― cinniblount (James Blount), Thursday, 7 October 2004 20:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 7 October 2004 20:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― chuck, Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― cinniblount (James Blount), Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― cinniblount (James Blount), Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:13 (nineteen years ago) link
I didn't see that thread. Were you supporting Suicide Girls or attacking it? I don't like it. The mag they were launching bombed and they never paid anyone.
Anyway, I wanted to show that I did Big & Rich's record three years ago. The similarity of the imagery in these two songs -- their 'Rollin' and my 'Robocowboys' -- is startling. Both reference cowboys, crowds, men in black. Both collide genres. Both play on the paradox of the lonely cowboy, and counterpoise him with a crowd. Theirs, though, is conformist, merely reinforcing the stereotype of the individualist in a crowd of individualists. Mine deconstructs the stereotype and shows up the paradox. (My tune also beats theirs, although I stole it from Gary Numan.) Here are extracts from the lyrics of both songs:
Ain't gonna shut my mouth Don’t mind if I stand out in a crowd Just want to live out loud I know there's got to be A few hundred million more like me Just tryin' to keep it free
Charley Pride was the man in black Rock 'n' roll used to be about Johnny Cash Hey, what do you think about that I'm a crazy son of a bitch But I know I'm gonna make it big and rich Yeah, I'm gonna let it rip
Hey, just wanna hear everybody sing (rollin', rollin') At the top of your lungs till the windows break (rollin', rollin') Say hey, Cowboy Troy...
Big & Rich, Rollin' (2004)
There's so many insiders on the outside I think it's beginning to be the inside And fire regulations have disallowed Another lonely cowboy From joining the lonely crowd
There's so many mavericks right off the map We've redrawn the map to bring them all back There's so many renegades off the beaten track They're beating a track to my door And I'm beating them back with a board
All the men in blackWith nowhere left to goTheir darkness comes pre-packedWith a warm familiar glow
Robocowboys, you're dead ringersRobocowboys, say you're singersWith your Texas Instruments
And breaking the rules has become the new rule They're teaching it now at business school They're all wild and crazy and one of a kind Anarchists to a man Everybody does it like no-one else can
And irony's a kind of sincerity now With so many milking a once-holy cow And alienation's a kind of belonging A synth isn't cold any more There's a country new wave banging on the door...
Momus 'Robocowboys' 2001
― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:37 (nineteen years ago) link
(and now I just hurt myself laughing at/with 'robocowboys', texas instruments, that's some balls I admit it)
― Begs2Differ (Begs2Differ), Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― m. (mitchlnw), Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― m. (mitchlnw), Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― m. (mitchlnw), Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:49 (nineteen years ago) link
Ha ha. Hey Momus, are you in Liquid Tapedeck, by any chance? If not, you join them! Your posts sound *exactly* like their press releases (except not as funny, but they could probably help you with that).
And now...
Neil Young - Computer Cowboy (1982)
Well, his cattle each have numbersAnd they all eat in a lineWhen he turns the floodlights on each nightOf course the herd looks perfect!Computer cowboy.
Well, he rides the range ?til midnightAnd the wild coyotes yowlAs he trots beneath the floodlightsAnd of course the rhythm is perfect!Computer cowboy.
Ride along computer cowboyTo the city just in timeTo bring another system downAnd leave your alias behind:Computer syscrusher.
Computer syscrusher.
Crusher. syscrusher.
Syscrusher.
Come a ky ky yippee yi yippee yi ayCome a ky ky yippee yi ay.Come a ky ky yippee yi yippee yi ayCome a ky ky yippee yi ay.
― chuck, Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― Begs2Differ (Begs2Differ), Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:53 (nineteen years ago) link
You're going to quote 'Hi-Tech Redneck' to me next, aren't you?
― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 7 October 2004 21:54 (nineteen years ago) link
― chuck, Thursday, 7 October 2004 22:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― chuck, Thursday, 7 October 2004 22:16 (nineteen years ago) link
― cinniblount (James Blount), Thursday, 7 October 2004 22:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 7 October 2004 22:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― Begs2Differ (Begs2Differ), Thursday, 7 October 2004 22:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Thursday, 7 October 2004 22:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Begs2Differ (Begs2Differ), Thursday, 7 October 2004 22:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― Begs2Differ (Begs2Differ), Thursday, 7 October 2004 22:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― Momus (Momus), Friday, 8 October 2004 04:28 (nineteen years ago) link
And Gretchen Wilson can fucking sing.
― danh (danh), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 01:50 (nineteen years ago) link
But they both sing *waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay* better than Fred Schneider.
― chuck, Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:39 (nineteen years ago) link
hasn't jello biafra attempted to sing country songs on some of his CDs? his voice sounds more like fred's than anybody else's ever has.
― chuck, Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:53 (nineteen years ago) link
Fred actually sounded great in one song on a Bosco album a couple years ago, though.
― chuck, Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― chuck, Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― frankE (frankE), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― frankE (frankE), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:06 (nineteen years ago) link
― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― danh (danh), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― Clusterfuck at the Baja Fresh Salsa Bar (Ben Boyer), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:21 (nineteen years ago) link
er... no.
― frankE (frankE), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:22 (nineteen years ago) link
Also no (at least for the past 25 years).
― chuck, Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:34 (nineteen years ago) link
er, YEAH.
― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― Riot Gear! (Gear!), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― Riot Gear! (Gear!), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― danh (danh), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:54 (nineteen years ago) link
beside the point. Compared to my favorite albums of the decade that have a specific worldview (Desaparecidos, Good Charlotte, Nellie McKay for instance), Big & Rich aren't coming from a young-person-entering-the-world context. Their anthems allow for a more universal age to voice them. Plus, unlike countless albums I find rewarding (those artists, Travis Morrison, David Banner, Kimya Dawson, etc. etc.), Big & Rich - except for their theme songs - aren't as dependent on a specific persona. I'd like to think a rap group (and I think it would have to be a group) might eventually top Big & Rich for open worldview anthems this decade (hell, maybe if the Black Eyed Peas got their shit further together).
― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 17:08 (nineteen years ago) link