One of the Most Disturbing Songs for Halloween

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I was on a web site once, and a question was posed about the most disturbing song.  I posted this one.  It was interesting, as a few other people did also, even though it's not well known.  What makes it even more so, I heard an interview once and it was stated that the lyrics are based on a true story.  Urban legend, one hopes.  I have this on vinyl---the original greatest hits release, but I can not listen to it.  It's selling for 49.99 new on vinyl and a few dollars less if it's used.  Mine is in perfect condition.  Put the lights on and don't listen to it if you're prone to being haunted by "what if" questions.  And trust me, I'm not easily effected.

Siouxsie And The Banshees - Spellbound HD ( Official Video )---Atmospheric Classic

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This is from one of my favourite albums.  It may be old, but she was well ahead of her time.

Never Mind "Girl Power"---These Women Know How it's Done

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I mentioned this song in my last post and here is Patti Smith's rendition of "End of the World."  I would love to see her duet with Marianne Faithfull.   I think the mix of their voices would be incredible.
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This recording was done years after her original version.  There is a greater degree of pathos.  Now, let's add a little Johnette Napolitano into the mix:
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I saw a post yesterday of Ariana Grande "flexing" her arms in some attempt to promote girl power.  In reality, I suspect her P.R. team is working overtime to overcome the donut incident, but I digress.  None of these women need auto-tune and the industry needs to overcome their bias that tosses away talent (i.e. females) simply because they've reached thirty and don't have pneumatic breasts.

Congratulations

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The Supreme Court did good today.  Here's Mama Cass, featured on the children's classic Pufnstuf, singing "Different."  She's performing  from the heart.  It was thanks to hard battles by people who began at Stonewall and then others who stayed the course through court cases.  The Prop Eight Case and Edie Windsor are stand out battles.

THE REDNECK RADIO POLL

(The above graphic was found on an internet site, artist not listed. If anybody knows, let me know so that I can credit. I also like the work and would like to find more by the same. It is obviously retro.)
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I rarely listen to this radio station for a reason. It took me the longest time to figure out that it actually played music. I thought it was one of those awful sports stations, because every time I flipped by it that's all they seemed to be talking about. Even at the top of the hour, when they're supposed to be featuring the news, they spent more time talking about hockey. At this time of the year, they broadcast the local hockey games and talk about it ad nauseum.

Since there are above ground power lines in this area, it is sometimes difficult to pick up anything besides this station, which plays rock, and "the other one", which is inflicted upon you as you walk into any store in this town. The other one is worse then root canal. It's what I call "All Shania, all the time." Sometimes it varies, and plays Celine Dion, Mariah, etc. You get the drift...pure pap on a rotating basis.

You know you live in a redneck town when the poll of the day on the rock station is as follows:

Women....How do you rate how manly guys are? Whether:

----They eat meat?

----They drive a big four by four?

----Are hairy?

I could understand it if this were a country music station. Then perhaps I would allow for the question to be that insipid. I must add that they aren't being tongue in cheek; they're actually serious in their question. They have a poll every day. So, here's how I would answer: how about "none of the above." How about if a person stands up for themselves and their principles. They don't follow the crowd. They don't bully. They have friends who are gay and don't feel threatened by it.

This is why I listen to the station that plays alternative music.

The Christmas Anti-Cheer (music only)

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Just a brief note. No big surprise, but Microcrap has not been working again. I've got to take photos of it and post it, as nobody believes me. In the past, it knocked me off my connection (via the phone company) and stuck me onto a broadband. This was a totally different system then the high-speed I was paying for. I've posted photos of it. Now, it states that I am not connected to any network at all. When I ran a diagnostic test, it said something about my wireless device, etc. Well, this isn't a laptop...it hasn't magically transformed itself. When I could log on, it would take forever to load and if I tried to sign into my blog, I'd get the "Internet Explorer" cannot open this site message. Sorry about the rant; it's either that or eat Haagen-Daz.

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On top of that, I just got off work this morning and it's been a bad week at The Bleak House. There's a snowfall warning in effect and we just got rid of the arctic outflow warning. That Christmas shopping I was going to do? Good luck on that if it doesn't stop snowing.

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On a worrisome note, my mother is not doing well. I know that the measurements differ in the U.S., but in Canada, her blood sugar reading was 20 when she woke up. A few months ago, it was 2.8. She eats well and is not overweight, so this inability to control her recently diagnosed diabetes is very bad. I need to get out there to see her.

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So, here's a song from ages ago to drown out the cheer and bliss blasting from all the mall's loud speakers.

`I can never figure out which lines I like the best in here, there are so many:
`````They all got wrecked and laughed too loud,
`````I started to feel queasy in the crowd,
`````I caught a cab, back to my flat.
`````And wept a bit, and fed the cat.
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Ah yes, the Christmas songs have descended upon us. I used to post this on my answering machine each year, but the new digital one won't allow for such nonsense. I get nothing but feedback (although, as I wrote, said feedback deters hyped up telemarketers).
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A holiday song about being broke, boyfriends who book it, killing a tree of 97 years---it's a great protest song to the usual false joy. Besides, I totally related to the line "Good morning, Midnight, it's Christmas," as I'm always invariably working the night shift when it rolls in.

The Sisters Of Mercy - Marian

I love the Sisters of Mercy and the footage is from the classic "Nosferatu."

HALLOWEEN VIDEO OF THE DAY-LOST BOYS

The song is "Cry Little Sister" from the movie's soundtrack.

SPEAKING OF MUSIC (see blog blow)

Music and smells have the ability to transport me back to a time and place; it's as though I have stepped into a time machine. If I hear the right song, I will remember exactly what I was doing, or a specific person will come to mind. Obviously, it's important for a lot of people---that's why people will speak of having "their song".

I also have songs that I cannot abide. Sure, I loathe the entire country genre. But, there are songs which are the aural equivalant of nails on a blackboard. They manage to sneak into your head, then a refrain or two will continue to repeat and replay throughout the entire day. I'm surprised nobody's ever left a suicide note: "Sorry. Only way to make the Anne Murray song in my head stop." I guess one of my top annoyance songs is "Muskrat Love" by Captain and Tenille. Every once in a while I will be in a store, minding my own business and reading the ingrediants on some packaging, when this song will come on. It seems to be a favourite of soft 70's type stations. If I weren't afraid of being nailed for shoplifting, I'd probably run screaming out of there. I'm actually afraid to type the name of the next song...it had gotten stuck in my head last week because they used it in the movie "Rules of Attraction" and I rewatched it. The song is "Afternoon Delight". Check it out and you'll see what what I mean. Oh, the horror. Then, there's all the crap that they insist on playing at weddings. Why, oh why, do they always have to put on that stupid Macharena song? Is it to get video footage of people doing stupid things?

I also have this mental list of songs I would love for people to redo. These are songs that seemingly wouldn't go with the person, but I think they could put a very interesting spin on it. An example of this would be Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails covering "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles. He's put his own personal angst into that one. Another one? If you're not familiar with the l960's song by Eric Burdon and the Animals, listen to "When I Was Young." Now, think of Eminem covering it, given his admission of his past problems.

Oh yes---lemon report. I had written this then tried to post it when I was bumped off the server and got the old "Not Responding" thing.

THERE THEY GO---LET'S BLAME THE MUSIC

`````I had to laugh when I read an article in The Daily News in which a top music executive/producer was quoted. He was complaining about the music of today sexualizing the young. He compared it to the more innocent l980's.

`````It was the comments, and there's a lot of them, that I found amusing. Basically, the downfall of Western Civilization as we know it falls at the feet of Lady Gaga and her ilk. Well, at whatever footwear she might be wearing that day, given her fondness for seven inch platforms.

`````I had mentioned to my friend once that I'd love to write a book and call it "Bad History---the Faulty Recall of the Recent Past." There's this horrid tendency to look back with fondness and rose coloured glasses on what really took place. Everything takes on a glossy veneer and people forget the bad stuff. I'll actually save this for a future blog. Right now, I just want to talk about music.

`````I think they happen to be mixing up the visual images of videos with music. Frankly, I didn't even think MTV played them anymore, given all the reality television on there. There's also a sexualized component to any concert clothing, but that's always gone on. But here's my issue; the impressionable preteens shouldn't be there in the first place. Most concert venues are for adults. I know that there are groups specifically targeted for that age group, such as the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lavato, etc. and they are age appropriate. Besides, who merely drops off a pre-adolescent at a concert anyways? Shouldn't they go with adult supervision? I mean, these are the very same people who won't let their kids go outside to play for fear of attack. As for the television and the media, it's everywhere. Our society is obsessed with the surface and the mundane. It's proven that people now have shorter attention spans, so there's a perceived need to keep changing the stimuli. Parents control the television.

`````In the l980's, Tipper Gore began the push to label music. At the time, Madonna was perceived as the harbinger of doom and the one leading girls into white slavery. When the musical tastes shiifted to hip-hop, there was talk about the bad language. Don't tell me how safe the l980's were, as people were complaining then. Frankie Goes to Hollywood actually had their song "Relax" and the video that went with it, pulled, once somebody sat down and figured out the lyrics.

`````In the l970's, the Glam Rock bands such as The New York Dolls and David Bowie were on the hitlist for their sexuality. I won't even get into all of the punk bands. The Sex Pistols created a firestorm on the Queen's Jubilee with their song.

`````How about the l960's. I guess people forget, because the oldies stations seem to stick to the soft formatting of songs by groups such as The Archies. But there was a lot of rage at the time and music reflected that. There's a great scene in Oliver Stone's film, The Doors, about the Ed Sullivan show. That sort of censorship took place. Bands weren't suppossed to say things like "higher". Then, along came Mick Jagger and his tight jeans. The public was aghast.

`````Before that, Elvis Presley was perceived as the anti-Christ himself in the l950's. His hip swaying was sinful and would lead to lustful thoughts and deeds.

`````I love all sorts of music, and have some blues collections from way back. Let me tell you, there were some sharp double entendres in there. Swing Music was banned in Nazi Germany because of its reputation.

`````I guess I was hoping that the people Douglas Coupland stamped with the moniker Generation X would be a little more hip and wouldn't fall into the trap. I might not particularily like the music that's out there, as I find it unoriginal and homoginized, but these arguements have all been stated before. The real problem, as I see it, are parents unable to say "no"...who cave to the kid who wants to wear imappropriate attire at a young age.

WHAT I AM LISTENING TO

I like music that speaks to me. This song does just that. I've had a friend with a drug problem. It's really difficult to watch them sink.

On another note, I want to add that many people who struggle with eating disorders also use substances. Some may cross over into misuse of them. Initially, they may begin using the drugs as a way to control their eating and help in their weight loss. They then find that they are addicted to the drug. In this case it is not true that "no man can be a slave to two masters." When it comes to the truly compulsive, they can become addicted to the substance and driven by the need to lose more weight. In the future I mean to blog about Topamax. While it is not physically or mentally addicting like coke, it is being misused by people to drop weight. "Thinspiration" sites are telling people how to find doctors that will prescribe this drug. By the way, it was found in the bodies of both Anna Nicole Smith and Brittney Murphy. It is a good drug for it's true purpose; not for misuse to lose weight by the already underweight.

Enjoy the song. It's by a Canadian band.

A VIDEO TO SHARE

I just found this, as my computer is finally working again. I used to love this song. The song that got airplay was "I Touch Myself", but that was in a limited bit. That song was upbeat and happy. The lyrics here are dark and dire. I was always surprised that Courtney Love didn't redo this song, actually, as her vocal range would have suited it. I thought I would share, as nobody I know has ever heard it. I collect the obscure in all things.

THE TIME MACHINE

I have found a way to travel in time, although I hardly control when it happens. Music has the power to do that to me. Every once in a while I will hear a song and instantly I find myself back in a time or place. It does not happen often, but when it does occur the link is profound. I am transported.

Each time "Love My Way" by the Psychedelic Furs is played I see my friends dancing; slow as though under water. I see the very precise angle at which my friend held her cigarette as she slid languidly on her small patch of ground with whatever rail-thin, British guy she had on her hit list that month.

"The House of the Rising Sun" was a song belonging to another generation, but to me it will always represent the train. I will forever envision a bunch of strangers, at two in the morning, in the bar car when somebody produced a guitar and knew how to play this number. That feeling of never wanting the morning to come or the ride to stop.

I cannot help but notice that most of these memories are tied with youth. People will refer to "their song"' ; the one that they remember from their first date. Why does this connection to music stop as we grow older? I still love all varieties (except country and rap) and a sad bit of music in film can move me to tears when I am alone. Yet, I cannot think of one song, past a certain age, that really has that same bonding element. I will enjoy it---but it does not pull me back. I think that's sad, somehow.