A Playlist Series
American Crisis Playlist #29
Say Goodbye to Hollywood?
I have no idea what Billy Joel meant when he wrote that song back in the forgiving 1970’s. Listen to it for a rave-up if you want, and consider it a bonus for this final crisis playlist of the year.
On Jan.6, Sen. Hawley from Missouri plans to force Republicans to vote on declaring Pres.-elect Joe Biden the President. This is like that note you likely passed to someone you liked back in the fifth grade. Like.
“I like you. Do you like me? Check yes or no.”
So, the OP is very clearly going to check Sen. Hawley’s yes box, and I hope that allows Josh to sleep better and have one of those nocturnal events that forces him to get up and take certain measures to get comfortable again.
I hate to mention the variant strain of the virus that has been discovered in Colorado and California, but it’s here and no matter how hard I close my ears, it will be a force we have to account for, though many are saying that our vaccines will cover this strain too.
And in unrelated but also good news, music is being released now and next week, and on and on and on. I have a sample of something new for you here, and a few that came out last week. A couple of old ones to consider, too, because as I hear them, I pass them on, as if I and they are contagious. Some contagions are clearly worth the risk, so since it costs nothing to listen and since your ears, minds, hearts, and soul might be nurtured and strengthened, why not?
So, while Hollywood is struggling on some level, this is a goodbye only to all things wretched that plagued us in 2020 and in the three years prior, and as we wait for the grand goodbye on Jan. 20, let’s crank up the volume and dance.
AMERICAN CRISIS PLAYLIST #29
- “Lonesome in My Home,” North Mississippi All-Stars, from the 2019 release, Up and Rolling. It seems forever and a day since I saw these guys live, right here in Greenville, SC, in the old Handlebar listening room. My friend Al joined me then, and I’m guessing this was fifteen years ago. Deep electric blues, and if the title says too much, then I can tell you that if you hit this one at maximum volume in your own home, lonesome won’t be your first or central emotion. These guys kill it and always have.
- “Everybody Knows,” Leonard Cohen on 1988’s I’m Your Man. I first heard this song as it kept refraining in Atom Egoyan’s 1994 film Exotica. I was obsessed with the film for a time, because Egoyan has a way of peeling layers of film truth as if he had a hard piece of garlic in front of him. The song haunted an even more haunting film, because grief and loss lead us to forbidden places sometimes. Anyway, “Everybody knows you’re in trouble. Everybody knows what you’ve been through….take one last look at this sacred harp before it blows.”
- “Atomic,” Blondie, way back in 1979 on Eat to the Beat. Everybody knows that Blondie was an underrated band and when you allowed yourself to dive deeper into their albums, you could find gems like this one. Believe it or not, it found room on episode six (or was it seven) of HBO/Max’s limited series, The Flight Attendant. Yet again I want to know who on that production team found this song and said, “Yeah, gotta have it. It goes right here.” Blondie scared one of my grad school friends, and while I loved that friend, I discovered that I loved Blondie more. Another rec is to watch Debbie Harry in David Cronenberg’s crazy Videodrone. Crazy is strictly relative, even more so now.
- “National Anthem,” Lana Del Rey on Born to Die (2012). Naming your song “National Anthem” is like naming your novel The Great American Novel, which means only that we all wish we had done it first. “Money is the reason we exist,” she says, which is maybe why I fritter mine away on old cookbooks from Bessemer that I’m finding with increasing regularity on that most American of outlets, eBay. I know I’m late to the game, but man, you can find literally anything you want on that great American flea market. Lana proves that pop can be angst-ridden, though I think it has always been that way, as listening to many old Supremes songs could also prove.
- “Space Cowboy,” Kacey Musgraves on Golden Hour from 2018. Every now and then, I put a song in simply because it’s too beautiful, and while I could make some shit up, I really want to just listen to her voice and that steel guitar that mournfully wails in the middle. It’s the kind of country song that the genre has been so famous for all these decades. Makes me think of home and days before I knew too much.
- “Someday,” Neil Young from 1989’s Freedom. When my wife was pregnant with our first daughter, I made a birth delivery mixtape, since we were using a midwife and going through labor in an alternative center. I loaded the tape with Neil’s ballads, and no, I did not include the “Down By the River” type cuts. I did put this one on and even sang it to her as she was eating ice chips and getting ready. I also swear that when “transition” started, all music went off. I remember our midwife, who was also pregnant, chewing on soda crackers to combat her own nausea. And in the end, we had a healthy baby girl, owing, of course, to Neil and my mixtape. Someday.
- “California,” Mina Caputo from this year’s The Mones. Learned about this one from Rob Janicke’s great story on The Riff: https://readmedium.com/mina-caputo-takes-you-on-a-beautiful-journey-with-her-latest-album-the-mones-c4cda7021bb1. Man, I love this song, and poor California. Did you know that the ritual playing of The Rose Bowl has been moved from Pasadena to Arlington, Texas, this year? And that’s the least of California’s troubles, but at least this song helps in the sense that beauty is still beauty.
- “Willow,” Taylor Swift, from this month’s evermore. One of my students texted me when Taylor’s latest arrived and I downloaded it immediately. Turns out that my younger daughter had already memorized this one, and as she created her first sourdough starter a few days ago, she played this album over and over, and I thought that life surely is interesting and wonderful and worth it all even in the plagues days we are so desperately trying to cope with and escape. Call some old friends now, see how they’re doing, and beg them to listen to this record. And bake some bread.
- “Baby It’s You, London Grammar, a single just released from their upcoming record, Californian Soul. I’ve been listening to this band over the past year and find their sound…infectious. I expect this song to find a place on a limited series soundtrack soon. It’s a good one to hear on rainy days like this, before a semi-wet walk with your dog, which is before making New Year’s Jambalaya, chocked full of meats and spices. I’ll make the peas and collards, too, as I record my own sound memories. No matter how many times someone uses this song title, it all comes out the same.
- “Is There Something in the Movies?” Samia, from 2020. A single, and a lament. The answer is yes, but what you find is what you put in. I miss the movies, though I’m teaching an online course in Film and American Culture this coming term, which focuses on FEAR (Rear Window, anyone?). Is there something in the movies that’s better than fear, or my love? I’ll be watching online, too, which, while not perfect, at least means I’m still alive and kicking and anticipating with love, 2021. What about you?
Farewell 2021, but long live The Riff and all you wonderful music writers: Noah Levy, Steven Hale, Jessica Lee McMillan, Rob Janicke, If Ever You’re Listening, and so many more.
Thank you for reading, and here’s some from the past:
https://readmedium.com/american-crisis-playlist-25-c927d06faec8
