I requested in the first part of this piece that you, my friends and acquaintances on Facebook, do not tag me for anything.
I said this because I was weary of the zillion and two notifications that greeted me every time I logged into the site, and I have noticed that I have begun to react to the act of logging in and finding this mass of requests the same way I do when I sense that the religious compatriots of certain of my friends are stalking about in my neighborhood on a Saturday morning. Don't answer the door -- pretend you are not home. Sometimes it's better to not log in at all than have to deal with the discomfort of blankly ignoring every single request from dozens of my friends. I feel like I am betraying all of them with every single click.
But then I remember that, in most cases, I am only on a list, and their action of clicking my name is no more personal than my action of removing their request is cold and uncaring. I am only balancing my well-being, after all. It is a defensive stance, but one I must take, somewhat similar to putting aunts and uncles who are prone to blankly sending relentless chain emails from their cronies and so on down the line.
Yes, every once in a while it worth a chuckle to see a picture of a church which is throwing the weight of the (lowercase) almighty behind the Green Bay Packers. But I don't need it a dozen times or more. They didn't really send it to me anyway... I am only on a list, and if they feel this is real communication, then so be it. I hope it works for them. But through actions like this (junk email, junk tags which create junk email in return), it is less likely that I will respond to them in any way whatsoever. And they will certainly never know me any better. Nor I, them... beyond the fact that they send junk email.
Every once in a while, though, someone sends pictures of big-eyed kittens and puppies. Sometimes those big-eyed kittens and puppies are curled up together on the same blanket. Inter-special napping... damn them. Maybe they do know me enough to know that I cannot resist pictures of inter-special napping...
So, what does all of this grousing have to do with music, you ask? Well, the other day, after being tagged for numerous things over and over to the point where I was about to plot a CIA-lead preemptive incursion against certain parts of the Pacific Northwest (don't ask me how this was to be done... I know people...), I instead chose the calmer path of telling people to knock it off directly on Facebook. I don't remember my exact words, but they were something to the effect of "Flargin' bargin' tag tag tag brassin' rassin' get off my lawn...!" Very simple, to the point... not a trace of embattled antiquity in the statement. I knew that it would probably lead to a rash of notifications on my Facebook page -- those that are my true friends would do this in a second -- and assuredly, nothing stopped. And most people had no idea to what I was actually referring, and so it either got ignored, or the "tag" notice was responded to in other ways, none of them based around my actual feelings. I, too, knew this would happen. I just wanted to say "knock it off!" mainly to get it off my chest.
And then someone sent me pictures of big-eyed kittens and puppies napping together cutely on a blanket.
Actually, Mattman tagged me in what I normally consider a chain tag, and which is something I would normally ignore right away. But he knows me better than that. He tagged me because he knows I love music, and because he knows I have an iPod filled to bursting with over 16,200 songs, and that I have enough music to fill twice that amount at my beck and call. The tag was about starting up your iPod and writing down the first couple of lyric lines from the first thirty songs that randomly play on your machine.
Of course, I couldn't resist. But I will not tag anyone else to play this game. I will stand by my current status and not be that guy. Hell, I haven't even decided if I will post this on Facebook.
Here are the rules as Mattman sent them:
Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first line (unless the first line reveals the song title) from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.
Step 3: Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.
Step 4: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!
Step 5: If you like the game post your own!
Step 6: Make a new one... only after all 30 have been guessed
Man if there is one thing I cannot resist, it's an iPod game. Even if this is my first opportunity to play one. So, below you will find my own attempt such a list. Because I am a statistics freak, here is the true depth to which I had to sink to make this list: it took 52 songs to gather this list of 30. 14 instrumentals, mostly of the jazz, surf or Zappa/Beefheart variety, popped up in the making of this list, as did 8 songs where the first line revealed the title outright. If you get mad at me for not having more popular songs on here, I will not apologize. I do not listen to music on the radio, AM or FM, so there is little in the way of current pop successes on here. There will also likely be a handful of bands which will make the vast majority of my friends go "Who the hell?," but that's fine. My friends have their paths, and I have mine.
The one thing that stood out in making this list is that their isn't a whole lot of -- hmm, how to say it? -- buoyancy in the lyrics. Not a lot of joy here, except sporadically. A couple of spots, but mostly depressing in an overall sense. Gee, they must have been deleting thousands of notifications on their Facebook page, too...
1. Talk of the town, and you're always so around // Holding me down to that sultry, sexy sound...
2. Well, they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month // Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none...
3. Brother finds trouble on the street // A piece of rock to make men weak // Trembling eyes at everyone he meets
Sister holds her baby in the bed // Dreams and wishes dancin' in her head // A love forever is what he said...
4. That there // That's not me // I go // Where I please // I walk through walls...
5. Yeah, said it's all right // I won't forget // All the times I've waited patiently for you // And you'll do just what you choose to do...
6. There's a man in the funny papers we all know...
7. I slipped away // I slipped on a little white lie // We've got heads on sticks // You've got ventriloquists...
8. Well there's a sick sick feeling in the pit of my brain // And drinking bourbon and orange will not heal the pain
And there's a one-armed man beating on his wife // It's the end of the road // The end of this life...
9. OK, check this out // It ain't impossible, it ain't easy // Opportunity shifting here // So far, the strategy ain't working // The facts are in, it's so very clear...
10. When this old world has let you down // And friends no longer want you around // When you feel burdened down with care // And troubles seem so hard to bear...
11. I live up here on this hill // She lives down there in the greenbelt // Her parents don't like me 'cause I come from the hill // Their little girl's future is in doubt...
12. Me and Jan and Brian bought a pretty little hole // It was cheapish and we split and we're fixing it up
So Mr. Sokol does everything, rewires, fixes cracks // I can only break walls, moves stuff, and get snacks...
13. Nothing to mourn // We die and die until // Until we're born // Recast as forms // So pleasing to the soul
I never miss anyone // To me, they're never gone // If that makes you uncomfortable, baby // Don't be too long...
14. When you got the blues // Who do you tell them to? // When you’re all alone // What do you want to do? // Do you want to die // Or is it...?
15. Time runs backwards at the end // You turn into a child again...
16. Well, I fell outta bed this mornin' // Saw what the guy on TV said // The big rock awards crowned a brand new king // It shoulda been me instead // Don't they know I'm...?
17. There's no point in asking // You'll get no reply // Oh just remember, I don't decide // I got no reason, it's all too much // You'll always find us // Out to lunch!
18. Over the moor, take me to the moor // Dig a shallow grave // And I'll lay me down
Lesley-Anne and your pretty white beads // Oh John, you'll never be a man // And you'll never see your home again // Oh Manchester, so much to answer for...
19. She tells him she thinks she needs to be free // He tells her he doesn't understand // She takes his hand //She tells him nothing's working out the way they planned...
20. Gonna make my move // Gonna make it stay // Gonna make it last // Never mind the past //Living for today...
21. Some folks are born made to wave the flag // Ooh, they're red, white and blue // And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief" // Ooh, they point the cannon at you, lord...
22. I dedicate this song to the workin' man // For ever' man that puts in a hard eight or ten hours a day of work and toil and sweat // Always got somebody lookin' down his neck // Tryin' to get more out of 'im // Than he really ought to have to put in...
23. I can hear the ocean and it's calling you to come // It goes, "Hey, Joe // Come on in the water's warm, we've been here waiting for ya // Oh, hey, Joe // Come on back and see us more // And everyone adores ya"
24. Everything that keeps me together is falling apart // I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over // My boss just quit the job says he's goin' out to find blind spots and he'll do it...
25. Literally the first minute I get back to town the cops // They shot a crazy lady with a screwdriver in her hand // Maybe we'll have another riot, hey wouldn't that be fun, well // This time I'll get a VCR and a big screen and a gun...
26. Detective is flat // no longer is always flat out // Got the number of getaway car // Didn't get very far // As lucid as hell and these images // Movin' so fast like a fever // So close to the bone // I don't feel too well...
27. This happened once before // When I came to your door...
28. A telepathic line to a shadow on the wall // Just a passenger and that is all // Taking off on a midnight flight // The airline ticket in his hand held tight // Polar route, destination: oblivion...
29. Music has charms, they say // But in some people's hands // It becomes a savage beast // Can't they control it // Why don't they hold it back?
You see my friend and me // Don't have an easy day // And at night, we dance not fight // And we need the energy // If not the sympathy...
30. Up those stone steps I climb // Hail this joyful day's return // Into its great shadowed vault I go // Hail the Pentecostal morn
The reading is from Luke 24 // Where Christ returns to his loved ones // I look at the stone apostles // Think that it's alright for some...
I said this because I was weary of the zillion and two notifications that greeted me every time I logged into the site, and I have noticed that I have begun to react to the act of logging in and finding this mass of requests the same way I do when I sense that the religious compatriots of certain of my friends are stalking about in my neighborhood on a Saturday morning. Don't answer the door -- pretend you are not home. Sometimes it's better to not log in at all than have to deal with the discomfort of blankly ignoring every single request from dozens of my friends. I feel like I am betraying all of them with every single click.
But then I remember that, in most cases, I am only on a list, and their action of clicking my name is no more personal than my action of removing their request is cold and uncaring. I am only balancing my well-being, after all. It is a defensive stance, but one I must take, somewhat similar to putting aunts and uncles who are prone to blankly sending relentless chain emails from their cronies and so on down the line.
Yes, every once in a while it worth a chuckle to see a picture of a church which is throwing the weight of the (lowercase) almighty behind the Green Bay Packers. But I don't need it a dozen times or more. They didn't really send it to me anyway... I am only on a list, and if they feel this is real communication, then so be it. I hope it works for them. But through actions like this (junk email, junk tags which create junk email in return), it is less likely that I will respond to them in any way whatsoever. And they will certainly never know me any better. Nor I, them... beyond the fact that they send junk email.
Every once in a while, though, someone sends pictures of big-eyed kittens and puppies. Sometimes those big-eyed kittens and puppies are curled up together on the same blanket. Inter-special napping... damn them. Maybe they do know me enough to know that I cannot resist pictures of inter-special napping...
So, what does all of this grousing have to do with music, you ask? Well, the other day, after being tagged for numerous things over and over to the point where I was about to plot a CIA-lead preemptive incursion against certain parts of the Pacific Northwest (don't ask me how this was to be done... I know people...), I instead chose the calmer path of telling people to knock it off directly on Facebook. I don't remember my exact words, but they were something to the effect of "Flargin' bargin' tag tag tag brassin' rassin' get off my lawn...!" Very simple, to the point... not a trace of embattled antiquity in the statement. I knew that it would probably lead to a rash of notifications on my Facebook page -- those that are my true friends would do this in a second -- and assuredly, nothing stopped. And most people had no idea to what I was actually referring, and so it either got ignored, or the "tag" notice was responded to in other ways, none of them based around my actual feelings. I, too, knew this would happen. I just wanted to say "knock it off!" mainly to get it off my chest.
And then someone sent me pictures of big-eyed kittens and puppies napping together cutely on a blanket.
Actually, Mattman tagged me in what I normally consider a chain tag, and which is something I would normally ignore right away. But he knows me better than that. He tagged me because he knows I love music, and because he knows I have an iPod filled to bursting with over 16,200 songs, and that I have enough music to fill twice that amount at my beck and call. The tag was about starting up your iPod and writing down the first couple of lyric lines from the first thirty songs that randomly play on your machine.
Of course, I couldn't resist. But I will not tag anyone else to play this game. I will stand by my current status and not be that guy. Hell, I haven't even decided if I will post this on Facebook.
Here are the rules as Mattman sent them:
Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first line (unless the first line reveals the song title) from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.
Step 3: Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.
Step 4: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!
Step 5: If you like the game post your own!
Step 6: Make a new one... only after all 30 have been guessed
Man if there is one thing I cannot resist, it's an iPod game. Even if this is my first opportunity to play one. So, below you will find my own attempt such a list. Because I am a statistics freak, here is the true depth to which I had to sink to make this list: it took 52 songs to gather this list of 30. 14 instrumentals, mostly of the jazz, surf or Zappa/Beefheart variety, popped up in the making of this list, as did 8 songs where the first line revealed the title outright. If you get mad at me for not having more popular songs on here, I will not apologize. I do not listen to music on the radio, AM or FM, so there is little in the way of current pop successes on here. There will also likely be a handful of bands which will make the vast majority of my friends go "Who the hell?," but that's fine. My friends have their paths, and I have mine.
The one thing that stood out in making this list is that their isn't a whole lot of -- hmm, how to say it? -- buoyancy in the lyrics. Not a lot of joy here, except sporadically. A couple of spots, but mostly depressing in an overall sense. Gee, they must have been deleting thousands of notifications on their Facebook page, too...
RIK TOD'S THIRTY SONGS #1
1. Talk of the town, and you're always so around // Holding me down to that sultry, sexy sound...
2. Well, they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month // Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none...
3. Brother finds trouble on the street // A piece of rock to make men weak // Trembling eyes at everyone he meets
Sister holds her baby in the bed // Dreams and wishes dancin' in her head // A love forever is what he said...
4. That there // That's not me // I go // Where I please // I walk through walls...
5. Yeah, said it's all right // I won't forget // All the times I've waited patiently for you // And you'll do just what you choose to do...
6. There's a man in the funny papers we all know...
7. I slipped away // I slipped on a little white lie // We've got heads on sticks // You've got ventriloquists...
8. Well there's a sick sick feeling in the pit of my brain // And drinking bourbon and orange will not heal the pain
And there's a one-armed man beating on his wife // It's the end of the road // The end of this life...
9. OK, check this out // It ain't impossible, it ain't easy // Opportunity shifting here // So far, the strategy ain't working // The facts are in, it's so very clear...
10. When this old world has let you down // And friends no longer want you around // When you feel burdened down with care // And troubles seem so hard to bear...
11. I live up here on this hill // She lives down there in the greenbelt // Her parents don't like me 'cause I come from the hill // Their little girl's future is in doubt...
12. Me and Jan and Brian bought a pretty little hole // It was cheapish and we split and we're fixing it up
So Mr. Sokol does everything, rewires, fixes cracks // I can only break walls, moves stuff, and get snacks...
13. Nothing to mourn // We die and die until // Until we're born // Recast as forms // So pleasing to the soul
I never miss anyone // To me, they're never gone // If that makes you uncomfortable, baby // Don't be too long...
14. When you got the blues // Who do you tell them to? // When you’re all alone // What do you want to do? // Do you want to die // Or is it...?
15. Time runs backwards at the end // You turn into a child again...
16. Well, I fell outta bed this mornin' // Saw what the guy on TV said // The big rock awards crowned a brand new king // It shoulda been me instead // Don't they know I'm...?
17. There's no point in asking // You'll get no reply // Oh just remember, I don't decide // I got no reason, it's all too much // You'll always find us // Out to lunch!
18. Over the moor, take me to the moor // Dig a shallow grave // And I'll lay me down
Lesley-Anne and your pretty white beads // Oh John, you'll never be a man // And you'll never see your home again // Oh Manchester, so much to answer for...
19. She tells him she thinks she needs to be free // He tells her he doesn't understand // She takes his hand //She tells him nothing's working out the way they planned...
20. Gonna make my move // Gonna make it stay // Gonna make it last // Never mind the past //Living for today...
21. Some folks are born made to wave the flag // Ooh, they're red, white and blue // And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief" // Ooh, they point the cannon at you, lord...
22. I dedicate this song to the workin' man // For ever' man that puts in a hard eight or ten hours a day of work and toil and sweat // Always got somebody lookin' down his neck // Tryin' to get more out of 'im // Than he really ought to have to put in...
23. I can hear the ocean and it's calling you to come // It goes, "Hey, Joe // Come on in the water's warm, we've been here waiting for ya // Oh, hey, Joe // Come on back and see us more // And everyone adores ya"
24. Everything that keeps me together is falling apart // I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over // My boss just quit the job says he's goin' out to find blind spots and he'll do it...
25. Literally the first minute I get back to town the cops // They shot a crazy lady with a screwdriver in her hand // Maybe we'll have another riot, hey wouldn't that be fun, well // This time I'll get a VCR and a big screen and a gun...
26. Detective is flat // no longer is always flat out // Got the number of getaway car // Didn't get very far // As lucid as hell and these images // Movin' so fast like a fever // So close to the bone // I don't feel too well...
27. This happened once before // When I came to your door...
28. A telepathic line to a shadow on the wall // Just a passenger and that is all // Taking off on a midnight flight // The airline ticket in his hand held tight // Polar route, destination: oblivion...
29. Music has charms, they say // But in some people's hands // It becomes a savage beast // Can't they control it // Why don't they hold it back?
You see my friend and me // Don't have an easy day // And at night, we dance not fight // And we need the energy // If not the sympathy...
30. Up those stone steps I climb // Hail this joyful day's return // Into its great shadowed vault I go // Hail the Pentecostal morn
The reading is from Luke 24 // Where Christ returns to his loved ones // I look at the stone apostles // Think that it's alright for some...
6 comments:
21. CREEDENCE!!!
Fortunate Son
Thank god I finally got one from anybody's list.
I'm just letting you know that I'm stealing this game. I, too, love iPod games and showing off my awesome, awesome musical taste. Of course it'll probably be the embarassing crap that comes up.
I've also resisted using google to verify some minor suspicions about the song titles, so I'm going to have to sit this one out and say I didn't guess any of them. Except for Creedence, but someone else got that already.
17. Pretty Vacant
First one I've ever gotten that wasn't totally obvious, like #21.
:-)
I am also only able to get one directly off the list, and Squeak bogarted it...
You are correct that I tagged you out of the knowledge that I thought this would be something you would enjoy. Also because you are my friend and of an age that would be likely to have knowledge of the vast majority of my (mostly pop) music collection. I will say that I was not aware, or had forgotten, that you were an anti-taggist. Rest assured that I am at least partially so, although I just ignore applications that I don't want, and will block some others that I truly hate. Being tagged in a note or picture doesn't bother me, and my privacy settings are all set to "friends only".
That's my 2 cents. Mostly to let you know that the tag was there specifically and because I was thinking of you.
2: Springsteen, from Nebraska definitely. Johnny 99?
29: Joe Jackson, "A Slow Song," one of my absolute favorites, and I suspect it's one of his too.
Sorry I tagged you when you are anti-tag but hey, you could do what I do every day on facebook - click the ignore all button. It's the first thing I do and I am not selective - I figure I'll find out eventually if someone says/does/posts anything. For instance I found out you posted this list here cause Matt told me. Ah, old fashioned communication. Well, we were on cell phones so...
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