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TAG: 90s music
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songspeak
The Wrong Way
Ah, the summer of 1997. I had just graduated from WPI, and was enjoying my first academic free summer.I don’t recall exactly how it happened, but somehow, an impromptu road trip to Cleveland to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was planned. The participants in this trip were myself, Matt, our friend Heather, and Adam D. (now of Killswitch Engage fame).
It's just another brick in the wall, dude
There are many memories of this trip, including Matt getting a flat tire in the leftmost lane of a busy, traffic-laden 4 lane highway just before getting into Cleveland, requiring him to make his way through three lanes of traffic to put the spare on. And then having to bring his car in to get a new tire. Also, much to Heather’s chagrin, Matt, Adam, and I sang along with the entirety of Pink Floyd’s The Wall double album. We also swung through Canada and visited Niagara Falls on the way home.
Being the summer of ‘97, Sublime was just getting popular, and their song, Wrong Way, was being featured heavily on the radio and music video channels (when they still showed videos). So the first time I saw one of those highway signs that said “Wrong Way”, I sang, “Annie’s 12 years old, in two more she’ll be a whore…” I didn’t sing the lyrics with the song title, because it was implied. Adam laughed, and so I started doing it whenever we saw one of those signs, and Adam laughed every time, again, much to Heather’s chagrin. I did it throughout the trip, and although even I was getting annoyed, I had started something that was no longer under my control.That trip to Cleveland was awesome. As Ian Hunter once claimed, Cleveland does indeed rock.
R.I.P. Bradley Nowell. Your band was nothing special, but any song that contains the lyrics, “a cigarette pressed between her lips while I’m staring at her tits” will always hold a special place in my heart.
Tags: 90s music, adam d., adam dutkiewicz, bradley nowell, canada, cleveland, cleveland rocks, ian hunter, killswitch engage, niagara falls, pink floyd, road trip, rock and roll hall of fame, sublime, the wall, wpi, wrong way
1 comment
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songspeak
Will she smell alone?
This falls under the category of ridiculous lyrics. Back before Scott Weiland had yet to fall off the wagon for the first time, he fronted a little band called Stone Temple Pilots. And despite their first ever single being about brutal rape (Sex Type Thing), people seemed to like them. This was back when grunge was the bee’s knees, and they caught on. Their second song, Plush, was much more mellow, but had some of the most ridiculous lyrics ever.The line that always sticks out to me, and that me and my friend Joe at the time would always make fun of, was “when the dogs begin to smell her, will she smell alone?”. I mean, WTF does THAT mean, Scott? What a weirdo.
Seriously, anyone care to analyze this mess of words they call a song?
Tags: 90s music, grunge, plush, rape, ridiculous lyrics, scott weiland, sex type thing, stone temple pilots, WTF
2 comments
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songspeak
Suck my crack
This goes back to when I was in high school. 107.3 WAAF was our radio station of choice in those days, and this occurred late one night when I was either driving home after a night out or a late shift at Stop and Shop.
Lithium by Nirvana was the latest single all the rock stations were playing by them, and the chorus has Kurt Cobain singing, “I like it, I’m not gonna crack, I love you, I’m not gonna crack”. Various phrases are repeated, but he says the “I’m not gonna crack” bit quite a few times.
Anywho, it was nearing the end of the song, the chorus was being repeated, and randomly in the chorus, the DJ butt in and said “suck my crack” over Kurt singing “gonna crack”. It caught me off guard, and I thought it was hilarious. It was really late, but I don’t think I was imagining things. It really happened. Didn’t it?
Tags: 107.3, 90s music, i'm not gonna crack, kurt cobain, lithium, nirvana, stop and shop, suck my crack, WAAF
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songspeak
She’s so hi, how ya doin’?
What ever happened to Tal Bachman, son of Randy Bachman of the classic rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive?I’m about 99% positive I’m the only person asking that question. This post isn’t even about where he is. He could be dead in a ditch for all I know. Or care.
What it IS about is his one big hit, She’s So High, and yet another boring story about Matt and I sharing an office together. The song had just come out when we started working at Silver Screen Design together, so we heard it on the radio a lot.
It came on once, and Matt was really giving it his all. And when it got to the chorus, he sang, “She’s so hiiiiiiiiii…how ya doin’? How ya doin’?” It must have been a rough day, because at the time, I thought this was the funniest thing I’d ever heard.
I know, isn’t that sad?
Tags: 90s music, bachman-turner overdrive, dead in a ditch, randy bachman, she's so high, silver screen design, tal bachman
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misheard lyrics
Phew, for a minute there, I’ll ask myself
Matt’s a big Radiohead fan, and I remember both of us really liking OK Computer when it came out. We even went to see them in concert at the Worcester Centrum. Paranoid Android got me hooked on the album, and then Karma Police caught on as well. Matt and I would listen to that CD all the time, and at one point, I was singing along, and I sang, “For a minute there, I’ll ask myself”. Well, we both tend to correct each other if we hear the other one singing incorrect lyrics, and this was no exception. Matt alerted me to the fact that Thom Yorke actually sings, “For a minute there, I lost myself”. Which makes much more sense.
Songspeak bonus story: While a bunch of us were hanging out at Matt’s once, we had this CD playing. Our friend Joe, who we haven’t seen or talked to in quite some time, arrived to hang out as well, and Karma Police was playing. And he just uttered, “This is what I get, I guess”. It was this comment that caused us to include Karma Police on the inaugural songspeak mixtape, Songspeak’s Greatest Hits Volume 1.
The song has one strange video. Thom Yorke sure is a weird lookin’ dude.
Tags: 90s music, for a minute there I lost myself, karma police, mixtape, ok computer, paranoid android, radiohead, songspeak's greatest hits, this is what you get, thom yorke, worcester centrum
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songspeak
You know your man is workin’ hard, he’s worth a deuce
There’s nothing I hate more than tennis. More specifically, watching tennis on TV. So imagine my dismay my sophomore year of college at WPI when my roommates were obsessed with watching Wimbledon. Or the U.S. Open. Or one of those queer tournaments where the guys in little white shorts slap a ball back and forth over a net.
The KISS Army (feat. the ex-Mr. Lisa Bonet) says, "We want YOU...to abolish tennis!"
They would take over the TV and watch it all day long. Rather than stab my eyes out with a fork, I decided to try to make the most of it. Lenny Kravitz had just released his cover of KISS‘ song Deuce, so it had been getting a lot of airplay back then. I know nothing of the rules of tennis, but I know every now and then something would happen with the score and the commentators would announce a deuce. So whenever that happened, I belted out my Lenny Kravitz impression, singing, “You know your man is workin’ hard…he’s worth a deuce!” I did this to be funny the first couple times, but then I did it mainly to annoy them into never wanting to watch tennis on TV with me in the room ever again. It didn’t work, as they would still watch it whenever there was a big event.
Tennis fuckin’ blows goats.
Tags: 70s music, 90s music, deuce, kiss, lenny kravitz, queer guys in shorts, tennis, u.s. open, wimbledon, wpi
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songspeak
Where do you where do you go, my lovely? Uhhhh, McDonald’s, I guess?
I had lunch at McDonald’s today.
And let’s see, I didn’t drive my Delorean there. I didn’t turn a giant frozen donkey wheel prior to leaving the office. I didn’t even get in a phone booth or anything. So why was I transported back to 1996 when I set foot in the restaurant?
As I sat down and got ready to sink my teeth into my double-quarter pounder with cheese meal and its two sear-sizzled grade-A beef patties of goodness, what do I hear playing over the speakers? Why, Where Do You Go? by No Mercy of course. You’d know the song if you heard it. It was one of those dance hits, the style of which was uber-popular in the mid to late 90’s. In fact, until just now, I thought No Mercy was responsible for the following, but it was really Haddaway:
All those friggin’ dance techno groups sounded the same, didn’t they? And who hasn’t bopped their head along to this kind of music like Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan? I’m not sure if that falls under the category of songspeak or dancespeak, but it’s definitely been ingrained in our culture thanks to Saturday Night Live.
And while we’re of the subject of techno dance music, let’s have a (much belated) moment of silence for Melanie Thornton, former lead singer of La Bouche. We never had a chance to be her lover. Be her lover.
Tags: 90s music, A Night at the Roxbury, ABC, baby don't hurt me, back to the future, be my lover, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Chris Kattan, delorean, double quarter pounder with cheese, frozen donkey wheel, haddaway, La Bouche, lost, mcdonald's, Melanie Thornton, no mercy, phone booth, plane crash, saturday night live, sear sizzled, snl, what is love, where do you go, will ferrell
2 comments
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misheard lyrics
Despite all my rage, I’m still just ready to cave
This misheard lyric goes back about 14 years ago, when Smashing Pumpkins released Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Bullet with Butterfly Wings was the first single released from that album, and it was getting heavy airplay at the time. Back when we would make the songspeak mixtapes on cassette, we decided we were going to put this song on one of them. Volume 8 or 9, I believe.
One of the ones we made at Matt’s cousin Eric’s apartment, I remember that much. Anyway, I was belting the tune out, and I sang with such conviction, “Despite all my rage, I’m still just ready to cave!” Matt admonished me and informed me that the actual lyrics were “Despite all my rage, I’m still just a rat in a cage”. I maintain that my lyrics make more sense (being so full of anger, yet ready to crumble under the pressure). And when I hear this song on Pure Rock Lazer 99.3 these days, I still maintain that it sounds like he’s saying my alternate lyrics. So Billy Corgan and his bald head can go suck it.Tags: 90s music, billy corgan, bullet with butterfly wings, cassette, despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in a cage, eric's apartment, lazer 99.3, mellon collie and the infinite sadness, mixtapes, pure rock, smashing pumpkins
4 comments
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songspeak
What time is it?
I was playing poker at a friend’s house Saturday night, and it was getting late. I had to be up early Sunday morning because we had to see what the Easter Bunny had left for Quinn, as well as take her to Six Flags for her big 4th birthday. So, as it was getting later, I asked, “What time is it?” and one of the guys at the table said, “Four thirday” in reference to the old Spin Doctors song. This caught me off guard because he’s actually younger than I am, and it’s not like that was a hugely popular hit by them.
Back in the day, Matt and I used to reference that song all the time in just that way, mainly to annoy our friend Bill, who harbored some sort of deep-seated illogical hatred for the Spin Doctors (even though he’s gone to see them live…figure that one out). This whole situation prompted me to find the video online:
And after rewatching it, good God this song makes no sense. Chris Barron must have been high on the grass or whatever he was ingesting when he wrote this song. Wouldn’t 4:20 have made more sense?
Tags: 4:20, 4:30, 90s music, chris barron, easter bunny, high on grass, poker, six flags, spin doctors, what time is it
2 comments
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songspeak
You other sponges don’t want none unless you rock square buns
So last night I was watching Monday Night Raw, as usual. And then a commercial came on for Burger King that had my wife Jo in hysterics. It was for the new 99 cent kid’s meals with Spongebob Squarepants toys, and it utilizes an alternate version of Sir Mix-a-lot’s Baby Got Back. Sir Mix-a-lot even appears in the ad.I don’t know what’s more disturbing, watching the Burger King dance around to the song, or the fact that they’re using Baby Got Back to sell kid’s meals. And really, is it wise to use a song that glorifies fat asses to advertise a fast food restaurant that gives people…well…fat asses?
That aside, I found an extended version of the music video, and I must say, it’s incredible. I love it. Not quite as phenomenal as McDonald’s Filet O Fish jingle, but pretty damn close:
Here are the lyrics:
I like square butts and I cannot lie
Squid and Sea Star can’t deny
When a sponge walks in, four corners and his pen
Like he got phone book implants, the crowd shoutsAll the ladies stare
Dang those pants are square!
Swimming through the seaweed tangle
Is a butt with sharp right anglesNow Sponge Bob, I wanna get witch-ya
‘Cuz you’re making me rich-ah
Underwater, we keep it grungy
‘Cuz everybody knows that ‘He so spongey!’Ooh, Rumplespongeskin
You dance, but your hips don’t bend
So groove it and move it
If you got caboose, then prove itSponge Bob is dancing
And Squidward is glancing
He’s hatin’… wet
He’s got Sponge Bob runnin’ his setI’m tired of all these chairs
They don’t accommodate these squares
Take the average ???? tell him that
You gotta have square backMr. Krab! (yeah)
Patrick! (yeah)
Has Sponge Bob got the butt? (oh yeah)
Then shake it (shake it)
Shake it (shake it)
Shake that cubicle buttSponge Bob got back
(Naw, dude, I said cubicle, not booty-ful. Don’t trip. Yeah baby, when it comes to sea life, curves ain’t got nothin’ to do with Bob’s selection. 2 x 2 x 2 square trousers, working that black belt, looking like dotted lines. That’s how Sponge Bob like to rock them threads baby.)A word to the DC sponges who wanna get wit it
And watch Sponge Bob kick it
I gotta be straight when I say you gotta scrub ’til the break of dawn
Bob got it goin’ on, been known to rock him a thong
Them round butts won’t admit it
But they’d wear that gear if they could fit itYou can draw his body on paper
His waistline really don’t taper
Your girlfriend wants to squeeze him
Wanna push his pores and tease himBut Sponge Bob ain’t gonna have too much of that squeezin’
You other sponges don’t want none unless you rock square buns!To the new sponges in the magazines, you ain’t it Miss Thang
We rock them cubes, gals and dudes
Put it down at the goo lagoonSome other box must get jealous
At the moves that come from square fellas
See Bob and they wanna get him
But Sandy Cheeks he won’t let ‘emIf you happen to wander on land
And you wanna be a square butt fan
And drive the crew right to Burger King
And give that sponge a ringSponge Bob got back!
Tags: 00s tv commercials, 90s music, 99 cent kid's meal, baby got back, burger king, burger king spongebob commercial, filet o fish, i like square butts and I cannot lie, mcdonald's, monday night raw, sir mix-a-lot, spongebob squarepants, wwe, wwe raw
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