Kind hearted man, but ill-fated,
So youthful drowned and cremated.

– and I think to myself, “Well, at least I’m not that bad.”  Then, I wonder: if you can’t be a good poet, is it better to be so profoundly awful or to be just mediocre. Mediocre is always mediocre.  But sometimes, and just sometimes, bad is SO bad that it almost becomes good.

I started thinking about this the other night whilst washing dishes and listening to Monster Ballads, one of my favorite CDs to sing along with.  The CD reaches its zenith for me a little more than halfway through when Damn Yankees’ “High Enough” kicks in.  God I love that song!  LOVE it!!  It’s the kind of song that I will listen to at least 2 or 3 times any time I hear it.  And I know it’s terrible.  It doesn’t even really make any sense.  But something about it makes the blood tingle in my veins.  So, I started thinking, There’s got to be something to this.  There has to be some poetic value — and I’m going to dig right into the lyrics and find it.  So here we are.

Before we get started, you might want to familiarize yourself with the song, if you’re not a hairband fanatic like me.  You can read the lyrics here, and you can listen to it here.  I recommend listening.  As I’ll soon explain, the lyrics don’t have nearly the same impact….

…Welcome back.  If you weren’t a fan before, you’ve been converted, no?  It’s such a rousing song, and I’m a bit confounded as to why.  But I’ve got a few ideas.  First of all, if we’re looking for poetic value, we can forget about finding it in these lyrics.  They are generally cryptic & nonsensical.  It opens harmlessly enough, if we can forgive rhyming “anymore” with itself: “I don’t wanna hear about it anymore/It’s a shame I’ve got to live without you anymore.”  Typical girl left guy love song.  That’s fine.  But what happened to break them up?  Did he cheat? Did she cheat?  No.  This poor guy just made one mistake:  “I didn’t know what to say when you called me baby.”  Huh??? What does that even mean???  And what makes even less sense is why, if he made the mistake, he would be asking he lost love:  “Can you take me high enough/ To fly me over (fly me over) yesterday?”  I mean, if you’re begging her not to leave, begging her to forgive you, do you really think its wise to be asking for a ride in her flying machine?  I’d start smaller dude.  But maybe that’s just me.

Okay, so that’s how the song totally fails on the poetic front.  But where it succeeds is in some of the little poetic devices it employs musically throughout.  Before those less-than-stellar opening lines, the song begins with a soft orchestral prelude.  Okay, I’m a sucker for violins in a rock music.  But I think it works here.  It announces the song as a love song immediately, but it also offers a counterbalance to the “metal” to come.  I actually think this is one of the really successful elements of hair ballads in general.  There’s an inherent tension between the hard energy of the music and the sweetness of the ballad that somewhat reflects the emotional imbalances that come with falling in love.

In “High Enough,” I also like the use of repetition, in the form of the background lyrics.  Although I’m not sure any of the lyrics are really strong enough to bear repetition, I believe the repetition helps to build and sustain the energy in the chorus.  The lead singer asks, “Can you take me high enough/To fly me over yesterday?”  And the background singer’s echo (“fly me over”) emphasizes the desperation, turns the request into a plea.  The pleading is strongest in the last round of the chorus at the end of the song:  “Won’t you fly me over (won’t you fly me over)…” Oh, my heart is breaking with both of them!  There’s also some effective repetition in the last line of the chorus, although there I think it works a little differently.  “It’s never over/Yesterday’s just a memory (yesterday’s just a memory and),” the lead & backup singers croon.  This repetition strikes me as insistent, however untrue.  It’s that idea that if you say something enough times it becomes real.  That’s why we’re repeating.

“Yesterday’s just a memory.”
“Yes, that’s right, yesterday’s just a memory, so it shouldn’t matter that you didn’t know what to say when she called you baby.”
“Yes, because yesterday’s just a memory.  So, why don’t we just move on, right.”
“Right.”

See, if you compare my inane mock conversation to the final line of the chorus, Damn Yankees clearly come out on top poetically.  That’s not exactly say much, but you get the point.

And that’s all I’ve got.  I mean, I think the music rises and falls to great effect, swelling and releasing emotion at all the right intervals.  And I think all the “woh oos” are expertly employed.  But that’s pop music 101, right?   Otherwise, let’s be clear, the song is pretty crappy.  But I love it — it gets me every time and there’s something to be said for that.

1. “Goodnight Elizabeth,” Counting Crows
2. “Crystal,” New Order
3. “Porcelain,” Moby
4. “Pitseleh,” Elliot Smith
5. “Rebel, Rebel,” David Bowie
6. “Radio Free Europe,” REM
7. “A Long Day,” The Polyphonic Spree
8. “No Pictures, Please,” Rod McKuen
9. “Threadbare,” South
10. “Vera,” Pink Floyd
Bonus: “Could it be I’m falling in love,” The Spinners

Yay!: 1, 6, bonus
Blech!: 7 – wtf? 37 minutes of white noise. i only let this play all the way through b/c its friday & i was filing
Seen Live: 1, 5, 6, 7, 9
Swooniest: 9 — the whole band wins, just for being british.
Most Annoying (whose music I still kinda like): 3

Loosen your hold:
howard (this ain’t no disco)
marisa (losers are the winners)
jeff (this the beginning of forever and ever)
brian (it was only a test)
ben(Oh Lord, what have i done to myself?)
rachel (the more we talk about it, only makes it worse to live without it)
kb (i have nothing to offer but confusion)

Yay!: eh, I’m not particularly thrilled by any of this weeks tunes
Blech!: … then again, none of them really disgust me either — I’m just sort of apathetic.
Seen live: 2, 9, 10, and 6 (if you count that Joe Jack=Joe Genaro the weeist and swooniest little imp of the Dead Milkmen)
Swooniest: see above… oh, and kurt cobain was kinda cute too.
I’d rather be listening to:
Hem or the Roadside Graves… seriously can’t get enough. Or… almost any of the other lists out there in FRT list. Mine just feels lame this week.

Everybody’s got nice stuff but me:
howard (sixteen candles down the drain)
rachel (I keep a close watch)
jeff (I wanna be a lion, eh, everybody wanna pass as cats)
brian (they’re free to fly away)
lauren (we stayed a long long time)
marisa (you lie that your life’s unappealing all the time)

Yay!:  1, 3, 6, 8, bonus
Blech!:  I don’t particularly hate anything on this list.
Seen live:  3, 6, 10, bonus
TMBG lyric of the week:  since they seem to be landing on this list at least once a week…
It’s a long long rope they’ll use to hang you soon I hope.
And I wonder why it hasn’t happened… why? why? why?

Windows needs your permission to perform this function:
brian
howard
jeff
lauren
marisa
rachel

oh vista… why won’t you let me download rhapsody, so that I might find new favorite songs among those that aren’t currently in my collection.  no, no, I’m not saying that i’m not grateful that you let me download iTunes… of course, yes, you’re right, that was very generous of you.  thank you vista.  thank you very very much.  no, please don’t get mad and take it away.

Bonus: “Why Won’t You Tell Me What,” Josh Rouse

Yay!: 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, Bonus
Blech!: 6. Way better Jesus songs: “I Dream of Jesus” by the Dead Milkmen or “Jesus is a Friend of the Family” by the Roadside Graves.
Swooniest: Michael Stipe… I’ve spent the better part of the last few hours scouring the internet for the What’s the Frequency Kenneth video, or at least a good still of Stipey, in mid hip swivel wearing that little star t-shirt… this is the best I could come up with. Oh, swoon!
Best Lyrics:
I got a letter from the government the other day.
Opened it and read it, it said they were suckers.
They wanted me for the army, or whatever.
Picture me giving a damn. I say never.
~Tricky

Other friends of the family:
howard (no, we’re never gonna survive)
jeff (young boy done me bad, and I went and did you wrong)
ben (quiet, don’t tell anybody)
brian (oh has the world changed? or have i changed?)
lauren (i slowly wilt and die)
rachel (i’ve quit this a million times, can’t quite stay away)
kb (i wouldn’t give a hoot in hell for the journey now)
marisa (So why not stop trying to run and hide)

Here they are:

1. “Dark Center of the Universe,” Modest Mouse
2. “Fishin’ 4 Religion,” Arrested Development
3. “Take me to the river,” Annie Lennox
4. “Super Magic 2000,” Chris Isaak
5. “Spent,” Filter
6. “Summer Days,” Bob Dylan
7. “You’ll Miss Me,” They Might Be Giants
8. “Life in the Factory,” Drive-By Truckers
9. “Kitten Intro,” They Might Be Giants
10. “The Precious Jewel,” Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny

Yay!: 1, 2, 7
Blech!: 5 – I totally zoned, I barely even heard this song playing.
Would have preferred: Something off of Decoration Day, by the Drive-By Truckers… the Southern Rock Opera albums just don’t do it for me.

So bring you’re good times and you’re laughter too:
howard(baby, instant soup doesn’t really grab me)
marisa (i tried so hard not to be the cryin’ kind)
ben (the mind that knows itself has a mind to serve the other)
brian (everyone’s happy when the wizard walks by)
lauren (minutes take so long to drift away)
jeff (i’ll tell everything i know)
rachel (if you’ve got love in your sights, watch out)

Yay!: 3, 9
Blech!: 5… You are the Quarry was not the Moz’s finest, by far.
Seen Live: 3 (surprisingly the worst show I’ve ever been to), 7, 5/9
Swooniest: Morrissey, of course (second week in a row!) But let’s be clear, I’m talkin Bona Drag Moz, not You are the Quarry Moz… Sure, he’s still pretty swoony, in a lounge-singer, I’m-losing-my-balance-swinging-this-mic-cord-around sort of way.
Just because they’re not on the list doesn’t mean I won’t make a pitch:
The Roadside Graves, a most excellent alt-country band based outta our beloved neighbor state of refineries and big hair (what could be more alt than that?) released a new album this week, No One Will Ever Know Where You’ve Been (from Kill Buffalo Records). Seriously, the album is great. I was lucky enough to get a pre-release copy a while ago, and I love it. I’m gonna write a genuine review in a few days, when my new copy arrives, complete with liner notes and what not. But in the mean time, you can listen to their stuff here, here, and here. Do it. Go now. What are you waiting for?

Oh, hold on a sec… fellow speakers of this silly slang:
Andrea (apparently, it’s a mozzer kind of week in FRT land)
Ben (that’s my kinda Jesus)
Brian (where jellyfish go, to get away from mormons & drunk Eskimos)
Howard (I *heart* toad the sprocket, a lot)
Lauren (“there’s even a full rapsheet included”…oh, young Carlton…)
Marisa (don’t know many of the songs, but am intrigued by the titles)
Rachel (making her Random Friday debut)

Okay, go now.

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crimes and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.

This is their FRT.

…a day early: I have to report @ 8.15a, and I just don’t function any earlier than that. And I can’t count on doing it tomorrow evening, because what if I get sequestered!?!??! (*cross fingers*)

1. Creep (Acoustic), by Radiohead
2. Turn the Page, by Bob Seger
3. Mr. Moonlight, by Clinic
4. From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, by The Cure
5. Downtown Lights, by Annie Lennox
6. Pale September, by Fiona Apple
7. The End of an Act, Team America Soundtrack
8. The National Front Disco, Morrissey
9. I Palindrome I, They Might Be Giants
10. Gut Feeling, Devo
    Bonus: Cuando Floresca El Chuno, by Colca Punko

Guilty (of sucking): not-a-one, kids… okay, maybe 2 & 4… jury’s still out.
Guilty (of awesomeness): 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, Bonus
Guilty (of causing swooniness): ….um, if I even have to answer this, you’re obviously not looking at the dreamboat over there on the cover of Your Arsenal.
Guilty (of lyrical excellence):
I Palindrome I:
“Someday mother will die and I’ll get the money.
Mom leans back and says ‘My sentiments exactly,
You son of a bitch.’
I Palindrome I…”
and
The End of an Act:
“Why does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies?
I guess Pearl Harbor sucked
Just a little bit more than I miss you.”

It’s too early to know who’s rollin’ with this weeks FRT posse, but my money’s on:
howard
marisa
ben
brian
lauren
andrea

Bonus Track: Foolin’, Def Leppard

Yay!: 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, and obviously the bonus track (otherwise, there’d be no bonus, right?)
Blech!: 5… Tool just doesn’t do it for me.
Swooniest: Josh Rouse, for the 2^nd week in a row. Obviously my ipod agrees, dishing up a double-helping of Rouse this week. Oh, and Tori Amos is a pretty swoony option for the fellas.
Would have preferred:
September, Let’s Groove, or Boogie Wonderland off the Essential Earth Wind & Fire. Que sera…

Who else should be so active this early in the day:
howard (oral surgeon + Sweetness Follows = ipod irony)
ben (regina spektor is winning me over)
marisa (daybreaker is a great album)
brian (i want to join the polyphonic spree!)
lauren (i just love that this is the “wah wah bar” edition)

Yay!: 1, 4
Blech!: 2
Seen live: 1, 4, 8
Swooniest: Josh Rouse
Would have preferred: “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” by the Flaming Lips, “Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed” by Silver Jews

Other players on the FRT team:
howard
ben
marisa
brian
lauren