Come Inside, It's Fun Inside!

Oh Lordy, will someone, ANYONE, please turn this off?!? The theme to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse simply will not stop running round and round the inside of my head. HELP! SOS! MAKE IT STOP! What makes this even worse is there are only two lines of lyrics to this damn song so it's like there's a record skipping in my ear.

It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Come inside, it's fun inside.

That's it. That's all there is. This from a band (They Might Be Giants for those of you who aren't in the know, a.k.a. aren't suffering through the toddler TV years) that has been lyrically prolific for 30 frickin' years!!! I've been listening to them (and singing along to them because most of their songs have WORDS) since I was in junior high! I even saw them play in college! And they were awesome! And they sang songs with multiple verses and complex rhythms! I'm going to use an exorbitant amount of exclamation points in this post!!!

Anyway, I like this band, always have, and am very glad that they have delved into the world of children's music. I mean, the only albums by TMBG we have in the library are the kiddie ones. Where the heck is Flood? Guess I'll have to catch Bug up on that one at a later date. For now I'll just have to survive doing the Hot Dog Dance every night. Three times. In a row.

Sometimes I feel like this baby. 

And When She Passes, Each One She Passes...

I have always believed that I was born in the wrong decade. And it's music like this that makes me feel that way. Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto and the epic The Girl From Ipanema. I know a lot of people typically consider bossa nova to be kind of cocktail loungy sounding, but for me it makes me want to be lying on a beach in Rio with the sound of palm trees blowing in the breeze and a fruity alcoholic concoction close at hand. And naturally I'd be incredibly tan, thin and wearing some sort of sexy white bikini. Like Bond girl style. Well, we all have our dreams, right? Anyway, who can resist her voice! It's so...melty? I dunno, I just love it and could listen to it all day. But then I'd never get anything done because I'd be drinking in the sun somewhere pretending to be inhaling salty sea air instead of smog.

According to her bio on Pandora, Astrud just kind of randomly got this gig because of her husband, Joao (who co-wrote the song and was already a Brazilian sensation in the jazz world) was paired up with Stan Getz by Verve. The producer on the album wanted some English lyrics to ensure maximum crossover potential (greedy bastard), and Astrud was the only one with any grasp of the language. Joao sang the first verse in Spanish (although this video doesn't include him), Astrud the second in English, and BAM!, a star was born! Kind of a cool story really. I just recently learned that Amy Winehouse also covered this song on her posthumously released album. Poor Amy. All that hair... anyway, it's not bad, but you just can't beat the original on this one.

Proud To Be An Amurican

I'm feeling lazy today. It's a holiday weekend and I foresee a lot of hot dogs and potato chips in my future. And definitely some Bud Lite Lime-A-Rita. And right now that is the only thing that happens to be stuck in my head. That and Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA. Naturally. But I'm even too lazy to look up awesome montage videos of this song (and you know there are probably hundreds,) or come up with anything witty or humorous (because I'm always so witty and humorous...?) to say on the subject. So this is all you get. Peace and Happy Memorial Day.

Also, I highly recommend Googling "American flag with eagle." While listening to God Bless the USA, of course. And holding a sparkler.

THE GOBOTS!

So as we were tucking ourselves into bed last night, Hubby rolls over and starts singing the Gobots theme song. For absolutely no reason. And as far as I can tell it doesn't even have any lyrics except for "Gobots, Gobots!, etc." But somehow he was singing it anyway. Then he rolled over and drifted into a peaceful slumber. So random. But consequently, I woke up humming the tune to the intro even though I'm pretty sure I've never seen the show (from what I hear, it's no Transformers) or ever had any Gobots of my own (but I totally had Transformers.) I did find this amazing commercial for the Gobots themselves though, complete with the world's creepiest dad! God bless the 80's. Also, Hubby had the same haircut as these kids when he was an 80's tot...and I'm pretty sure Bug will have it too for most of his young life. Poor kid.

And just for a little something extra, if you're bored at work today you should definitely waste a little time with this Gobot inspired nonsense. It's pretty awesome as far as Gobot inspired nonsense goes.

I Try...

Dear 1998 self,
Where did you put your copy of Return of the Rentals? Please advise and send to the year 2012.
Thanks, and enjoy your youth. Oh, and Y2K is a lie.
Sincerely, 2012 self

Happy birthday, Mr. Moog! To celebrate I'll be listening to the Rentals all day today. I swear I didn't know ole Bobby Moog was turning 78 when I woke up with The Love I'm Searching For in my head this morning. It's like the universe is aligning to tell me something. It's probably that it's disappointed in me for never going to see these guys play a show even though they've apparently been through Atlanta several times in the past few years. I didn't even know they reunited 7 years ago. How'd I miss that one? I was like, obsessed with this band back in the day. And I used to love throwing out something like "hey, did you know Maya Rudolf played keyboards and sang for this band on their first tour? Well, she did. Also Matt Sharp is my secret boyfriend. True story." at parties. Most people didn't believe the second part for some reason...Anyway, these guys, anything with the Haden sisters (did you know one of them is married to Jack Black? More fun party trivia!), the Breeders/Pixies, Liz Phair, basically the entire music catalog of my 20s is suddenly popping back up in my head. Maybe I'm having a midlife crisis. Oh well, if I am at least it has a good soundtrack. It's got a good beat and I can dance to it.

You Didn't Have To Cut Me Off

Well, according to Billboard's website this song is number one on like every chart in the world, so I score zero points for originality with this one. Gotye's (I guess if my real name was Wouter "Wally" De Backer I'd go with something else too) Somebody That I Used to Know is a pretty cool song to be so uber popular. I've been trying to find a list of all the instruments used in this song, because I definitely can't name half of the ones you can see in this video, but I haven't come up with it yet. And my work computer that I use to do all of this personal crap on is definitely dying a slow and painful (for me anyway because I'm pretty sure my computer can't feel pain which is why I won't feel bad when I drop it from a five story window) death, so I'm done waiting for the cursed interwebs to load pages for today. So instead I'll focus on Zimbra's (the girl singer's) hand movements when she sings. This might get weird but the shape she makes with them looks like when you used to trick your friends by putting your hands together and making it look like a vagina. Anybody remember that? No? Okay, it just got weird. Sorry.

Love In The Third Degree

Van Halen. I covet all of your hair circa 1979. Sigh...

Dance the Night Away actually woke me up this morning it was playing in my head so loudly. Why? No eyed deer. That's the thing about earworms. They just worm their way in with no regard what so ever for your musical preferences for the day. Anyway, it's rumored that David Lee Roth wrote this song in tribute to an intoxicated woman who was having sex in the back of a truck and then (in an effort to escape the po-po) ran inside the bar where the fledgling band was playing with her pants on backwards. What an inspirational theme for such a deep and heartfelt song! It makes me want to jump off my desk and do a toe-touch! I've also read that it was inspired by Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way, but clearly the first story is more plausible. Wouldn't you agree?

Hello? This Is Your Mother.

So I had to dig a little bit to remember what this song was when I heard it on a Samsung commercial a few weeks ago. It took me back to a very specific time and place (in a car with two dudes I used to sing in a band with driving aimlessly around Boston...or maybe we had an aim...whatever) but I had no idea who it was. It was driving me mad so I put on my Super Librarian cape (and mad skills) and BAM! found it. Laurie Anderson's O Superman. Constructed as a cover of the aria "Ô Souverain, ô Juge, ô Père" (O Sovereign, O Judge, O Father) from Jules Massenet's 1885 opera Le Cid and originally a part of this extremely prolific performance artist's oeuvre which

explored the proliferating critical discourse of the 1970s--the semiological and structuralist theories that formed the basis of Minimal and Conceptual Art. ~ Contemporary Artists , October 1, 2001 Updated: July 30, 2007

and is now being used to hock cell phones. Hooray for capitalism! Anyway, the video is a bit long and honestly more than a tad boring, but it's ART people, so get over it. And if you don't have that relentless chorus of "ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha" stuck in your head the rest of the day then you should win a prize. Too bad I'm all out of prizes.

Look Over There...Where?

I don't even have a guess as to why Is She Really Going Out With Him? is today's earworm. I'd assumed yesterday I'd wake up with some Donna Summer disco hit stuck in my head considering I heard clips of Hot Stuff and Let's Dance countless numbers of times (R.I.P. Queen of Disco!). But Joe Jackson won out in the end. Apparently there is an MTV show on the telly by the same title as this tune, inspired by the website Hot Chicks with Douchebags. Yes, this is a real website. I'm learning so much today! I've also learned that Joe Jackson (this one, not M.J's daddy) looks a little bit like Gollum. Who knew? His Precious knew. I'm sure of it.

The Emblem of Suff'ring and Shame

My Pops is to blame for this one. He's taken it upon himself (half jokingly, three-quarters in all seriousness) to teach Bug hymns. According to Pops "somebody's got to be responsible for his spiritual upbringing and you're not doing such a hot job." Well, no real argument from me on that one, but a daily hymn lesson seems a bit extreme. And I can be plenty spiritual without "praising him" or making a joyful (and loud and slightly flat) noise. Although if I were singing it, it wouldn't be flat. Take that, Pops!

Anyway, The Old Rugged Cross. I didn't even know I knew this song, but somehow I do. I think they sang it in my grandmother's church many moons ago when I was a tot and forced to sit still through Sunday services. But I found this Johnny Cash rendition (hey, J.C. and J.C.!) and it's not so bad. Much better than having Pop's version (with backup by Bug) stuck in my head. Maybe if all hymns were sung by the Man in Black, I wouldn't mind this new daily activity so much. Maybe Pops can practice his J.C. imitation. That's Johnny Cash, not Jesus Christ...super star. Whatever. Just enjoy this pleasant melody and this creepy video.

And also, Praise Him.

Waitin' For the Day Your Ship'll Come In

Back from the beach, and back to work. Ugh. Why am I not independently wealthy and living on a yacht on the Mediterranean?!? WHY? I would do really well with a personal cabana boy, I believe. I mean, Hubby was pretty good about making sure our umbrella provided adequate beach shade, and he did in fact ride his three-wheeler bike back to the house for mimosa supplies to refill my beverage, but I don't recall being fanned with palm fronds or even being exempt from changing soggy salt-water soaked diapers for Bug. Ah well, there is room for improvement in all things. But I digress...

So, back to the grind and Nine to Five is going through my head non-stop. Love you Dolly! This movie was one of my faves when I was little. Especially the part where Lilly Tomlin imagines she's Snow White killing off the boss man. Classic. This was also a great film for Dolly's hair. I swear that blonde helmet never moves a single strand during all of their shinanigans. Impressive, to say the very least. Also, I covet the dress she's wearing in this performance. Thanks 1983!

The Albatross And The Whales, They Are My Brothers

I think I've been so busy the past couple of days that my brain has no room for earworms. It's decidedly quiet in there. And to make up for the fact that I'll be at least 98.62% off the grid for the next 10 days, I'll just guess at the things that will be stuck in my head whilst I soak up sun (and a fair amount of alcohol) on the shore. Interspersed with the playlist from our fave radio station on the island, The Pirate (arrrrgh...), will be these (and definitely many other) Classic Soft Rock gems:

1. I'd Really Love to See You Tonight, England Dan
2. Cool Change, Little River Band
3. Africa, Toto
4. Escape (If You Like Pina Coladas), Rupert Holmes
5. Baker Street, Gerry Rafferty
6. Summer Breeze, Seals and Crofts
7. Key Largo, Bertie Higgins
8. Even the Nights Are Better, Air Supply
9. Ride Like the Wind, Christopher Cross
10. It Never Rains in Southern California, Albert Hammond

And, one to grow on,

 11. Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler

There, that should tide you over for a while. Peace out, bitches!

The Canvas Can Do Miracles

So this one is foreshadowing of future earworms for the next couple of weeks. Hubby, Baby and I are headed to the beach where our compilation of Classic Soft Rock Hits of the 70's will be on a constant loop. Appropriately my brain is kicking off these jams with Christopher Cross and Sailing. Ah, I feel the salty breeze on my face now...if only I was allowed to sip fruity cocktails with umbrellas in them at work. True story about Chris Cross: he thinks he's awesome. According to his website:

Christopher Cross was by far the biggest new star of 1980, virtually defining adult contemporary radio with a series of smoothly sophisticated ballads including the #1 hit, "Sailing."

You think he wrote that himself? Also, I never realized how much he resembles Kyle Gass from Tenacious D.

Now, true story about Kris Kross: they are both in their 30s and look like this:

That is all. Oh, except for this, of course. If you make it to the end you can tell people you habla espanole. You're welcome.

They're Gonna Eat Me Alive

I was going to start off by saying that I had no idea why Metric's Help I'm Alive was in my head this morning, but then I realized that my Breeder's Pandora station (which I listened to non-stop last week) plays this song all the time. But other than that I didn't know much about this band or any of their other tunes. After some "research" (a.k.a Googling) I discovered that they're actually a pretty interesting group of folks. But back to the song. The lyrics make me think this song is about zombies, but I might be taking things too literally here. As it turns out, Emily Haines (the band's sexy leading lady) says it's about feelings and stuff. Well, okay then.

When I wrote the song "Help I'm Alive", I had no idea how many people would relate to the way I was feeling. I put it out there as a personal statement and ended up finding out that a lot of people understood where I was coming from for the first time.

Does this mean that a lot of people understood what it felt like to be chased by flesh-eating monsters for the first time? Nope. But is this song going to always make me think about the zombie apocalypse? Yep. Also the video is cool, so you should watch it. Apparently the director, Deco Dawson, is some sort of famous short film maker. Well, good for him. The important thing is that he has included some brief footage of Russian reanimation experiments on dead dog heads for your viewing pleasure. See, I told you this was all about the undead. Judge for yourself.