING!! Could you imagine?!?

I’m talking about Shania Twain.

And no it’s not because she’s hot. Kind of. Ok, when Come On Over came out, her break-out crossover album, I was just like any other high school boy and I totally got that “feeling” whenever I saw things like the opening of the “You’re Still The One” video as she slowly pulls a dress up her bare back.

Even at my hormonal teenage peak, I still recognized that there was something different about her. It wasn’t so much a sensual thing that made her hot, it was her beauty. She exuded grace, charm, and classiness while Britney was playing up the dirty schoolgirl angle.

Now once Shania drew me in and I bought her album and I realized that hey, this lady had an amazing voice. And now that I’m older, I realize how beautifully life-affirming is the music of Shania Twain.



“You’re Still The One” is about the true wonder of love. The love story doesn’t end with falling in love with Prince Charming. That’s only the beginning. The real story, the real struggle that is worth celebrating is being with someone for an extended period and reflecting on the fact that they are “still the one.”

From the opening of the song there’s a laid back feeling of peace and reassurance like the warmth of a morning sun. Mutt Lange, Shania’s producer, who gained fame in the 1980s for producing AC/DC and Def Leppard, beautifully mixes rock music with country sensibility. The instruments may be rock the energy the feel the attitude is most definitely country.

Shania has an effortless quality to her voice. She shades the words with slight scoops and nasal colors that reflect her country roots. The aching in her voice is not so much sensual but passionate. Like her image, Shania’s voice is full of dignity, strength and beauty.

Probably the best display of her voice was when she recorded a track for Elton John’s failed Broadway musical Aida.



There’s some Patsy Cline in her voice, a little Aretha Franklin, and heck even a little Elvis in here voice. All these things combine in Shania with a style that transcends genres.

Few songs focus on affirming relationships like “You’re Still The One.” Most songs are about looking for love or describing love. “You’re Still The One” is something different all together. It’s about reflecting back on a life lived together, a relationship that has grown.

Shania’s star has faded. But I maintain that her stamp on country music and popular music is one of the most significant of her time. Without her we wouldn’t have Taylor Swift (which is a BIG deal people).

I will always love Shania Twain for reminding the world how much more beautiful staying in love is than falling in love. As much as we dream of finding true love, isn’t this idea of having a long lasting love really what we are going for? With this sentiment Shania sings lovingly about a powerful part of our dreams.

I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues by Elton John

In 1975, Elton John released Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy which became the first album ever to enter the charts at #1. Riding a huge wave a critical and commercial success, John seemed to do no wrong.

Two years later, John announced he was retiring from performing and his next album Single Man, had no top ten singles and was a critical and commercial disappointment. By the time he released Too Low For Zero, Elton John was a shadow of his pass self. Drug and alcohol abuse as well as personal challenges including negative reactions to a 1976 Rolling Stone Interview in which he admitted to be bisexual were taking its toll on not only Elton but also his music.

Instead of having five or six singles off of an album that were hits there were one or two and instead of toping the charts they merely broke the top 10. Amidst this, there were a few songs from this era endure quite like, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.”

Featured on the album Two Low For Zero, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues,” only reached #4 on the charts competing with monster hits like “Billy Jean” by Michael Jackson and “Every Breath You Take” by the Police. Once Elton John’s music was at the edge of popular music experiment with form and creating unique sonic landscapes like in the opening of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road with the epic “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.”



Now Elton sat squarely in the safe and adult contemporary sound of the early 1980s synthesized rock, but this couldn’t overshadow the warm nostalgia and emotional honesty of the “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.”

Elton divided the beat into the three small parts giving “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues,” a lilting, almost childlike quality. Elton’s voice contrasts from lines sung as manner of fact statements “don’t wish it away, don’t look at it like it’s forever,” to earnest expressions of support “before you and me run. . . ” at the end of the first verse.

At these moments and also during the chorus, “laughing like children . . ” John uses a rhythmic musical device called a hemiola. Instead of having note last over three small beats like 1-2-3 1-2-3, the notes hold over two small beats 1-2-3 1-2-3. This make the notes seem like they are lagging behind slightly creating drama by accenting the offbeats.

“I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues” is about being away from the ones that you love. Reflecting on a relationship, John figures that this feeling of being away from each other must be “the blues.” However, the overwhelming feeling of this song is not “the blues” or sadness from being apart but instead is love, glowing out of soul like a warm memory.

While the most famous lines of this song “Laughing like children, living like lovers, rolling like thunder under the covers” are fun to sing along with juxtaposing child like joy with sensuality, it’s the end of the second verse that says it all: “I simply love you more than I love life itself.”

The 1980s didn’t last forever. In the early 1990s, Elton John wrote the music The Lion King and the release of Songs from the West Coast in 2001 a return to John's piano roots which many considered one of his best albums featuring songs like “America Triangle” (which I discussed in this earlier post). Whether it be shows in Las Vegas or his success on Broadway with Billy Elliot, it seems that Elton is back.

It seems that many things left Elton during the 1980s, his health, his commercial success and his creative drive, but "I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues” reminds us that he never lost his heart

Walking On Broken Glass by Annie Lennox

When popular music was first introduced to Annie Lennox as part of the New Wave duo, the Eurhythmics, Lennox was a shocking symbol of androgyny. Dressed in a suit with hair dyed orange that was cut short in a buzz cut, Lennox’s image in the video for the Eurhythmics’ most famous song, “Sweet Dreams” was cold and unfeeling. Her vocal performance over plodding synthesized beats was cold and robotic. However. in the depth of her tone, you could only hear hints of the blue-eyed soul that lied beneath the cold corporate image.

Eurythmics-Sweet Dreams
by adiis

In 1992, Lennox released her first solo album Diva. Lennox lived up to the pretension of the album title and proved herself to be one of the most unique and powerful voices in popular music. While her first single “Why” was a powerful ballad, mournful, desperate and intimate, it was her third single “Walking on Broken Glass” that caught my attention.



Maybe it was music video based with 118th century costumes feature John Malkovich and Hugh Laurie or maybe it was the fact that the song sounded like nothing I had heard before.

The opening of the song starts with a piano line that is quickly joined with a string section. The piano and strings are not only used as a harmonic basis but provide and rhythmic momentum like in Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida.” The pattern starts on the beat but is quickly thrown off the beat hopping around like someone dancing gingerly through broken glass. The acoustic sound of the piano is layered on top of a pulsing dance beat that adds more vitality to the song creating an organic fusion between classical instruments and modern pop music sounds.

Female singers are divided into two main groups, sopranos and altos. Almost every single female pop star is a soprano. Sopranos in general sing higher than altos but it’s the tone that they sing with that defines the different types of voices. Sopranos have higher lighter voices while altos sing with a darker depth to the sound. Alto’s aren’t as popular as sopranos because often their voices are heavy and not as easy to sing along with because of the range that they sing in. However, Lennox’s voice has the depth of the alto voice but the lightness of soprano resulting in a sultry mix of soul.

Where other sopranos belt and force out higher notes (like Kelly Clarkson), Lennox flips into a light head voice during the bridge of the song. This is a gutsy move exposes a thinner tone in her voice but only adds to the vulnerable feelings expressed in the words.

If one Annie Lennox wasn’t enough, she builds up into the final chorus with cascading overdubs breaking up the phrase “can’t keep walking on broken glass” into a chaotic chorus that erupts into a beautiful celebration musical euphoria.

The lyircs of the song are dark and full of pain but the music is joyful foreshadowing the feeling the protagonist will feel when she finally lets go of this man that is hurting her. It's a powerful statement of optimism through pain, a little desperate but more than anything a lot of fun.

Stacy’s Mom by Fountains of Wayne

Fountains of Wayne - New Music - More Music Videos

“I'm seventeen. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex.”
Xander from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 2: "Innocence"

Welcome to the mind of a teenage boy. It is a scary place to be.

While Xander’s comment is a little sarcastic, it has a grain of truth in it. Hormones often drive teenage boys beyond reason and logic. It’s not even about sexuality rather it’s about the idea and fantasy of sex, which is exactly what “Stacy’s Mom” is really about.

Even though there is little in my mind that is more disgusting and insidious than statutory rape regardless of the gender of the people involved, the idea of a boy having a crush on someone’s mom is funny. It’s such preposterous idea that we can’t help but laugh at it. At the same time we giggle at the ridiculousness of the idea of a boy being “in love” with someone’s mom, some people can relate to this idea. Not so much of the idea of having a crush on someone’s mom but having a unrealistic crush whether it be on a teen idol, model or actress.

Most of Fountains of Wayne’s music reflects the drudgery and depression of blue color America. Songs like “Hackensack” are melon collie reflections the failure of the middle class subruban dream.



While Fountains of Wayne’s other songs contemplates the reality of life, “Stacy’s Mom” reflects on a fantasy. The protagonist explains to his girlfriend that he’s more into Stacy’s mom then he is into Stacy. This premise has the potential for a Graduate style catastrophe but instead the ideas stay in the realm of fantasies.

Our narrator describes Stacy’s mom as “got it going on.” Who really uses that phrase anymore? It’s like this boy heard this line in a movie and is trying to awkwardly describe to his friends the prowess of Stacy’s mom. This boy’s hormones have clearly distorted his sense of reality as he interprets her criticizing his lawn mowing technique as a sign that she likes him.

Even though we know how realize how stupid this kid is acting, we celebrate along with his fantasy because deep down we all know what it’s like to excited about a dream. Sometimes living in a fantasy, even an idiotic one is makes us feel better about life.

“Stacy’s Mom” will always have a special place in my heart, not because I have memories of being infatuated with someone’s mom. I can say emphatically that that has never happened.

During graduate school at Northwestern University, my main job assignment as a graduate student was to direct the Northwestern University Basketball Band (NUBB). I conducted the band at every single men’s and women’s basketball games (the band was split up into two groups).

Conducting this group was an incredible learning experience as a musician and a one of the funniest jobs I’ve ever had. I had a blast getting to know people in the job Conducting is always fun and when it’s popular music arranged for pep band, it’s a unique joy that is indescribable.

One of my favorite songs to conduct was “Stacy’s Mom.” The verses build beautifully into the chorus and because of its popularity it was a song the cheerleaders made a dance to it and the crowd had a great time singing along with.

The last game I conducted was a packed men's game. We invited marching band alumni to perform along with the band. This was one of the most stressful games I conducting because the large crowds made it hard to heard officials calls (which is how I knew when to start the band) and it was a musical and administrative challenge to manage the alumni.

The last song we played before the end of the game was "Stacy's Mom." The combination of relief that I had made it through game and the sheer musical joy of the song made a truly unforgettable musical experiences.

I gotta say, for that two an a half minutes it really felt like I had it going on.

Brick by Ben Folds Five

I really liked “Brick” without ever knowing it was about abortion.

I was in high school when Ben Folds Five hit the music scene, I remember people making a big deal about the band’s unique instrumentation, a piano, upright bass and drums. People were comparing Ben Folds to other rock artists like Elton John and Billy Joel who utilized the piano as a central instrument in rock music. As a pianist, I thought it was awesome that there was band out there that was centered on my favorite instrument.

Then I started hearing about how their breakout single “Brick” was about abortion.

In my early years in high school, I knew what abortion was but I had no clue the relevance of Roe vs. Wade and what the pro-life vs. pro-choice debate was really about. When you are young, being political doesn’t come from researched, well-thought out platforms but rather repeating slogans and arguments you overhear your parents and people on television say. My parents have their political opinions but to this day, I’m not even sure where they stand on this issue.

Abortion never came up in dinner table discussions, in high school I never knew of any of my family or friends who had to deal with the abortion. To this day, I’ve never talked to anyone who has faced this issue, though with all the people I’ve met in my life there is probably someone I know who has dealt with this issue on a personal level.

I probably saw newspaper stories about abortion or heard things on the television about the abortion debate but it didn’t seem like something that meant anything to me because I couldn’t relate to what it meant on an emotional level.

The first couple times I heard “Brick,” I thought it was really different and interesting musically. The piano is constant throughout the song and feels like a driving down an empty road on a winter morning. Though the rhythm is steady, Ben Folds varies the way he rolls through the chords creating a feeling of motion. The sound of the bowed upright bass, which is rarely heard in popular music, added a dark sustained color, which contrasted the brighter shorter notes on the piano. The drums lay back in the verse adding colors and a rhythmic undercurrent. The interaction between drums, upright bass and piano changes in the chorus as the bass and drums provide the rhythmic drive as the lyrics change from telling the story in the verse to expressing how the experience felt in the chorus.

Then I realized the song was about someone having an abortion. At first, this overwhelmed little teenage mind. It’s one thing to hear a song that elaborates on sexual exploits in an unrealistic way but it’s another thing to hear a song that deals with the consequences on not only sexual behavior. The subject matter scared me away. I didn’t want to listen to a song that preached to me about an issue. So it wasn’t until college that I took another look at this song. Then I realized something that Ben Folds about “Brick.” The subject of this song is abortion but that’s not what it’s really about, what it’s means. Ben Folds when asked about “Brick” reflected:

"People ask me what this song's about... I was asked about it a lot, and I didn't really wanna make a big hairy deal out of it, because I just wanted the song to speak for itself. But the song is about when I was in high school, me and my girlfriend had to get an abortion, and it was a very sad thing. And, I didn't really want to write this song from any kind of political standpoint, or make a statement. I just wanted to reflect what it feels like. So, anyone who's gone through that before, then you'll know what the song's about.”

“Brick” doesn’t intend to make an argument pro-life or pro-choice. If you really experience “Brick” for what it is, you don’t walk about thinking “abortion,” you are left with a feeling of an innocence that is lost. I don’t think that anyone on either side of the debate will argue the emotional challenges of getting an abortion which “Brick” so beautifully expresses.

If you want to take this song as many have to make arguments for either side of the issue, that’s your prerogative. I don’t agree that a piece of art that isn’t indented to be used as part of a political debate should be used as such but if you want that I respect people’s right to discuss their views in any way that they see fit. I do believe it is essential to try to understand the emotional side of the abortion issue to inform the debate with the human dimension which is sometimes ignored.

Art like “Brick” connects us the emotions behind the debate and reminds us that behind the debate there are two teenagers waking up early on a cold winter morning.

Like A Prayer by Madonna

"Like A Prayer" Music video
"Like A Prayer" Live performance

My family has belongs to a Buddhist temple in Taiwan. In the main room of the temple, there are little shrines, maybe an inch tall and half an inch wide, which like tiles, cover the walls and the pillars. Inside each of these little shrines in someone’s name and in one of the shrines on a pillar is my name and every day the nuns in this temple pray for the people whose names make up the interior of the temple.

Last time, I visited the temple I walked into the temple and my mother introduced me, they went straight to the spot where I was in the wall, which they knew by heart since regularly prayed for me. Every day, when I wake up in the morning and slide on a necklace, a red string with a pendant that depicts Guan Yin, a central female Buddhist figure and I think of the nuns across the world in Taiwan who pray for me.

I’m not a religious man, in the “organized religion” sense. My parents do not belong to any church and I didn’t go to church regularly as a kid. However, I do feel that I am religious. I have delved deep into Buddhism, which acts as my spiritual center and I’ve made a strong effort to understand and know Christianity.

It is through this lens, that I hear “Like A Prayer” by Madonna. Released in 1989 on the album of the same title, “Like A Prayer” was widely criticized. The music video for “Like A Prayer” featured a field burning crosses, an attempted rape scene, police racial discrimination, religious miracles (crying statues, stigmata), a statue of a saint coming to life (which Madonna proceeds to make-out with), and murder. People criticized Madonna for the use of religious imagery (some of which including the fields burning crosses, a symbol used by the Ku Klux Klan, were understandably disturbing). Pepsi who had an endorsement deal with Madonna dropped her and the use of “Like A Prayer” from there ad campaign after Pepsi executives viewed the video. What is surprising is that the song itself did not seem to offend, which in some ways had more potential to be offensive than the music video.

“When you call my name its like a little prayer, I’m down on my knees, I want to take you there.”

This is the central line in “Like A Prayer” that Madonna repeats throughout the song. Literally, the line says that when you call my name it sounds like you are praying. This affects me in such a way that I get on my knees and want to take you “there.”

From my understanding people aren’t suppose to pray for frivolous things. Prayer is reserved for things that are beyond our materialistic wants, things that are close to the heart. Being in someone’s prayers is an honor, it means that you are one of the most important things in that persons life so Madonna’s first line “when you call my name, it’s like a little prayer” speaks to how much devotion and love she hears in her love’s voice.

If someone is speaking to you in a way that is so close to the heart that it sounds like praying, it would make you feel extremely honored. Therefore, you would logically make want to reciprocate that feeling get down on your knees as well and pray for them wanting to take that person to the same feeling.

Madonna blurs this literal meaning with the implication of comparing spiritual ecstasy with sexual ecstasy. If you interpret “there” as a state of physical euphoria than the line “when you call my name its like a little prayer, I’m down on my knees, I want to take you there” takes on a different message. Lines later in this song “your voice can take me there” enforce this layer of meaning.

Take away any thought of what this songs means and then listen to this song, because even though Madonna is playing around with religious and sexual implications the songs itself is a simply a fusion of Gospel and Pop celebrating how great someone can make you feel which may be closer to what Madonna’s intention.

The song starts with angry guitar riff, cut off with a bang like the closing of a door. Madonna has a solemn opening like a morning prayer and then the song kicks into high gear. After the first chorus, the verse fixates on the sound of “your voice” and the idea of someone can take Madonna away to a point that its like she is losing control. The second verse compares the subject to a child and a dream. The gospel choir enters which Madonna follows with a journey through darkness before a celebrative iteration of chorus.

At the least offensive, Madonna is comparing the love that she shares with someone to the feeling that she gets from being in church and singing along with a Gospel choir praising God. At it’s most offensives, Madonna is using religious allusions and musical artifacts like Gospel music to sing about sex.

Madonna wasn’t the first person to blur the lines between religion and sex in music. Ray Charles more than twenty years earlier started to take gospel melodies and sing them with sexual lyrics which caused people to be quite upset, like the couple in the trailer for the Ray (1 minute 14 seconds in).

When I listen to “Like A Prayer” it’s not about sex, it’s about the feeling that you get listening to great, joyous music. The song takes the listener from darkness to light combining the frenetic energy of 1980s music with the soul of a gospel choir. I don’t know much about religious ecstasy. I’ve never felt it or really know anyone who has, but the idea that we can find a transcendent level of joy in our lives, in each other not through sexual activities but meaningful and profound human connections is a beautiful idea and I know I’ve been lucky enough to feel these kinds of connections in my life.

“Like A Prayer” triumphant statement that begs to be questioned but cannot be helped but be enjoyed. It reminds me of great times with friends, the euphoric freedom that can only come through dancing with friends and spiritual joy that comes from knowing that somebody other there is praying for me.

Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield

When I was in college I was in marching band and each instrument section bonded as a family as we not only spent a lot of time working together but we also had a down time during the seasons where we would get to know each other. One game we used to play was “Never, Never Have I Ever.” We would sit in a circle and everyone would open up their hand using his or her five fingers as counters. People would take a turn around the circle. When it was your turn, you would think of something that you had never done and say it: “never, never have I ever went skinning-dipping.” Then all the people in the circle who had done it would put down a finger. The goal was either to be the first one with all their fingers down or the last, depending on how you viewed the game. The way we played it was that if you got all of your fingers down, you had to explain the stories behind the activities that got your fingers down. Depending on the people you played the game with, the statements could be as innocent as “not eaten lobster” or descriptions of sexual and/or drug-related activities. With people of the appropriate age, this also works as a great drinking game. Here’s a demo of how this game is played.

Whenever we would play this game, there would always be that one person that we would never imagine as having done anything bad, naughty, or inappropriate. This was that person who always seemed together, never made off-color or sexual jokes and was a quiet but effective member of the section. We’d sit down and play this game and someone would say they have never something outrageous that no one else even thought of doing and then this quiet person would slowly put down their finger trying not to make a big deal out of it and shock us all.

“Son of a Preacher Man” is that finger going down. This song revealed the naughty, sexual and soulful side of the British pop queen, Dusty Springfield. After four albums, she wanted to make a change. Springfield had recorded lush orchestrated pop songs like "I Only Want To Be With You."



While other singers skirts seemed to crawl further north of the knee, Springfield maintained a Donna Reed like image, singing songs of love and female devotion. There no nothing hint of sexuality behind the idealized version of teenage love that permitted 1960s popular music.

I’m not saying that Dusty’s earlier albums are bad, no, they are fantastic. They featured great melodies within well-crafted songs. Dusty’s voice uniquely combines her clear energetic tone with a slight depth and belt that gave it richness. You can hear slight soul tendencies, as she plays around behind the beat and when she opens up her sound, you realize that this British girl had a little gospel in her.

Springfield admired American soul singers like Aretha Franklin and Wilson Picket and she took chance deciding to record a southern soul album. Rarely do artist cross genres in this way, so Dusty hired Jerry Wexler, who had produced the soul music she had loved and agreed to record in Memphis.

Wexler chose eighty gospel and soul songs and Dusty rejected every single one. A couple months later, she came around and chose fifteen. When they went to the studio, it was completely different from what Dusty was used to. She usually recorded in big professional studios with full orchestras, what she found in Memphis was a stripped down, bare-bones studio with a small house band. She felt so intimidated by the idea of even singing in the same studio as her soul heroes Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin that she refused to sing during the sessions in Memphis.

They moved the recording sessions back to Manhattan after recording most of the instrumental tracks. Springfield insisted that they turn up the backing tracks that she listened to when she recorded to a ridiculously loud volume while she recorded and out of her insecurities came some of the most remarkable recordings in pop music.

I enjoy when art works on different levels. Not only is “Son of a Preacher Man” a revealing look at a Dusty’s sexual side but the song itself is about a the son of a preacher man, who people expect to be moral and upright pushing the boundaries of sexuality with the narrator of the song. No worries, he isn’t doing anything that she is not yearning for which becomes clear when she sings “being good isn’t always easy” and you can hear a devilish smile in her voice.

The background instruments almost seem like they in the foreground. Many times the way that singers make themselves be heard over instruments is by singing out with a full tone but what Dusty does instead is sing with almost a whisper to her voice which draws us in like she’s sharing a dirty little secret. When the verse builds to “my surprise” she opens up and floats over the notes like a person softly sighing maintaining her soft focus and ease when the notes get higher.

If you think sexuality in music is a creation of artist from the 1990s, then listen carefully to the bridge of “Son of a Preacher Man.” Many artists have described sex in their songs using explicit lyrics and artists continue to feature moans meant to emulate sounds that people make sex. However, back in 1968 Dusty Springfield showed us how an orgasm felt in the bridge of “Son of a Preacher Man.”

She starts with “How well I remember” and the pace of the lyrics begin to build. Dusty in accompanied by louder and more aggressive backgrounds, which push her slowly with a sense of strength. When Dusty gets “Taking time to make time, telling me that he’s all mine,” she doesn’t so much sing the words “time” and “mine” but moans them sensuously. She climaxes in ecstasy when she opens up and sings, “looking to see how much we’ve grown.” The feeling of relief and joy at the last verse is like that feeling when you can’t help but smile when you are overcome with warmth throughout your entire body having just experienced something truly amazing.

This song celebrates what is real and great about sexuality. It’s a little naughty, abut it’s not profane, it doesn’t objectify or trivialize the action, instead it celebrates the truly beautiful feelings that only sex can bring people.

Never, ever have I ever felt the sexual awakening of girl in a song.

Y’all can now put one finger down.

You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC

Once upon a time, Rock 'n Roll could simply be explained as a song that utilized a blues progression with sped up boogie-woogie bass line. In that form, pioneers like Little Richard showed us the attitude and the feel of rock. Then the electric guitar became a lead instrument with artists like Chuck Berry in the 1950s. The 1960s were a time of exploration and growth of rock utilizing classical instrument, expanding the form of songs and drawing from different genres to innovate the Rock genre of music.

As art evolves and becomes more complicated there are always artist who react to this by focusing on the core of the genre. After bands like the Beatles raised the bar of Rock music to high art, some musicians decided to get back to the basics. These groups went back to the original components of what rock was. They focused on feel instead of complexity, riffs instead of form and anthems instead of monologues. Rock had redefined itself and AC/DC was there to remind the world of the definition of Rock.

If you take Rock music and distill it down to its purest form, you are left with is AC/DC. You have the instrumentation defined by the Beatles with a drum set, bass guitar, two electric guitars (rhythm and lead) and the vocalist, nothing more, nothing less. There are no effects besides some distortion in the guitars, no additional instruments and no fancy studio tricks. Every instrument can clearly heard when it is plays throughout the song, while working together to create one of the finest examples of a Rock groove.

The basic rock drum beat has the bass drum on beat 1, followed by a snare drum hit on beat 2, two more bass drum hits on beat 3 followed by another snare drum hit on beat 4.,. What Phil Rudd, the drummer of AC/DC understands is that playing that pattern alone is not enough to drive the groove. Like a melody, each beat needs to lead somewhere and the drums in this song work towards beat 4. Rudd, drops the first bass drum hit on beat 3 which throws more momentum into beat 4, creating a feeling of motion. The extra weight on beat 4 is like a jump off of a diving board bringing energy into beat 1.

The drum’s emphasis on beat 4 brings out the most interesting rhythmic part of the guitar riff. The guitar riff plays every other measure but it starts after beat 4, right before beat 1. The drum hit on beat 4 that highlights this offbeat. The drums are steady and uncompromising while the guitar riff somehow feels relaxed This tension is exactly what creates the feel of this song The guitar riff and the drums create an attitude in the beginning, which through its simplicity somehow captures a sense of cool, filled with attitude, a slight snarl and a feeling of celebration.

When AC/DC’s lead singer Bon Scot died of alcohol poisoning many worried that AC/DC would never find a replacement. They hired Brian Johnson song and recorded Back In Black the album that featured “You Shook Me All Night Long” as a tribute to Scot. Johnson has ability to sing high with raspy and energetic tone. It’s not a pretty voice but it’s a very real voice. It’s how most guys sound after a little too much beer combined screaming at a football game for five hours, except Johnson manages to make that sound musical and meaningful. This voice is not meant to sing a long with, but rather scream along with, masculine, rugged, raw and unapologetic. A unique voice in Rock, Johnson’s voice is the perfect compliment to the hard-edge groove created by the drums and the guitars.

“You Shook Me All Night Long” is about the power of a woman’s sexuality as being almost too much for the narrator to handle. This is as much a teenage fantasy as a reflection on an actually experience. The metaphors are not especially deep reflecting a general feeling of masculinity and bravado more than a true reflection of a woman. What is interesting is that this song is not chauvinistic and it doesn’t objective the woman. Instead, but rather it is a celebration of the woman’s sexual prowess with a sense of thanksgiving and reverence.

The verses are organized with an AABA rhyming scheme and though the lyrics are not all entirely clear (what the heck are “sightless eyes” and how is that appealing?) the ends of the phrases slow down the accentuated certain lyrics. This brings out such fragments as:

-American thighs
- already there
-mine all mine
-come back for more
-take another swing

You may not know all of the lyrics but I’m sure you can make out those parts of the song giving you plenty to sing along. The best part is that these lines provide the basic meaning of the song.

My favorite memory of “You Shook Me All Night Long” is rocking out to this song during my junior year of college rocking out to this song at my fraternity’s formal dance. Rocking out is not much dancing, but head-banging, grooving, air guitar playing and screaming along with the lyrics. It’s about that feeling of being in a crowd and getting lost in the ecstasy of the music.

Though we may not find time in our lives to party ev-er-y day, it’s important for us to find moments to Rock ‘n Roll all night or at least once a day, maybe while driving to work.

Rock on.