22 June 2023 - Olivia Rodrigo - brutal

Wow, did Olivia Rodrigo have a couple of great years, and to her, we say "good for you!"  Her debut album, Sour, won a Grammy (Best Pop Vocal Album) and, somehow for an American artist, a Juno (there's an award for International Album of the Year given yearly).

This song, the fifth and final single from the album, is not a pop song at all.  It's more grnuge than pop, and actually got a lot of rock and alternative radio airplay.  Because it is an Olivia Rodrigo song, it was STILL a top 20 pop hit, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Written by Rodrigo and producer Dan Nigro, the song is simply dripping with teen angst (almost as if she was in some sort of misery business) and frustration.  The guitar riff sounds like something straight out of an Elvis Costello song - specifically, "Pump It Up" - but don't worry.  He doesn't care (and is on record saying that).  At any rate, the song is not what one would expect out of a 17-year-old songwriter, who is mature beyond her years and is destined for a long and acclaimed career (we hope).

The video is a Gen Z surreal masterpiece.  Just.... watch.

 

 In 2022, Rodrigo recorded a documentary, recorded on a road trip from Salt Lake City, called Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U, for Disney+. As part of this, she recorded new versions of several songs with her live band, including this one.  We think this performance is a true masterpiece, and shows better than the video the raw angst that the song is trying to capture. 

We probably should have ended the post there, but instead, here's a 2021 performance of the song showing Rodrigo showing the exact opposite of angst - she clearly enjoys performing this song.

21 June 2023 - Tini ft. La Joaqui & Steve Aoki - Muñecas

Martina Stoessel was an Argentine child star who got her start on a show called Patito Feo, which translates to "ugly duckling".

At some point, she moved from TV to music.  She was an instant hit in Argentina and the Spanish-speaking world.  

With her fourth album, Cupido, released in 2023, Tini, as she is known professionally, has hit an international audience. This was the NINTH single from the album..... which was released a month after the single.  No, I'm not kidding.   

Tini teamed with La Joaqui on the song, which is a women's empowerment anthem specifically tied to the dance floor, which is appropriate, because Steve Aoki's beats make this an absolute banger.  The song was a hit in the Spanish-speaking world but also on Hulu, where ads for the song were EVERYWHERE.

20 June 2023 - Heavenly - Touching Everything

I stumbled across this album by Heavenly, called Tragic Tiger's Sad Meltdown, which is really just a few songs and a lot of sonic experimentation.  This song itself is part of an 11 minute long track that includes a recording of the ocean, which is absolutely amazing.  I've supported Heavenly on Bandcamp, and you can as well. 

The whole album, including this song, is luscious and minimalish ambient folk music with a hint of spoken word.  

But who is Heavenly?

Looking at the credits on the track (courtesy of Spotify) gives us some clues.

Heavenly is Heavenly Hirani Tiger Lily Hutchence-Geldof, the daughter of the late Michael Hutchence of WGP Hall of Fame inductee INXS and British television personality Paula Yates.  Her father passed away when she was 1, and her mother when she was 4. At that time, the father of Paula Yates's three elder children, Bob Geldof, took foster and eventually adoptive custody of Heavenly - hence the hyphenate.  

Given the deaths of her parents (as well as her half sister Peaches), that makes that album title hit a little harder (I presume she's the titular tragic Tiger).  

Anyway, she's made some beautiful music and we hope to hear more. 

19 June 2023 - Throwing Muses - Fish

This may very well be one of the strangest songs we've ever posted on here.

In 1987, influential British label 4AD Records released a compilation album containing a bunch of songs their artists had recorded.   That alsum was called Lonely Is An Eyesore, and it is a classic.  The vision of label head Ivo Watts-Russell, it was intended to introduce the small label to the masses, and included a videocassette version of the album, with a music video to accompany each song.  Put a pin in that, because it's important later.

4AD had featured mostly British and European artists (before you go there, yes, Dead Can Dance was Australian) but had not signed an American band until soon before this compilation was released.  In 1986, they signed a four-piece minimalist pop-rock band from Newport, Rhode Island and broke that streak.  

That band was Throwing Muses.  This is a band I've discussed before.  At excruciating length.  You know I saw them live.  

Let's rewind now, to 1985.   Throwing Muses had released a cassette called The Doghouse Cassette, with a lot of their early songs, many of which the band ended up rerecording for a number of albums for years to come.  One of the songs on this album was called "Fish", and it was a surreal masterpiece.   As the story goes, it quickly became Ivo Watts-Russell's favorite song, and he couldn't get enough of the song.... so much so, that he made a lyric from the song the title of his prized cornerstone of a compilation album.

So, for its inclusion on Lonely Is An Eyesore, a video for this song was recorded in a loft in Boston and also at the New England Aquarium (that's where the fish came from).  It shows the song and band in all its glory: David Narcizo with his military drumming (note the lack of cymbals), Leslie Langston's heavier-than-expected bassline, Tanya Donelly's ringing guitar and perfect harmonies that almost don't sound like harmonies.....

I can't just put Kristin Hersh in a list.  Hersh's haunting vocals weave through the verses paint a vivid picture of vulnerability and introspection. The lyrics are poetic and enigmatic, to say the least.  Her (and Donelly's) guitar to open the song and throughout are both delicate and relentless, and are a lot more complex than they sound. The most noteworthy thing about this completely surreal song is that she wrote the whole thing. It all started off with a hand-made Jesus on a crucifix on the wall of an apartment Hersh crashed in.  Apparently, ir looked like a fish to her.

That speaks directly to her unparallel songwriting genius. Who else could turn I remember this quote someone once wrote about her.

"Kristin wrote the song...  She is one of the most overlooked songwriters of her generation (which also happens to be my generation)". - Me, 4 March 2012

Is it hard to pick a favorite song by my favorite band? Absolutely it is.  This song floats to the top - for all the reasons I've mentioned and so much more.   It is a song that encapsulates the band - the minimalist yet technically tricky style, the surreal lyrics open to broad intrepretation, the award-winning video.  

As I've said before, Throwing Muses were the first band I saw live, in 1989, and this song was absolutely on their setlist.  I saw them in Hartford, indoors, in September, and not at a summer outdoor music festival in Glastonbury, but the song and performance were the same.  

16 June 2023 - Tribe - Here At The Home

This is our 1,400th post, and for that, I wanted to share a story with y'all.  

I was a DJ at WSBU, the Saint Bonaventure University college radio station, from 1990 until 1993.  

Now, we were a classic rock formatted station - not the so-called "alternative" or "college music" format you saw at most university radio stations of that time period.  The classic rock format was underrepresented in the rural Southern Tier of New York state - we literally had a country station on the university's front lawn - and so that decision was made.  However, as a concession to all us punks, the late night hours - 11PM until 7AM - were dedicated to that fringe music that wasn't so popular on rock radio in the early 90's.   

We used to get all the best fringe music from all the record labels, including all the Warner Bros. imprints.  I already talked about the greatest thing we ever got from Elektra Records (apologies to Jonathan Falls, who was kind enough to hand me our station's copy of  the "Counting Backwards" single by Throwing Muses (who were signed to Sire Records, which was also a Warner imprint) so I could debut it on my show (and lent me his copy of Lonely Is An Eyesore which I'm going to have to write about someday soon)).  

As I came back to school for my second year, in the fall of 1991, the album Abort by a band from Boston called Tribe that I had never heard of showed up at the station.  I don't know that I was the first to play this album, but when I did, I played the very first track, which was not the single, but rather a song called "Here At The Home."  This was a band with harmonzied vocals that still managed to rock really hard.  

I was blown away, needless to say, and played that song a lot for the next couple of years.   And, well, we're still talking about it now, so I guess I'm still playing it.  

What I didn't know then was that this was their 2nd album - mostly made up of songs from their self-produced first album.  The title of that album?  Here At The Home.  

Here they are at Boston College performing the song in 1993.

15 June 2023 - Everclear - I Will Buy You A New Life

You probably know Everclear's biggest hit.

Anyone who answered anything besides "Santa Monica" can sit down.  It legitimately was.

You've probably heard their 2nd biggest hit, and might be surprised to know that that song - this song - was really not that far behind "Santa Monica" in airplay - Santa Monica popped into the top 30 on pop radio, whereas this song bubbled just under - and actually did BETTER on alternative music charts.  

The song was written by the band and co-producted by Neal Avron (this was something of a breakthrough for him) and lead vocalist Art Alexakis, whose last name I had to literally look at three times to make sure I spelled it correctly (I did).  Alexakis was the primary lyricist here, and he wrote this as a romantic song - which it is. Released in 1997, it became a fan favorite in a hurry.  

Because it's a great song.  

The West Hills he is referencing in this song are the Southwest Hills neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, which happens to be in the Tualatin Mountains, also known as the West Hills.  We hear it's a really nice neighborhood.  

Everclear is a band that is still touring and still making music.  This video is from a show in Harrisburg, PA, recorded in March 2023.  Two things of note:

1) Art makes it very clear this song is about love, and it is.  It absolutely is.

2) Art was disagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2016 - that's a disease that statistically hits women more but hits men much harder.  It likely took a lot of energy to perform, and he did so without compromise, which I greatly respect.  

More impressively, they performed the song twice that day.  Here's an acoustic performance of the same song during a meet and greet on the SAME DAY.   I've always loved acoustic versions of this song, because I think its strength is in the raw and loving emotion of its lyrics, and they shine more here.  

14 June 2023 - Andy Gibb - I Just Want To Be Your Everything

This post has been sitting in draft for over three years.  It was by far our oldest draft.

The song, however, is too good to stay in draft forever. 

Andy Gibb, the younger brother of the Bee Gees, passed away in 1988 at the age of 30.   He was 19 when this was released and 18 when he recorded it.  Written and co-produced by his brother Barry, the song features Joe Walsh of the Eagles on guitar and a clear Barry background vocal.  The song was Grammy-nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male (which it lost to a James Taylor song).

Andy Gibb himself recieved a Best New Artist nomination in 1978 on the strength of this song - another award he lost, this to Debby Boone (which we get. "You Light Up My Life" was the biggest theft of a hit song of all time and NO, Kasey Cisyk was NOT nominated, and that's not really Boone's fault, which we already said here.). The song spent 16 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 - a record at the time - and four non-contiguous weeks on top of the charts.  He was also a frequent subject of the covers and centerfolds of the teen magazines of the time, like Tiger Beat.  He was the Johnathan Taylor Thomas or whoever the kids like nowadays of his time.  

Unfortunately, with his fame came the temptations of drug use - which he defeated, but not before they damaged his heart.  He passed away of natural causes in 1988, while attempting a comeback, and his huge voice, which impressed most who heard it, is missed.   

13 June 2023 - Kris Kross - Warm It Up

It's been said it is nearly impossible to follow up a gigantic hit debut single with anything nearly as successful.

Kris Kross had a monstrous debut single with "Jump" and faced the nearly impossible.  They followed it up with a top 20 worldwide hit that got a ton of airplay and sold more than a half million copies. They did it not simply by wearing their pants backwards, but by dropping dope rhymes written by Jermaine Dupri, who also produced their track.  

The Daddy Mac and the late Mac Daddy had skills.  They were better at dropping rhymes than people twice their ages (they were 12 when they recorded this).  They brought pride to Atlanta, and their music, even their second single, endures to this day.

They were 12 when they recorded this, but they didn't stay 12, and their voices changed, and, as can be seen by this video, they didn't change at the same times.  One Chris had his deeper voice already here - but the other didn't really.  

That did not impact their mad skillz.

12 June 2023 - Jax - Victoria’s Secret

On June 12, 1977, Victoria's Secret was founded by Roy Raymond and his wife, Gaye, in Delaware.  The first store was opened in Palo Alto, California.  The Victoria in the name is a reference to Queen Victoria (because her undergarments would be classy, right?).

In 1982, the Raymonds sold Victoria's Secret to Leslie Wexner, founder of both Bath & Body Works and clothing company The Limited.  

Leslie Wexner is a dude.  

From Ohio.  

Who, by the way, was a friend and associate of Jeffrey Epstein (who didn't kill himself) and the subject of an not-so-complimentary documentary on Hulu, Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons.

Victoria's Secret is one of the few retail chains that has been the subject of scolarly research, but they probably wish they weren't.  For example, in a 2008 article sponsored by the University of Waterloo and authored by Erin J. Strahan, Adèle Lafrance, Anne E. Wilson, Nicole Ethier, Steven J. Spencer, and Mark P. Zanna, they state, ""Women's body dissatisfaction is influenced by socio-cultural norms for ideal appearance that are pervasive in society and particularly directed at women." Their study was quite interesting.  Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental or control condition. In the control condition, participants viewed four neutral commercials containing no people. In the experimental condition, participants viewed the same four neutral advertisements intermixed with two additional commercials conveying sociocultural norms. One commercial featured supermodels wearing Victoria’s Secret bras, and the other featured a very thin, attractive woman promoting Dove soap.  Their clear conclusion, based on their study, was that "[e]xposure to societal messages that reflect the socio-cultural norm for ideal appearance has a negative effect on women."

The article was titled "Victoria's Dirty Secret: How Sociocultural Norms Influence Adolescent Girls and Women" and yes.  I read it.  You can, too.  

So, fast forward to 2022.  3rd Place finisher on American Idol Jaclyn Miskanic, known professionally as Jax, co-wrote a song that was rather critical of body image projection by companies like Victoria's Secret. She made a lot of solid points about Victoria's Secret - Roy Raymond wasn't from Ohio, but a lot of their modern marketing sure was made up by a dude from Ohio - and it was Les Wexner who was Jax's clear target.  

Her larger target, of course, was the culture, not a brand.  It resonated, becoming a top 40 US hit in the summer of 2022, and also charting worldwide.  That is no surprise - the song is catchy and witty.  

Flash mobs featuring the song popped up in front of Victoria's Secret stores everywhere.  This one, led by Jax herself, may be my favorite. 

Of course, Victoria's Secret has tried to do damage control caused by the song, praising Jax for raising these issues, and has distanced themselves as far from Les Wexner as possible, but the damage is done.  And by damage, I mean their sales are up since this song came out.  That's true.  They dipped slighty year over year in the 4th quarter of 2022, but, really, this song was a net positive for them. 

9 June 2023 - Lionel Richie & Diana Ross (& Shania Twain) - Endless Love

What is the greatest song duet of all time?

Well, that something that I would call "subjective" but Billboard Magazine has other ideas.   In 2011, they named today's song, "Endless Love", a song written for a movie of the same name starring Brooke Shields, as the greatest duet ever recorded.  

They've got a pretty solid case.  Penned by Lionel Richie, it ended up being the biggest hit of his career.  It was also the biggest hit of Diana Ross's career, and it wasn't close in either case.   In a time before SoundScan, this song spent nine weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100, and surpassed "Wake Up, Little Susie" by the Everly Brothers as the biggest hit by a duet in the rock era i.e. post-1955, spending six MONTHS on the charts. 

It was even a bigger hit than the movie, which was a modest but not blockbuster hit. The song was a blockbuster.   It was nominated for the 1981 Oscar, losing to "Arthur's Theme" - but it was nominated from a movie that was nominated for six Golden Raspberries (none for the music), which is kind of like the opposite of the Oscars.  Richie was also part of a nomination for the 1982 Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media - losing to the team from Raiders of the Lost Ark, which, admittedly, deserved it even though it didn't have a love theme.  

The song is a monster, a ballad of epic proportions, a love song sung from both sides.  At the time, it was the most successful soundtrack single ever (The Bodyguard put that to rest).  There aren't enough superlatives for this song, which is a powerful duet showcasing two huge voices.

It is, of course, Lionel's song, and he has rerecorded it a couple of times.  Most notably, he recorded it in 2011 with country music superstar and noteworthy Canadian Shania Twain - and ended up turning it into an adult contemporary hit.   

8 June 2023 - The Naked And Famous - Young Blood

I'm not going to be able to do this blog forever.  Let's all be honest.  I'm nowhere near done, but sometime, I have to slow down.

I wanted to make sure I didn't forget this song before I did that.  This song was released soon before this blog started, and got a free US distribution in 2011 on iTunes, soon after we started.  I am embarrased to say I didn't know the song or artist name.

One day, a few weeks ago, I got this song stuck in my head.  So it became my goal - my mission - to figure out what this song was called and post about it.   Clearly, I was successful.

"Young Blood' was a big hit for The Naked and Famous, a 2-piece electronic band from New Zealand that relocated to Los Angeles after the success of this song and its follow-up single.   Their success hasn't been as stratospheric as this song, but it hasn't been non-existent, either.  

7 June 2023 - The Black Keys - Everlasting Light

This is the story of an RIAA Gold-certified song with a long shelf life.

In 2010, Ohio duo The Black Keys released an album called Brothers.  It had the best cover artwork.

I wonder who made this album or what it's called.

That album also won a Grammy.  So did this album packaging.  That's a true story.  

They released three singles off that album.  The first was a minor hit, making it to the Billboard Hot 100 and achieving Gold status - a notation celebrating 500,000 sales of the single by the Recording Industry Association of America (the aforementioned RIAA) in late 2011.   

That song was, of course, called "Tighten Up" - itself a Grammy-winning song - and was not this song. In fact, none of the three singles was this song.  

  

This song was the leading track on the Brothers album but not released to radio as a single.  And, in 2010 and 2011, since singles (mostly digital at this point) got radio airplay, and that was what determined song longevity, as well as chart performance, that was that.   

Two years later, that was different.  Billboard put less weight on single sales - no longer making a physical single a requirement - and more on streaming, with YouTube streams and others including the song being included in the charts. This means that songs could hang around longer, and different songs could get attention.

In late 2014, Electronic Arts released their yearly version of their NBA video game.  This game was NBA2K15 and it was a hit.  

I figured at this point, you'd want to see the Dunk of the Year from that game.

Yes, this song featured prominently on that soundtrack, and videos from that game got shared to YouTube, which means this song got listens, which translated to listens on services like Spotify and iTunes, which led to sales of the single.

In 2019, "Everlasting Light" was finally certified gold (a year after "Tighten Up" was certified platinum) and remains a fan favorite song.  

Let's talk about this song.   It's a bluesy three-chord masterpiece, with a lot of fuzzy guitar.  But what is the song about?  Some people think it's a love song, and I can see that intepretation.   I see it differently.  I point you to Isaiah 60:19

The sun will no more be your light by day,

    nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,

for the Lord will be your everlasting light,

    and your God will be your glory.

The song is about God.  In fact, many of the songs on Brothers were clearly about the band's faith.  

However you see the song and its meaning, it's an absolute masterpiece.  

6 June 2023 - Demi Lovato - Heart Attack & Cool For The Summer (Rock Versions)

In 2013, Demi Lovato would release what would be a top 10 single - "Heart Attack".  Scott WROTE about this song in 2013.  

In 2015, Demi Lovato would release what would be a top 11 single - "Cool For The Summer".  I WROTE about this song in 2015.

I have to say, in the spirit of Wicked Guilty Pleasures, I love both of these songs.  We could have just as easily based this blog over our mutual appreciation of Demi Lovato as we could have over Ashlee Simpson.

Fast forward to 2022. In anticipation of changing styles, Demi held a funeral for her pop career.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Demi Lovato (@ddlovato)

That does not mean that she forgets all her old music, though.  In celebration of the 10th anniversary of one of her biggest hits - "Heart Attack" - Demi rerecorded and rereleased it, in her new style.

I have to say, it works.  Clearly, you can hear the song's old style, but also, you can hear a new reading of the lyrics, sung by someone who, in 2023, has a lot more life experience.  In 2013, she was 20, a kid with a Disney career and not much life experience.  Now, she's 30, and she's had some struggles - in love, with drugs (she famously overdosed in 2018 and I'm quite thankful she pulled through), and in life.  She's singing from a different point of view now.  She, quite literally, has HAD a heart attack.  And it is, in many ways, a better song for it.

So, why rerecord ANOTHER song on its not-as-momentous 8th anniversary?

The rock version of "Cool For The Summer" was released on May 25, 2023 - just in time for Memorial Day and the summer season.  Having already expressed a desire to rerecord this song in a rock format for her last album, Holy Fvck, she finally did it - and as a song that pop-rocked in its original version, I didn't have high expectations that this would be better.  Or that she'd still be whispering "don't tell your mother" in a rock style.  

Holy Fvck, this song absolutely rocks.  The synthesizers from the original are gone and replaced with fuzzy guitars.  I was completely blown away by this.  It's a mature take by an adult on a matureish song sung by a not-quite-adult.  

By the way, I was right.  She changed the lyrics to "Go tell your mother", which is a more mature lyric. 

5 June 2023 - Donna Summer - I Feel Love

Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte (with Donna Summer herself) wrote AND produced this disco classic.  It helped cement Moroder's status as the King of Disco and Summer's as its Queen.

The song is pretty much a synth loop with simple vocals and a bangin' bassline, which seems pretty standard, but it was about a decade ahead of its time from a musical standpoint.  The combination made for a huge hit, hitting top 10 charts worldwide throughout 1977 and playing in clubs for decades after disco "died".

The song, in a remixed version, would once again be a chart hit in Europe in 1995 following the release of a remix by Rollo and Sister Bliss, with rerecorded vocals by Summer. Remember that I said that the song was a decade ahead of its time.  Here, nearly two decades later, it still sounded modern and in-place.  

2 June 2023 - Kim Petras - Coconuts

In a prior post, I mentioned that Kim Petras had a cancelled album, and once that happened, she started leaking the music from that album.

Since I posted that, Petras won a couple of Grammys for her collaboration with Sam Smith, "Unholy".  

The single she released between "Future Starts Now" and "Unholy" was a song about her tits.  

Yeah.  I said it.  "Coconuts", in this song, do not refer to the tree fruit known for its white flesh and creamy milk.  There's no tree mentioned at all.  She is very much encouraging you to take a look at her margarita-tas.  

There are a ton of double-entendre jokes made throughout this song, which is super dirty - but because of the rapid-fire jokes, I felt sharing the lyric video was wisest.  

1 June 2023 - CeCe Peniston - Finally

CeCe Peniston's debut single was released in September 1991, ahead of her debut album.  It would go on to become her biggest hit by far, becoming a top 5 hit in the US and topping charts worldwide.

Not only was it Peniston's first single, it was the first song she ever wrote, starting as a poem she had written.  While it was her biggest hit by far, it was far from her only hit, as she had a run of top 30 hits that followed this megahit.

The song is an upbeat delight, and you should enjoy it.

We're talking about this song in 2023, still, more than thirty years after its release. Surely, there must be something that kept the song in our collective consciousness that is appropriate for June 1st.

June is Pride Month, a month where we celebrate LGBTQ+ pride.  I'll talk more about WHY it's June later in the month, but know that this is a month where festivals and parades pop up around the world.  

So, why this song?

In 1994, there was a groundbreaking movie released out of Australia.  That movie was called The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.  The movie follows three drag queens as they drive a bus across Australia to Alice Springs and a huge booking. 1) I cannot recommend this movie enough. 2) This song features prominently in an emotional climax in the movie, as our heroes perform to this song in Alice Springs.  On the strength of that scene, and the iconic nature of the movie in the gay community, this song has become something of an anthem.

Anyway, here's the scene.   

Penniston has embraced her biggest hit's status as iconic song and her expanded audience.  Here she is performing the song at 2018 Vegas Pride.

Here she is at LA Pride in 2011.

31 May 2023 - Berlin ‎- Sex (I'm A...)

Hello, fellow pleasure-seekers! Today, we dive headfirst into the scandalously seductive world of Berlin's provocative hit song, "Sex (I'm A)." Buckle up and get ready to embrace your guiltiest of pleasures!

Berlin's "Sex (I'm A)" burst onto the scene in 1983, immediately raising eyebrows and temperatures alike. This audacious track, with its bold and risqué lyrics, left listeners blushing and gasping for breath. It's the musical equivalent of a secret rendezvous in a dimly lit alley—raw, daring, and oh-so-naughty!

At the helm of Berlin's tantalizing tunes is the charismatic and sultry Terri Nunn, the voice and heart of Berlin. Nunn's seductive vocals and uninhibited performance style turn up the heat, ensuring this song etches itself into the guilty pleasure hall of fame. Her ability to exude both vulnerability and fierce confidence makes us weak in the knees.

Can we talk about these lyrics for a second?!  "Sex (I'm A)" tantalizes with innuendos and cheeky wordplay that would make even the most composed individual blush like a schoolgirl. With lines like "I'm a push and a shove in your thighs," Berlin masterfully combines sensuality and suggestive wordplay that leave little to the imagination.  In an era of post-Sexual Revolution conservative norms and whispered desires, these lyrics broke through the chains of societal restraints. "Sex (I'm A)" challenged the status quo, bringing sexual liberation to the forefront. By doing so, the song inspired countless conversations, pushing boundaries, and leaving a lasting impact on pop culture's perception of sexuality.

Despite its titillating subject matter and radio bans, "Sex (I'm A)" skyrocketed up the charts, taking the music world by storm. The song reached #62 on the Billboard Hot 100, on limited airplay. Berlin's audacity paid off, as audiences eagerly embraced the unabashed celebration of passion and desire.

Now, let's talk about the video.  Bathed in sultry red hues, it features Terri Nunn seducing the camera, leaving viewers both scandalized and spellbound. With its provocative imagery and bold cinematography, the "Sex (I'm A)" music video further solidified Berlin's status as pioneers of sensual visual storytelling.

So, enjoy this bold, adventurous, groundbreaking song.   

30 May 2023 - Enigma - Sadeness (Part I)

Remember that week in the 1990's when we all listened to Gregorian chants?

Today, we explore the mystery of our collective quirky musical preferences to unravel the enigma surrounding the iconic song, "Sadeness (Part I)" by Enigma. 

Enigma is a musical project of Michael Cretu, with a revolving roster of supporting artists.  This song sampled Michael's then-wife, Sandra (a pop star in her own right), singing some French vocals, as well as some James Brown drum beats and a 1974 chant by Gregorian monks.  

That magical combination was a top 5 hit in 1991.  

Gregorian chants made the pop charts in the United States.

Yep, as many times as I say that, it doesn't seem real.

So, let's address that. 

While traditionally associated with religious ceremonies, Enigma fearlessly incorporated these sacred vocal arrangements into their sensual soundscape. Imagine finding yourself torn between spiritual reflection and seductive daydreams. It's a musical rollercoaster that leaves you wondering, "Can I pray and dance at the same time?"

Yes.

The song ended up being groundbreaking, with other artists daring to blend classical music with modern beats to create something new.  But nothing beats the original.  

29 May 2023 - Jack Black - Peaches

Many of you have probably seen the The Super Mario Bros. Movie.  I have.  It's the highest grossing movie of 2023 so far.  

Jack Black voices the villian, Bowser.  Bowser's motivation in the film is his love for Princess Peach, who rules over the Toad Kingdom.  This love ballad features prominently in the movie, and has become something of a hit in its own right, even hitting the Billboard Hot 100 and other charts around the world.  

It is intentionally performed in the style of a ridiculous, over-the-top ballad. This video, featuring animation from the movie, is one of two for the song.

     

The other, of course, features Jack Black doing Boswer-inspired cosplay.

26 May 2023 - Jennifer Paige - Crush

Admit it - you almost forgot this song existed, didn't you?  

Well, released in 1998, "Crush" swiftly climbed the music charts, reaching remarkable heights around the world. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, solidifying Jennifer Paige's status as a rising star. The song's success was not limited to the United States but also spread across Europe, where it topped the charts in countries like Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Her status as a rising star would be short lived.  This, her debut single, would be her only charting hit in the United States (although she continued to hit the UK charts).  

That doesn't make it a bad song.  It just makes her a one-hit wonder.  And that's OK.  Few songs can boast the kind of international recognition that "Crush" received. It garnered extensive radio airplay and commercial success in countries like Germany, Sweden, Norway, and many others.  Are bad songs worldwide hits?  Certainly (although we love them, too).  

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And this is not a bad song.  "Crush" seamlessly blended elements of pop, dance, and a touch of R&B, showcasing Jennifer Paige's versatility as an artist. This fusion of genres played a significant role in the song's widespread appeal, captivating listeners from diverse musical backgrounds and preferences.

25 May 2023 - Bryan Adams and Tina Turner - It's Only Love

In 1985, Canadian hitmaker Bryan Adams wrote a song and released a single with R&B legend and resurgent superstar Tina Turner.  When reflecting on it with Songfacts in 2009, Adams considered this experience as one of the most memorable of his career.

Working with Tina Turner was amazing. I used to go to see her in the clubs when I was in my late teens/early 20s before she hit the big time. It was incredible to watch her. Amazingly when we toured together years later, I never saw Tina walk through a performance, she always put on a great show, and was gracious and grateful to her audience.It was such a privilege to have sung with her, especially since I was only 24 at the time.

I was not a huge fan of Byran Adams growing up (I appreciate what he did a lot more now), but this song always broke through for me.  The song takes a different slant on heartbreak - and talks about moving on  because, you know, it's only love, yeah, and that's all. I appreciated both the interesting lyrics and the dynamic interaction between Adams and Turner.  

24 May 2023 (Special Edition) - Tina Turner - Proud Mary

I'm really breaking a lot of protocols here by publishing a cover on this blog and not Totally Covered, by posting for a second time in a day, and by not billing the late Ike Turner here - this song was by Ike and Tina Turner.  .  

But this was Tina's song.  And she has passed away at age 83.  It's her voice we're missing today.

She also did a solo version of the song, but we're getting there.    

She reinvented John Fogarty's song - shooting it back into the top 10 in the US and winning a Grammy (Best R&B Performance By A Group) for the performance in the process. This is truly one of the greatest covers of all time, and also a great song in its own right, regardless of songwriter.  This would be her first of twelve Grammys, which includes a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and three Grammy Hall of Fame awards, one of them for this song (separate from the CCR version, which ALSO recieved a Grammy Hall of Fame award).  

In 1993, a biographical movie about Tina Turner called What's Love Got To Do With It was released.  She rerecorded this song herself, without Ike (who didn't exactly get a glowing treatment in the movie, as he was famously abusive).  This version was a hit in Europe in 2010 after a performance by a contenstant on the TV show X Factor.  

Anna Mae Bullock had a good, long life and a career that started in her late teens, but she was still performing until she was 70.  Her last tour was in 2009 - and here she is, performing this song on that tour, and bringing just as much energy in 2009 as she did in 1971.

Tina Turner was a classic, groundbreaking voice, and she will be deeply and sorely missed.   

24 May 2023 - Jay Scøtt - Copilote

Last year, we made a mistake.

We made this mistake on one of the most popular posts ever on this blog.

We gave FouKi credit for a song by Jay Scøtt.  FouKi, in that case, was the guest star.  THIS version, written by Jay Scøtt, came first, and was a quiet tribute to a lost love.  

Indeed, Jay Scøtt is a Quebecois treasure, and we apologize for the disrespect.   Here is his best-known song, which is frequently sung in this household.  

23 May 2023 - Obie Trice ft. Eminem - Rap Name

You've heard this before.  

Yep, the song that Eminem uses as an intro to "Without Me" is a real song, by a real guy signed to his real record label with a real name of Obie Trice.  

No gimmicks.

Discovered in his hometown Detroit by rap collective D12, they brought him to fellow Detroit native son Marshall Mathers - initals M and M (just say that out loud if you don't get it) - who signed him to Shady Records.

This song, Obie Trice's debut, appeared on the soundtrack to the movie 8 Mile.  I guess that's a pretty good introduction to the world - an Oscar nominated movie, of course. He had a good career, and does still make music, but legal issues of late have gotten in the way of more output - his latest single was released in 2019.

Still, we've got "Rap Name" and it's a pretty excellent song in the freestyle rap style.  

22 May 2023 - Art of Noise - Close (To The Edit)

I remember the first time I saw this video on MTV and wondered to myself "what the hell am I watching?"

The answer is, I was watching an avant-garde group remix their previous single, "Beat Box", and throw some various Yes and Andrews Sisters samples in there.   What came out the other side was a interesting piece of music unlike anything anyone had ever seen prior.  I can honestly say this song and this video shaped a lot of my musical tastes for decades to come.

That unusual metallic sound you hear repeatedly in the song is the sound of a Volkswagen Golf, restarting.  That's not a joke or a typo.  It's really a car restarting, and poorly.  

This was the first of three videos made of the song, and has been described as a young girl in punk garb hanging out with Huey Lewis and the News in an abandoned train yard destroying musical instruments.  

So, this isn't the type of song you expect to see performed live.   And, yet, it has been.  Many times.  This particular performance was from a 2004 benefit concert in tribute to musician, producer and songwriter (who was credited on this track because of the Yes samples) Trevor Horn - and was performed by Anne Dudley (credited as Art of Noise, even though her bandmates did not perform), Trevor Horn and members of his band, The Buggles.  It is fantastic.

Here's a more contemporary performance featuring the full band actually showing their faces (something they did not tend to do) for the most part.  This performance is from 1986..

19 May 2023 - Rêve - CTRL + ALT + DEL

An artist from Montreal with a non-English letter in her first name, which is really a stage name?  With whom we've passed into the "overposting" area?

No, not that one.  This is only the 3rd Rêve post we've pulled out here.  And the first one outside of March.  Mostly, this is because we didn't have anything written for today and we stole a post from next March - but also, this song is in our heavy rotation right now.   

This one.  Without listening to the song, I would think this was a tribute to the classic three-finger salute used to restart a PC.  The song, co-written by Rêve with Banx & Ranx, uses that as a metaphor for ignoring the drama that can come with going to the club. On the surface, it might sound a little like a mean girl song, but the reality is, it's about having fun and keeping the negativity away.

It may have been more mean girl-y if not for the great delivery of the 2023 Juno Award winning Rêve, who combines a pretty great repetitive bass with a beat that the kids love to dance to with a shockingly huge voice.

18 May 2023 - Owl City - Vitamin Sea

I just wanted to remind you that Owl City has released music since "Good Time" and "Fireflies".   

And, in fact, on March 24th of this year, he released an 11-song album, called Coco Moon, which he announced on Instagram on February 9th.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Owl City (@owlcityofficial)

I don't really need to post anything more than that, do I?  Adam Young said it way better than I ever could.

He also released this, the first single from that album, that day.  It's very much an Owl City song, painting a beautiful picture and including a keytar solo.  The female vocalist you hear is frequent collaborator and Carly Rae Jepsen live stand-in Breanne Düren, a fabulous musician in her own right.   

17 May 2023 - almost monday - broken people

What happens when three high school friends from San Diego form a band?

You get indie rock gold, that's what happens.  And this single, their 2020 debut, was a bellwether to bigger and better things - including a lot of investment by Hollywood Records, who have been advertising the hell out of them on their streaming media platforms of late. 

This song was a minor alternative radio hit in 2019, and they've only gotten bigger from there.  Their look is a little different than you might expect from big rock stars, but I think that's the point - they're making music that resonates with regular people, and not just aesthetes.   

The indie emotion shines even brighter when they perform the song live.

16 May 2023 - Awkwafina - My Vag

Yes.   THAT Awkafina.

What other Awkafina is there?  Geez, we're not talking about water here.  No, we're talking about the Golden Globe Best Supporting Vag Actress winner.

No, we're talking about Awkafina's vagina today.  You know, her vagina is fifty times better than a penis.

You will be laughing straight through this incredibly politically incorrect song, which, believe it or not, put Nora Lum from Queens on the map - you can draw a straight line from this song right to her voice role in The Little Mermaid - but at the same time, you're going to be hearing this beat in your head all day.  

Oh yes.  She does it live.

15 May 2023 - Steve Earle - Back To The Wall

This was the second single off Earle's 1988 breakthrough Copperhead Road album - and, as a country-rock album, it was outside my wheelhouse from a musical taste standpoint.  However, off the strength of "Copperhead Road", the single, I purchased this album.  

The standout for me wasn't the title song (which I liked for a while but grew tired of), but, rather, this gritty song about homelessness.  The video supports it - directed by Meiert Evis and featuring homeless people.  Written by Earle, the entire album and this song in particular cemented his legacy as a great storyteller.

Yes, Earle still performs this song live.  Here he is in 2018, 30 years after the song's initial release (yes, this song is 35 years old this year), performing it as gritty as ever in New York City.

12 May 2023 - Mckenna Grace - Self Dysmorphia

We were watching The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu the other day and we noticed that there was a young actress who was playing a character that was mature beyond her years.   The character was Esther Keyes, and the actress was 16-year-old Emmy nomineee Mckenna Grace - and she is the youngest-ever Emmy nominee in any of the Best Guest Actor categories (and 10th youngest nominee in ANY category).  We know that 2nd part because we had to do a little research on this young actress.

Turns out she's an actress who sings - and has released several singles.  According to her website, she started this as a creative outlet during the pandemic, which, of course, did limit acting opportunities.  Music allowed her to get her emotions out.  

This single was released in November 2022 and was co-written by Grace.   The song itself was in the pop-rock genre that she's gravitated towards at this point in her young career.  The video was filmed after the actress's surgery to correct a scoliosis-casued 45 degree curvature to her spine (which she SHOWS you at the 2:00 minute mark of the video - yeah, that's her back).  It was directed, written, and edited by her, as she was pretty much confined to a chair in the weeks following her surgery (a doctor's directive she ignores at the 0:48 mark of the video).  

I exprect great things in the future, both in acting and music.  

Very soon after this video was performed, she seemed to be walking just fine - and she shows off the scar as she performed the song live.  

11 May 2023 - The Lemonheads - Confetti

The Lemonheads is really one guy - Evan Dando - pretending he's a band with a bunch of whatever friends happen to be available at the time.  That included people from other Boston bands, session musicians, and at two different times, a couple of Blake Babies (another band he was a member of).  

This was a single from their 1992 breakout album, It's A Shame About Ray.  Written by Dando, the cheery-sounding song is about a guy who wanted to love someone but just couldn't, and instead decides to be alone.   The fourth and final single from that album, it was a minor hit in the UK.

It also happens to be one of my favorite songs by the band. 

The Lemonheads are still together, and still performing this song live, thirty years later.

10 May 2023 - Huey Lewis & The News - Hip To Be Square

There was a time when Huey Lewis & The News were my favorite band.  I loved Sports.  Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically.

Then Fore! came out and exploded, and I remember finding the first single off the album to be rather bland, so I moved on.   

Then they released their second single, which was all about how not actually cool they were - and I remembered why I liked them again.  The song is not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.  That's not an original thought by me.  It's a quote from American Psycho, a film in which this song was featuted.  It's also not the first American Psycho quote I peppered in here, so start hunting.  

This song was a #3 hit for the band in 1986, and featured background vocals from Football Hall of Famers Ronnie Lott and Joe Montana, who at the time were playing for Huey's hometown San Francisco 49ers.  

9 May 2023 - 10,000 Maniacs - My Mother the War

This song appears on both the band's 1983 debut album The Secrets of The I Ching and their 1985 major label debut, The Wishing Chair.  It is a song that longtime fans clamor to hear live (and in my times seeing them live, I did hear it a couple of times).

"My Mother The War" is the rare song with lyrics not solely written by Natalie Merchant from the early days of 10,000 Maniacs - it was co-written with Michael Walsh, with John Lombardo writing the music in the style that was so distinctive for the early days of the band.  

I don't know what else to say about this except, go Jamestown!

The band is still around, although Natalie left the band in the mid-90's (despite what you may have heard, it was amicable).  Here is not-usual-vocalist John Lombardo singing the song during a sound check in 2022. 

Here he is singing it in 2015 - you can see usual vocalist Mary Ramsey walk off stage as they play the song that defined the early band she wasn't part of (although she comes back).

8 May 2023 - Charlene - I've Never Been To Me

In 1976, Motown artist Charlene released a single that was widely considered to be a flop.  It reached a whopping #97 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.  

She was subsequently dropped from her label, married an Englishman, and moved to the United Kingdom to work in a sweetshop.  

The single would have been forgotten if not for a little-known DJ named Scott Shannon, at the time on the radio in Tampa, Florida.  His girlfriend loved this song, and in 1982 urged her boyfriend to play it - which he did.  Listeners loved the song, and so Shannon, who used to work for Motown Records, made a few phone calls to his old bosses about the hit potential of the song.  

So, imagie that you've left the music industry, largely feeling like you've failed, only to get a call from the president of Motown Records telling you that you weren't a failure and, indeed, he wanted to resign you to his label.  Charlene doesn't have to imagine, that, because that's what happened to her.  

The second time around, the song was a worldwide hit, hitting #3 in the US and #1 elsewhere.  It was also a crossover hit, with country radio picking up the song as well.   

The song revived her career, and although her time on Motown would only last a few more years. leaving her a one hit wonder in the US (she did have more hits in Europe), she has built a career that still continues to this day, including recording new music as of 2022.  

The song recieved something of a resurgence in 1994, with the release of the Australian movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which you should go watch right now.  This song was performed by Hugo Weaving as a female impersonator - an audience that truly embraced this song in real life.  

Unusually, Charlene did re-record the song - but only in Spanish.  This ended up being a B-side of a follow-up single, which didn't nearly match the runaway success of "I've Never Benn To Me".

6 May 2023 - The Darling Buds - You've Got To Choose

You had to expect this today.  It's Darling Buds Day.  

Long time readers of this blog will know that this happened accidentally - when we posted Darling Buds songs on two May 6ths in a row.  I hope you, as a new long-time reader, will enjoy this for years to come.   

This song, the FIFTH single from their debut album Pop Said..., is a power-pop masterpiece, with Andrea Lewis (who co-wrote every song on the album with Harley Farr) exercising her vocal chops and eschewing any comparisons to Debbie Harry, Tracy Tracy, and Wendy James.  

5 May 2023 - Ke$ha - We R Who We R

I would have sworn up and down that I did this one already.  I cannot find it.  So, if this is a repeat song, let me know.  

I can tell you we've talked about Kesha Sebert a LOT before, so I won't dive into her background too much.  I can tell you that she was surprisingly amazing when I saw her live.  She's got quite a stage presence and a stunningly strong musical range.  

This song doesn't exactly stretch her range.  It is a synth-heavy dance number about clubbing.  

Except it isn't. Kesha was inspired to write this song in the wake of an uptick in the number of gay teens killing themselves.  In her words to Entertainment Weekly:

I wanted to inspire people to be themselves. It’s a celebration of any sort of quirks or eccentricities.

In a separate interview with Rolling Stone, she elaborated.

I was really affected by the suicides that have been happening, having been subject to very public hatred [myself]. I have absolutely no idea how these kids felt. What I'm going through is nothing compared to what they had to go through. Just know things do get better and you need to celebrate who you are. Every weird thing about you is beautiful and makes life interesting. Hopefully the song really captures that emotion of celebrating who you are ... I just felt like people hate because they don't understand or they're jealous, It's all coming from a very negative place and I really feel like people don't need to pay attention to that.

She wrote a pride anthem and cleverly disguised it as a club banger.   And this song is an absolute banger.  It was also a huge woldwide hit, debuting at #1 in the US and topping charts around the world.  It is arguably her biggest hit and best known song.  

Of course, in the decade since this song came out, Kesha dropped the dollar sign and took a decidedly more rocking turn.  In this live performance from 2021, she's got a full band backing her - and it absolutely rocks.

And she makes it clear that it's still a pride anthem.

I wanted to include this older performance - one that rocks even harder - but also, pay attention to what she says starting at around 3:10 of this video.

I'm sick and tired of bully motherfuckers trying to make us feel like we shouldn't be ourselves all the fucking time. I won't stand and we can't stand for discrimination of any kind - not tonight, not now, not fucking ever. I'm talking about what country you're from, what your skin color is, what your sexual preference is, what your gender identity is, or any other kind of discrimination.  There's no room for that shit here.  There's no room for any more hate in this world.  That's what this song is about.  It's about us celebrating who the fuck we are. And now it's kind of turned into my personal life mission to spread as much love, equality, glitter and rock and roll until the day I die - until I'm six fucking feet underground.  I love you just as you fucking are.  Fuck what anyone else thinks. 

Amen, Kesha.

4 May 2023 - No Doubt - Trapped In A Box

This story starts with an older brother - a keyboardist - recruiting his kid sister to be in his band.

Eric Stefani is featured in this video.  He's the guy playing keyboards.   

Tom Dumont, the guitarist, wrote the beginings of the lyrics for this song as a poem in high school, with Eric writing the melody and other members of the band contributing lyrics.  Eric was the bandleader and prinicpal songwriter.

Their debut album was a commercial failure - a huge flop - so much so that Interscope Records refused to budget money for a video for the only single from the album.... so the band raised $5000 to make their own.  

Unlike their later work, this song - and the whole first album, in fact - was pure ska.  Later work was ska-influenced, but not as pure as this.  In fact, it was differences over that change that led Eric to leave the band, and in fact music altogether - becoming a full-time animator on The Simpsons - leaving primary songwriting duties for the band to his kid sister, Gwen.  

This isn't to say they forgot their roots.  The band still performed this song live for many years.  

And there wasn't really any ill will against the band by Eric - the split was creative, not acrimonious.  

3 May 2023 - Cyndi Grecco - Making Our Dreams Come True

Cyndi Grecco was never a household name.  Her voice, however, was well-known, playing on ABC every week for eight years and for years in syndication afterwards. 

You see, Cyndi Grecco was the vocalist featured on a theme song for a television show called Laverne & Shirley.  A spinoff from Happy Days, it was a midseason replacement show in early 1976, Originally called Laverne Defazio & Shirley Feeney (that title was quickly shortened), the show made stars of Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall.   

And this iconic opening made the theme song immediately recognizable, and brought the terms "schlemiel" and "schlimazel" into the vernacular.  Both are Yiddish terms referring to a chronically unlucky person, and can be best defined with the sentence "the schlemiel spills his soup on the schlimazel."  

Of course, as soon as the show came out and the theme was inserted into the American consciousness, everyone was requesting the song from their local radio stations, and so it was released as a single in 1976.  It became a top 30 hit in the US and Canada.

Despite her flash fame, Cyndi Grecco has not charted again since this song.  Subsequent attempts failed to chart.  Perhaps it's because this song was so earnest and inspiring - and still is.  

2 May 2023 - Gordon Lightfoot - Carefree Highway

I used to say that two celebrity deaths in my lifetime gave me kind of a gut punch - Fred Rogers and Steve Irwin, both for very different reasons I won't discuss here.   

I would have to put Canadian Music Hall of Famer Gordon Lightfoot's passing yesterday close to that as well.  He was arguably the greatest storyteller to ever carry a guitar, a prolifiic songwriter with the husky voice of an angel.  He was absolutelyl brilliant, and I am not exagerationg when I call him a Canadian treasure.  He was the pride of Orillia, Ontario 

The folk music generation has lost their voice with his passing.  Canada has lost a piece of itself with his passing.  His career was long - he performed at a teenager in the 1950. He was there when Bob Dylan (a mentor of his) went electric at the 1965 Newport Jazz Festival.  He was still touring in 2012.  

I had been saving this song for #MapleLeafMarch next year, but is served well at this time.  It was a top 10 hit for Lightfoot in the US and Canada in 1974, and immediately followed "Sundown" as a single release.  The title came to Gord first - he was driving on an Arizona highway (and almost left the title in the glove box of a rental car!), and the rest came months later.  

The beautifully written song is about a man who is driving and remembering a long-past relationship with a woman named Ann - who was real.  Ann was a woman Lightfoot had a relationship with several years before this song - and remembering the time pleasantly, and how she's doing, as you do.  

It remains one of my favorite Gordon Lightfoot songs. 

This version of the song is from a 2012 performance in Reno, Nevada.  Even well into his 70's, he had that audience enraptured.  

Ten years later, in a 2022 performance in Indiana, his voice had lost a little, but his stage presence, well into his 80s, was still there.

28 April 2023 - Lily Allen - Smile

This has been one of the weirdest posting weeks I've ever had.  So I decided to lean in and really get weird.

In 2006, this was Lily Allen's debut single.  On first listen, if you ignore the lyrics, it sounds bubbly and upbeat, but it is decidedly a lyrically angry song - bitter, even.  The song is great, biting, and somewhat humourous.  It ended up being a huge UK hit and a minor hit worldwide.  

That beat you hear is from "Free Soul" by the Soul Brothers.

This is a song that has defined Lily Allen, even if she has grown tired of it at times.  She smartly still performs it live, and does it brilliantly, as she did here in a 2019 performance. 

     

The weird part is that its anger was so polarizing, it sparked a response song, by an artist named Example. He used the same Soul Brothers sample as his background.  It was almost as equally inventive and nearly as bitter.

Wait, did I say that was weird?  No.  That's not weird.

What IS weird is that Lily Allen recorded a second version of the song.  This version of the song is not in English, but in Simlish.  Simlish is the language of the video game The Sims 2, in which Lily Allen was a character.  She found it silly, but also, fun.  It is kind of fun.  But it's also a great way to end what has been a strange blog week.

Next week, we get back to normal stuff.  Maybe.