The Girl From Ipanema

A stone cold classic from Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto. The things I know about bossa nova are absolutely none, but I think this is the one song that brought it out of Brazil and into the worldwide world. Now it’s a mainstay of coffee shops and movie soundtracks but in 1964 it was exotic and cool. Bossa nova may be a bit standard for scenes in which chic people sip cocktails, but no less cool as mood music.

Girl Anachronism

Amanda Palmer makes having a nervous breakdown sound appealing. Actually though, I suspect that Amanda is one of the sanest forces in rock’n'roll. She doesn’t give a damn about anything famous people are supposed to care about, like PR or waxing services. She does her thing, man. She’s super modern too – she uses her blog, facebook and other social media to communicate with fans directly, flying under the radar of big labels, big radio, and big tv. It’s super inspiring to see that she’s become a successful and beloved artist through grassroots support, not by being a corporate object. Not to mention the whole Amanda Fucking Palmer persona. She’s the role model little girls should have. Part of it is being what’s known colloquially as ‘a crazy bitch’. But she’s not an angry crazy bitch or a feeling-sorry-for-herself crazy bitch, or a man-hating crazy bitch, or stridently marching around screaming about crazy bitch rights. The crazy bitch is part of every woman’s personality, and it’s ok to be that way sometimes, and still be an intelligent creative person, and be happy with yourself being a crazy bitch.

Girl

Come and be real for us…

If there was a Bolan philosophy to be found, it would be found here. It’s romantic, spiritual, mournful, yearning, and not dedicated to making very much sense. He’s addressing his god, his girl, maybe himself, looking for something high in the fields above earth…

Girl

The story behind this song is, during recording George Martin asked the boys if they were singing what he thought they were singing – ‘tit, tit, tit, tit’. The boys assured him they were in fact singing ‘dit, dit, dit, dit’. Martin was reassured and the song went to press. Then it was revealed that they had been singing ‘tit’ all along, thus sneakily sneaking a mildly inappropriate word past BBC censorship. That’s hilarious.  Except that if ‘tit’ and ‘dit’ sound identical to the naked ear, it’s not that huge of an achievement in terms of gaining freedom of speech in pop music. But oh, what an innocent time the young sixties must have been when mention of a mere tit was considered racy!

Girl

Sometimes I understand what Tori Amos is saying. Sometimes she speaks to me. This is not a song of hers that I understand, though I feel sorry for the girl she’s singing about. If I could give myself up like that, would I be a bigger success, romantically? I’ve been enthralled before, alright, but I wasn’t ever not my own. I think people like that are pathetic.

Gimme Some Truth

Merry Xmas. John Lennon is naked. Why don’t I put John’s Xmas song? Maybe I will. As a bonus. Because it’s happy, happy festive fun time. Personally, I think Lennon was kind of a depressing, strident character. He spent too much time being either angry or sad, especially when he didn’t have McCartney around to be his opposite number. But he hit the target enough times too. The Xmas song was one of his peaks; politically aware but good-spirited. Festive, you know.

Gimme Shelter

I tell you love, sister, it’s just a kiss away

Happy fucking Christmas. Balance out all the festiveness with a reminder of the other side. Look how nice Mick’s arms are. Think about war and murder and kissing.

Dog Days Are Over

So happiness is like a bullet in the back… I think I see where this Florence is going. The video of her dancing in fur amid puffs of smoke is pointing the way. She going to be the pagan goddess for girls who want occultism and magic but can’t stomach the conformity of Hot Topic goths. Which I say as a compliment. Florence is dark without making darkness her image. She is dark and she is hopeful.

Gimme Hope Jo’anna

Poor Eddy Grant. Doesn’t he deserve some dignity? In 1988 he had a hit with this song, which is an anti-apartheid protest thinly disguised as a rockin’ reggae jam. Though he used the name Jo’anna to refer to South Africa’s government in Johannesburg, Grant’s lyrics couldn’t have been blunter. It’s clear what he’s talking about, clear enough the single was banned in South Africa and a hit everywhere else. Now with that background information we scroll down and watch the video. It seems some people (the French of course) missed the point entirely and mistook the song for an straight-up party song. So poor Grant is on French TV playing his political protest to a roomful of happy jewelry-rattlers, backed with a ridiculous troop of dancers doing amateur-hour choreography in tacky costumes. It’s a travesty. French TV people just don’t get it.

Gimme Danger

Some people grow old gracefully. Some turn into beef jerky versions of their younger selves and seem not to notice. Iggy Pop looks like he’s undergone some ancient Egyptian mummification procedure, but has lost none of his vitality. At 64 he looks both grotesque and weirdly sexy, but that’s no big thing, because he’s always looked like that. And if it seems like he’s not behaving in a dignified manner for his age, that’s no big thing either, because he’s never given an eff for dignity. That’s just Iggy. It doesn’t matter that his hips, knees and spine are shot from years of abuse. He’s still as allergic to shirts as ever.