Thursday, June 9, 2011

Homonally-Driven Music

I'm off on a road trip, so I loaded up my iPod with oldies, which struck me today as being very hormonally driven music. It's forever young, even if I the listener am not.

One biggie I heard was the O'Kaysions, "I'm A Girl Watcher," a beautifully lascivious song. Lip-smacking good, I'm here with the others, leering in my private fantasy world as another one comes by. Little does she know, she's puttin' on a show for me!




Excuse me for a private moment, there's another hot one coming by! But when you get to be my age, if they're under 70 they're all hot ones, and they keep on walking by. I survived that song with most of my moral stature intact.

Another great one is "Spill The Wine" by Eric Burdon and War. This is also a song I've always loved, even if sometimes I listen to it without really listening to every word. If you catch every word, you hear, "I was taken to a place, the hall of the mountain kings. I stood high by the mountain tops, naked to the world in front of every kind of girl. There was long one's tall ones, short ones, brown ones, black ones, round ones, big ones, crazy ones..." Naked to the world in front of every kind of girl! Wow! Oh, to be young again, or at least Anthony Weiner...

And when's the last time you've heard "Judy In Disguise"? The music break appears to include an actual orgasmic moment. Check it out sometime, if you dare. I had to clean off my iPod and let it cool down.

Most of the songs you could do something with. One of my favorites is a song called "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes." As to growing love, hey, I don't have a dirty mind. But Rosemary sounds very attractive in a 1970 hippie-girl, earth-girl kind of way, "She ain't got no money, her clothes are kinda funny, Her hair is kinda wild and free. Oh, but love grows where my Rosemary goes and nobody knows like me.
She talks kinda lazy, and people say she she's crazy, and her life's a mystery. Oh, but love grows where my Rosemary goes and nobody knows like me." In 1970, to me anyway, that was the ideal woman.

Other than hormonal music, I heard a few other good songs that I'd like to comment on:

"The Boys Are Back In Town," by Thin Lizzy. This is an exciting song that brought up for me the ideal of the poetic presence, and what kind of immediacy it can have. If I saw the song as a movie, I'd probably be more concerned about how dated everything appears. But with just the song, the music and lyrics, it's still an exciting song. The boys hanging down by Dino's, it's a great image. How about this lyric: "And that time over at Johnny's place, well this chick got up and she slapped Johnny's face. Man we just fell about the place, if that chick don't want to know, forget her." I'm singing it out loud, too, like it's a living issue I'm in on, "FORGET HER!" (This one was kind of hormonal.)

"Signs," by Five Man Electrical Band. This song the years haven't been kind to. It's absurd. The guy goes in for a job and sticks his hair up under his cap. The guy wants to hire him, so he takes his cap off and has his little moment of pique. Or how about the absurdity of a "No Trespassing" sign that says trespassers will be shot on sight. Just let a landowner try to shoot me on sight; that's an acreage I'll end up owning! Then our sign guy goes to church, and to the church's credit at least no one tries to throw him out. My sign would be, "No Longhairs With A Persecution Complex Allowed."

"Tequila," by the Champs. It's an inspired instrumental, but the real genius is putting the word "Tequila" in there a few times. Because everyone who loves it loves to hear that part.

"Leroy," by Jack Scott. This isn't an especially great song, just another rockabilly number. The thing it does for me, it recalls my near-miss with Jack Scott. I call this my "Jack Scott's Wife Story." I went to a concert where Jack Scott was going to be the featured performer, but I needed to leave early, since it would've been a very late night for me. So I missed seeing Jack Scott. But I did see Jack Scott's wife, and bought a CD from her. Isn't that a great story?

"Blue Suede Shoes," by Carl Perkins. This is a song so ingrained in my mind that I hear it and sing it without really hearing it. Today I was listening, and, I'm sorry, but I heard someone whose priorities are all screwed up. I know blue suede shoes would be a nice thing, but to say "You can burn my house, steal my car, drink my liquor from an old fruit jar," just don't mess with my blue suede shoes, to me that's crazy. I'm willing to give up my house and car but I want to protect my shoes?!

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