― some guy, Friday, 25 July 2003 00:09 (twenty-two years ago)
― gaz (gaz), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:13 (twenty-two years ago)
I always say "Please Release Me" by Willie Nelson and Ray Price for this. Maybe I should think of another one, though.
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:26 (twenty-two years ago)
― dog latin (dog latin), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:32 (twenty-two years ago)
― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 25 July 2003 00:34 (twenty-two years ago)
― David Allen, Friday, 25 July 2003 00:40 (twenty-two years ago)
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:41 (twenty-two years ago)
― Salmon Pink (Salmon Pink), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:43 (twenty-two years ago)
theres a bit in a dick hebdige book which takes from alex haileys roots (both of which are seriously discredited, i know!)which talks about african slaves singing apparently happy songs with grumbling/fighting words to fool their masters
― gaz (gaz), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:54 (twenty-two years ago)
― Sloan Kohler, Friday, 25 July 2003 00:56 (twenty-two years ago)
― gaz (gaz), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:59 (twenty-two years ago)
― Sloan Kohler, Friday, 25 July 2003 02:04 (twenty-two years ago)
― Shaun (shaun), Friday, 25 July 2003 02:17 (twenty-two years ago)
― Bryan Moore (Bryan Moore), Friday, 25 July 2003 04:01 (twenty-two years ago)
― Bryan Moore (Bryan Moore), Friday, 25 July 2003 04:03 (twenty-two years ago)
― King Kobra (King Kobra), Friday, 25 July 2003 04:12 (twenty-two years ago)
― x, Friday, 25 July 2003 04:16 (twenty-two years ago)
― x, Friday, 25 July 2003 04:18 (twenty-two years ago)
Country music owns this thread.
― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 25 July 2003 04:19 (twenty-two years ago)
― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 25 July 2003 04:23 (twenty-two years ago)
― autovac (autovac), Friday, 25 July 2003 04:40 (twenty-two years ago)
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 25 July 2003 05:18 (twenty-two years ago)
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 25 July 2003 05:38 (twenty-two years ago)
"Cemetery Gates""Bigmouth Strikes Again""Sheila Take a Bow"
Oh, hell... most of 'em.
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, 25 July 2003 05:43 (twenty-two years ago)
― Kingfish (Kingfish), Friday, 25 July 2003 06:18 (twenty-two years ago)
― Mike Ouderkirk (Mike Ouderkirk), Friday, 25 July 2003 06:22 (twenty-two years ago)
― Sean Thomas (sgthomas), Friday, 25 July 2003 06:35 (twenty-two years ago)
― jesse, Friday, 25 July 2003 06:36 (twenty-two years ago)
― dave q, Friday, 25 July 2003 06:46 (twenty-two years ago)
― M Carty (mj_c), Friday, 25 July 2003 07:30 (twenty-two years ago)
(It might not be 'conflict' - this is from memory)
― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 25 July 2003 07:33 (twenty-two years ago)
― derrick (derrick), Friday, 25 July 2003 08:10 (twenty-two years ago)
― piscesboy, Friday, 25 July 2003 08:17 (twenty-two years ago)
"Nobody in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful. Everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful."
"Did a large procession raise their torches as my head fell in the basket, and was everybody dancing on the casket? Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want, or I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do."
― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 25 July 2003 12:39 (twenty-two years ago)
happy, bouncy, sunny, a graphic account of child sexual abuse. YAY!
― I'm on a roll now (bloodandsparkles), Friday, 25 July 2003 12:43 (twenty-two years ago)
― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 25 July 2003 12:46 (twenty-two years ago)
No more champagne And the fireworks are through Here we are, me and you Feeling lost and feeling blue It's the end of the party And the morning seems so grey So unlike yesterday Now's the time for us to say...
Happy new year Happy new year May we all have a vision now and then Of a world where every neighbour is a friend Happy new year Happy new year May we all have our hopes, our will to try If we don't we might as well lay down and die You and I
Sometimes I see How the brave new world arrives And I see how it thrives In the ashes of our lives Oh yes, man is a fool And he thinks he'll be okay Dragging on, feet of clay Never knowing he's astray Keeps on going anyway...
Seems to me now That the dreams we had before Are all dead, nothing more Than confetti on the floor It's the end of a decade In another ten years time Who can say what we'll find What lies waiting down the line In the end of eighty-nine...
― Tom (Groke), Friday, 25 July 2003 12:49 (twenty-two years ago)
― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 25 July 2003 12:53 (twenty-two years ago)
― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 25 July 2003 12:55 (twenty-two years ago)
― sean g, Friday, 25 July 2003 13:05 (twenty-two years ago)
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 25 July 2003 13:48 (twenty-two years ago)
― The Lex (The Lex), Friday, 25 July 2003 14:07 (twenty-two years ago)
― John Bullabaugh (John Bullabaugh), Friday, 25 July 2003 14:25 (twenty-two years ago)
― J (Jay), Friday, 25 July 2003 14:27 (twenty-two years ago)
― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 25 July 2003 14:33 (twenty-two years ago)
Nena, "99 Luftballons" (about nuclear war and destruction of the entire human race except one person, more or less)
― chuck, Friday, 25 July 2003 14:45 (twenty-two years ago)
― J (Jay), Friday, 25 July 2003 14:46 (twenty-two years ago)
― The Lex (The Lex), Friday, 25 July 2003 14:47 (twenty-two years ago)
― chuck, Friday, 25 July 2003 14:52 (twenty-two years ago)
Also, a good 10% of all good mash-ups to thread. I'm especially thinking of "Cleaning Out My Ketchup" and "Just Can't Get Enough Pills".
And, as the last surviving Carter U.S.M. fan in captivity, I think this is one of the main qualities than initially attracted me to them. "Let's Get Tattoos" being a prime example of this.
― Jesse Fuchs (Jesse Fuchs), Monday, 1 September 2003 01:36 (twenty-two years ago)
As long as Tom and Pete are around -- and, uh, me -- you cannot make this claim.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 1 September 2003 01:44 (twenty-two years ago)
― Brandon Welch (Brandon Welch), Monday, 1 September 2003 04:49 (twenty-two years ago)
― sucka (sucka), Monday, 1 September 2003 05:04 (twenty-two years ago)
Also the Supremes (and probably lots of other girl-group stuff besides, as mentioned above) to thread.
― wl (wl), Monday, 1 September 2003 06:20 (twenty-two years ago)
― anthony easton (anthony), Monday, 1 September 2003 06:32 (twenty-two years ago)
― tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Monday, 1 September 2003 06:33 (twenty-two years ago)
This is a "Speak & Spell" album track, and I have trouble figuring out why on Earth it could possibly have ended up on a B-sides compilation as it was never a b-side.
Anyway, good choice.
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 1 September 2003 08:15 (twenty-two years ago)
So, I guess in 1984, Speak and Spell wasn't a U.S. release? I'm not quite clear on what "the D.P" is, though. Mysteries upon mysteries.
― Jesse Fuchs (Jesse Fuchs), Monday, 1 September 2003 14:48 (twenty-two years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 1 September 2003 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)
― Tom (Groke), Monday, 1 September 2003 14:52 (twenty-two years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 1 September 2003 14:55 (twenty-two years ago)
― cuspidorian (cuspidorian), Monday, 1 September 2003 15:03 (twenty-two years ago)
Now on the sidewalk, huh, huh, whoo sunny morning, un huhLies a body just oozin' life, eekAnd someone’s sneakin' ‘round the cornerCould that someone be Mack the Knife?
― H (Heruy), Monday, 1 September 2003 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 08:22 (twenty-two years ago)
― joni, Tuesday, 2 September 2003 09:09 (twenty-two years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 00:29 (twenty-two years ago)
― Douglas (Douglas), Friday, 5 September 2003 03:10 (twenty-two years ago)
"Timothy," by the Buoys ownz this thread.
I would say this is a resounding 'yes', especially given that, rather than just depicting an instance of your run-of-the-mill, desperation-fueled cannibalism, the song seems to describe the willing murder and then complete consumption of another human being. I mean...they never found any remains!
― I HEART CREEPY MENS (Deric W. Haircare), Tuesday, 8 September 2009 20:25 (sixteen years ago)
Well, not quite up there with cannibalism, but The Stone Roses - "Bye Bye Badman" seems to fit the bill.
― Spencer Chow, Tuesday, 8 September 2009 20:47 (sixteen years ago)
Macabre's 'Vampire of Dusseldorf' is fun.
― no-nonsense, Tuesday, 8 September 2009 21:28 (sixteen years ago)
"Fiddle About," particularly on the Tommy Original Soundtrack, sounds like great fun but is about pederasty.
― Fruitless and Pansy Free (Dr. Joseph A. Ofalt), Wednesday, 9 September 2009 01:42 (sixteen years ago)
Also, "Orphans" by Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, you'll recall, is about little dismembered orphans running through the bloody snow, but by the thrilling and wayward music you'd think they were running off to Six Flags!
― Fruitless and Pansy Free (Dr. Joseph A. Ofalt), Wednesday, 9 September 2009 01:50 (sixteen years ago)
Oh, and what about "John Wayne Is Big Leggy?" by Haysi Fantayzee? It's manic and rollicking, yet the lyrics are apparently about bad, bad adult things that I still don't understand even as a worldly middle-aged man.
― Fruitless and Pansy Free (Dr. Joseph A. Ofalt), Wednesday, 9 September 2009 01:56 (sixteen years ago)
For me these are generally sadder than traditional "sad" sounding songs.
― billstevejim, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 02:09 (sixteen years ago)
Kinda wanna suggest "Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth" but then it really isn't a happy-sounding song at all. DW's did elegiac melancholy better than almost anyone.
― kevision questler (country matters), Wednesday, 9 September 2009 02:18 (sixteen years ago)
Dancing In The Dark - Bruce SpringsteenWall Of Death - Richard & Linda Thompson
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 02:19 (sixteen years ago)
Wow so nobody put
No Children - The Mountain Goats
seriously!
― Evan, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 02:39 (sixteen years ago)
Elton John - "I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself" (complete with tap dance break)Richard & Linda Thompson - "The Sun Never Shines on the Poor" - "The Little Beggar Girl" - "Smiffy's Glass Eye" - "Civilization"Warren Zevon - "Excitable Boy"The Who - "Little Billy"John Lennon - "Crippled Inside"Talking Heads - "Air" - "Road to Nowhere" - "(Nothing But) Flowers"Sloan - "Chester the Molester"Camper Van Beethoven - "Militia Song"Squeeze - "Melody Motel" - "Hits of the Year"Stan Ridgway - "The Roadblock"Nick Lowe - "Marie Provost" - "Nutted By Reality"The Roches - "The Death of Suzzy Roche"They Might Be Giants - "Mr. Me" - "I Palindrome I"The Rolling Stones - "Dead Flowers"The Lemonheads - "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You"
― Hideous Lump, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 03:07 (sixteen years ago)
no mention of Phil Ochs' "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends"?
― dan selzer, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 03:42 (sixteen years ago)
first thought was my bloody valentine's 'drive it all over me', which is a fairly jangly and sunny composition, musically speaking
Run run away run run away'Cause there's nothing left to sayGot no one to talk toLeave me alone, I'm happy to die todayRun run away run run awayCause there's nothing left to sayOh, the travel always gets meGet in the car and drive it all over me
― 6335, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 03:50 (sixteen years ago)
i'm thinking 'isolation' by joy division. am i alone in finding that synth hook kind of upbeat?
also 'allentown' by billy joel.
― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 04:26 (sixteen years ago)
The Auteurs - Unsolved Child Murder
― een, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 05:46 (sixteen years ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0gEa20Wsqg
― ecuador_with_a_c, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 06:26 (sixteen years ago)
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much'til you spend half your life just to cover it up
― Squash weather (Eazy), Wednesday, 9 September 2009 15:26 (sixteen years ago)
Moby re: "Southside"
My favorite thing about "South Side" is the subject matter. It's essentially a song about abject amorality. I love that it's a happy sing-along pop song about kids that become so inured to violence and become so desensitized that nothing gets through to them. It's about people who have become so over-exposed to stimuli that nothing matters to them anymore. I like the idea of having subtle, very disturbing lyrics hidden in a happy-friendly pop song. And I also like the fact that no one stopped to listen to the lyrics — which is fine with me.
― hey hey hey, smoke persians every day (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 9 September 2009 15:31 (sixteen years ago)
Act Naturally - Buck Owens, the Beatles
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 15:32 (sixteen years ago)
Seems no mention of Madness on this thread at all yet. At least "Embarrassment" and "(Waiting For The) Ghost Train" would deserve a mention. In the case of songs about Apartheid, there is also "Gimme Hope Jo'anna" by Eddy Grant.
Not least, "It's The End Of The World And We Know It", surely?
― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Wednesday, 9 September 2009 19:37 (sixteen years ago)
Not the happiest, but Sufjan's "John Wayne Gacy Jr." is one the prettiest songs ever made for me.Along those lines of "pretty but grim" there is also Jim O'Rourke's 'halfway to threeway'.
And from what my dad says of the mixtape of Belle and Sebastian I gave him - some of their songs have really awkward lyrics. I agree.
Of all these that I mentioned, I fell in love with the songs before I ever listened to the lyrics. I didn't even know who John Wayne Gacy Jr. was until I actually finally listened to the lyrics and looked him up. I should have figured when I saw that Gacy movie in the horror movie section.
― CaptainLorax, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 22:33 (sixteen years ago)
Interesting that Obscured By The Clouds got radio play. It always came off as one of the lesser known Floyd albums to me. Pretty great album though.
― CaptainLorax, Wednesday, 9 September 2009 22:35 (sixteen years ago)
not necessarily a bad thing, you know...change is good...
"Sister", by Prince is maybe not "happy", but certainly upbeat...it's fun, but incest, getting put on the street, etc., pretty bleak stuff any way ya slice it...
― henry s, Thursday, 10 September 2009 00:52 (sixteen years ago)
oh, and it's the end of the world as we know it...big difference...
― henry s, Thursday, 10 September 2009 00:54 (sixteen years ago)
"Disorder" - Joy Division
― King of Snake (j-rock), Thursday, 10 September 2009 02:36 (sixteen years ago)
I don't think it's been posted, but S&G's "The Sun is Burning" fits this thread title perfectly.
― Mordy, Thursday, 10 September 2009 02:38 (sixteen years ago)
"100 000 Fireflies" - Magnetic Fields (although I prefer Superchunk's version)
― King of Snake (j-rock), Thursday, 10 September 2009 02:39 (sixteen years ago)
It's not the grimmest, but I just realized today that The Beatles 'Run for Your Life' is tres creepy. Catchy though..
― VegemiteGrrrl, Thursday, 10 September 2009 03:29 (sixteen years ago)
Some Delgados tracks, esp. from the Hate LP. A lot of Ween, but "Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony," in particular, is pretty unsettling.
― Pullman/Paxton Revolving Bills (Pillbox), Thursday, 10 September 2009 03:55 (sixteen years ago)
Blind Willie McTell - A To Z Blues is all la la la cuttin up womenz
― oing oing oing (╓abies), Thursday, 10 September 2009 05:27 (sixteen years ago)
Alice Cooper, "Cold Ethyl"
Street People, "Jennifer Tompkins"
The Fifth Estate, "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead"
― Joseph McCombs, Thursday, 10 September 2009 05:56 (sixteen years ago)
"Mother and Child Reunion" by Paul Simon.
― banjoboy, Saturday, 12 September 2009 03:16 (sixteen years ago)