I’ve not posted a song of the week for a while now. Mostly because there really hasn’t been anything too new that has caught my ear. I have been listening to CunninLynguists’ Dirty Acres almost nonstop for a week or so now. Recently they added the song “Mexico” ft. Club Dub to their MySpace. Many of you might remember Club Dub on A Piece of Strange album last year. They are a very talented band and they fit so well with CL. It is in honor of that and the November release of their album that I now invite you on a trip to “Mexico.”
I know this is odd for someone my age, but I am a huge fan of The Rat Pack, especially Frank Sinatra. Sadly, they did their stage show before my time and I’ve only seen it in a DVD I have (where they are actually performing in St. Louis at the Fox Theatre with Johnny Carson opening for them) as well as in the HBO movie The Rat Pack starring Ray Liotta, Don Cheadle, and Joe Montegna. When you think back at the time they were performing, these guys were the essence of cool. You had great music by Frank, Dino, and Sammy, along with great comedy to come together for a great stage show. It’s too bad I never got to see it. In St. Louis through the 14th of this month The Rat Pack is back. No, not the originals. That would be disturbing. Impersonators are on tour recreating the famous stage show that took place at The Sands in Las Vegas. This is something I wouldn’t mind seeing. If you can’t see the original, why not a recreation? Too bad I’m the only person under the age of 50 that would actually like to see this. I missed it the first time around, as I wasn’t born until 1983 and I’ll miss it this time as well.
I can’t tell you how much I love this song. For those of you who don’t know this song, “Little Boxes” is a song written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962 that lampoons the development of suburbia and what many consider its bourgeois conformist values. The song’s best-known performance was that of Pete Seeger in 1962. Some legends state that it was in response to the Levittown developments after World War II. This was when everyone moved from the city to the suburbs. In Levittown, everything looked the same, much like modern suburbs. Having lived in the suburbs all my life, this song really rings true to me. I’ve always wanted to get away from all the monotony and move to the city, but never have. You can see modern American life reflected in a song that was written forty-five years ago. It still holds true today. Just look at these lyrics:
Little boxes on the hill side, little boxes made of ticky tacky.
Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes all the same.
There’s a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one,
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky, and they all look just the same.And the people in the houses all went to the university
Where they were put in boxes, little boxes, all the same.
And there’s doctors and there’s lawyers, and there’s business executives
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.And they all play on the golf course and drink their martini dry
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp and then to the university
Where they all get put in boxes and they all come out the same.And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family
In boxes, little boxes, little boxes all the same.
There’s a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.
Many of you may have heard this on the TV show Weeds. Starting in its second season the theme song was performed by a different artist each episode, with such artists as The Decemerists, Elvis Costello, Billy Bob Thornton, Randy Newman, and The Shins, among others. Here is the original song by Malvina Reynolds.
Many of you know I am a huge fan of an underground rap group called CunninLynguists. Their last album, A Piece of Strange was pure genius. I loved the album so much, I created (and unfortunately didn’t keep up with) a companion site (whatisapos.com) made up of fan’s insights and thoughts into the album, as well as producer Kno’s own words behind the story. They are such a talented group that anytime they drop a new song I am instantly pumped and craving more. A song from their new album, Dirty Acres, was recently released. From the QN5 Blog:
Fresh off 2006’s A Piece of Strange, an album that XXL Magazine compared to “vintage UGK and Dungeon Family“, the Kentucky-Georgia hip-hop hybrid CunninLynguists are back with the first shot from their upcoming 4th album, Dirty Acres. The song, entitled “Yellow Lines”, features Phonte of Little Brother and Witchdoctor, of the aforementioned Dungeon Fam, trading verses with CL’s Natti over a smooth, live guitar assisted beat produced by Kno. Deacon The Villain’s syrupy Kentucky drawl ties it all together on the hook, making this definite ‘must-add’ to your late summer soundtrack. Roll the windows down, notch the volume up…but watch those “Yellow Lines”.
Listen to the song and download it from here.
I was talking to a friend of mine, who shall remain nameless (ok, it was Lisa), about the musical genre emo. She was saying that because a songs lyrics are similar to lyrics to an emo song, then that band is emo. The example she used was Blink 182, saying they were emo because the themes in their songs were the same as emo themes. I disagreed. If that was the case, 99% of every pop song ever made would be considered emo, because emo songs are all about not getting the girl or broken hearts, etc. The lyrics, and lyrics alone, don’t classify an artist into a genre. If a rocker had the same type of lyrics and themes as a rap song they wouldn’t be rap, they’d still be rock. A genre is about the lyrics, the style, and the image put forth by the artist. Blink 182 doesn’t put forth the same image of “I hate my life now let me write crappy poetry and put it on Myspace so my other emo friends can read it and complain that we have no friends because we’re outcasts, now let’s go to The Gap and buy tight girl’s jeans (even though I’m a guy) and black turtlenecks” as emo kids do. Yes, that is a stereotype and yes I’m making fun of them. If I don’t then they might not be emo. They should be thanking me for that. Anyway, back to my original thought. Lyrics do not act alone in the genre classification. Lisa was wrong.