Lyrics Quiz: ?

As usual, place your guesses in the comment (or e-mail me), both artist and song title, and if you are correct I will un-bold the lyric. Please keep in mind the lyrics quiz is for entertainment purposes only so please only use your own meandering mind to guess them. Now onto the quiz:

1. In the past where the sun don’t ever shine I will shiver the whole night through.
2. The sun do’n go down, it’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning ‘round.
3. When you can see your unborn children in her eyes. (Have You Ever Loved a Woman? - Bryan Adams; guessed by Rebekah)
4. You still acting up. Running around here like some brand new (chicken) about to get (plucked).
5. All that I’ve been giving is this pain that I’ve been living they got me in the system.
6. Coming in a mess going out in style. I ain’t good looking but I’m someone’s child.
7. They say you are a snuff queen, honey I don't think that's true. (Why Don't We Get Drunk - Jimmy Buffet; guessed by Rebekah)
8. I always thought our love was so right, I guess I was wrong. I always thought U'd be by my side mama, now U're gone. (How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore - Prince; guessed by Rebekah)
9. I ask myself, “Is all hope lost. Is there only pain, hatred and misery?”
10. So we pray to as many different God's as there are flowers, but we call religion our friend.
11. How many times do I have to try to tell you that I’m sorry for the things I've done? (Why - Annie Lennox; guessed by Rebekah)
12. It's enough to make kings and vagabonds believe the very best. (Can You Feel the Love Tonight? - Elton John; guessed by Anonymous)
13. So tell me why we have to die and kill each other one by one?
14. My friend gots a boyfriend, man she hates that (expletive deleted) she tell me every day. (Why Don't You Get a Job? - The Offspring; guessed by AJ)
15. You know we got to find a way to bring some lovin’ here today. (What's Going On - Marvin Gaye; guessed by Rebekah)
16. There’s a dream that strings the road with broken glass for us to hold. And I cut so far before I had to stay.
17. Richard said, “Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy.”
18. Take me as I am; put your hand in mine, now and forever.
19. So I made a big mistake, try to see it once my way.
20. Mom it’s my birthday. (What Would You Say - Dave Matthews Band; guessed by Jo)
21. Nobody likes you when you’re 23. (What's My Age Again? - Blink-182; guessed by AJ)
22. Someone told me long ago, there’s a calm before the storm. I know, it’s been coming for some time. (Have You Ever Seen the Rain? - Creedence Clearwater Revival; guessed by Rebekah)
23. You shut your mouth. How can you say I go about things the wrong way.
24. Got some bad news this morning that in turn made my day.
25. Seems to be a misunderstanding ‘bout who you belong to. I’m tired of he saying, she saying.

Around the Tubes vol. XVIII

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on The Jon Dore Television Show, Community, Black Gold, Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel, HawthoRNe, and Paula Abdul.

- Variety recently called Jon Dore one of “10 Comics to Watch” and watch you will be able to do when IFC airs The Jon Dore Television Show coming this Tuesday at 10:00 which will be airing the first two seasons of the Canadian show back to back.

- You still have a couple hours to watch the season premiere of Community if become a fan of the show on Facebook before you will have to wait until September 17 for the premiere. If you are still wondering if it is something you want to watch, check out this preview:



- Black Gold (which you remember as the reality show that features Matthew McConaughey’s brother, Rooster) returns for a second season this coming Wednesday at 10:00 on TruTV. Here is a preview:



- Also going into its second season on TruTV is Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel retuning September 1 at 10:00.


- For those enjoying the inaugural season of TNT’s HawthoRNe should be happy to hear the Jada Pinkett Smith medical show has been renewed for a second season which is set to air sometime in 2010.

- TV Guide recently polled their readers and 55% of them want Paula Abdul to appear on Dancing with the Stars while I polled the workers on the 9th Green and 100% of them said they wouldn’t watch Dancing with the Stars even if they cast MC Skat Kat.

I Want My Music Television vol. LXI

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Heartless – The Fray



Kanye West cannot be happy that The Fray did a better version of his than he did and their animated video is better too. Of course this is why Kanye should leave emo to the professionals. You don’t see The Fray dropping a rap mixtape do you?


Give Me the Meltdown – Rob Thomas



Rob Thomas has made some of the most mediocre music of the past fifteen years, but dude does have a sense of humor that I learned second hand when I asked the other Rob Thomas about how much he hated Matchbox 20 jokes (see No, Not that Rob Thomas). Another case in point, this faux YouTube-style music video.


Little Bribes – Death Cab for Cutie



There is just something about the lyric, “The Eiffel Tower built to a smaller scale; the freshest oxygen I ever inhaled” from the latest Death Cab for Cutie song.


Wanted – Jessie James



When I reviewed the debut album from Jessie James (see The Rebel Moon Is Shining) I called Wanted “disposable as disposable pop can get (although any red blooded American male won’t get tired watching the video.” Well here is said video for all the red blooded American males out there.

Love Makes the Price Good Enough to Wanna Pay

Diane Birch has the kind of voice that can melt your heart and warm your soul. There have been many retro artists of late but Birch is one of the few that mange to be retro but still sound current at the same time (the only other being Amy Winehouse, but who knows if she will ever be cognizant enough again to make another album). Sounding like Carole King with more edge at times, Birch should still find room on the playlist of present day adult contemporary radio station. And if Birch isn’t on your local station you should call for the resignation of the programmer.

The name Diane Birch may make some head scratching happen, but her debut album Bible Belt assembles an impressive list of session players, Lenny Kravitz’s recording and touring drummer Cindy Blackman, George Porter from The Meters on bass, Adam Blackstone from The Roots, Lenny Kaye from the Patti Smith Group, and some backing vocals from Eugene Pitt of the doo wop group The Jive Five. With all that assembly of talent, the real secret weapon is legendary soul singer Betty Wright who co-produced Bible Belt, provided backing vocals and served as Birch’s vocal coach.

Despite the religious title, Bible Belt is no Christian record instead seems to be inspired by her traveling preacher, and spending most of her youth going from place to place like South Africa and Australia certainly helped the creative process in Birch. The closest she gets to being non-secular is near the end of the album including Choo Choo which features hints of organs that could be from a church service (or maybe just a lost The Doors groove) while singing about how the devil has targeted her guy to just get to her. Then there is the bluesy Forgiveness that starts off with the line, “Hallelujah I got water, I got air.” Actually the song could work as a hymnal just as well and a pop song. Also Photograph ends in a crescendo of a choir to great effect after starting off as a lullaby.

With a voice like hers, naturally the slow songs are where she truly soars like on Fire Escape, the opener to the album. The other showcase to her voice bookends the album with the closer Magic View. But shows her many other skills throughout the album, Valentino is a bouncy New Orleans inspired track. If you listen closely you may her influences from the original Iko Iko. But for a full New Orleans march go to Rise Up.

The lead single Nothing but a Miracle is a dreamy jazzy song that laments the demise of a relationship that should be in heavy rotation of any broken hearted girl playlist, way ahead of any cheesy angry pop tart’s break up song. The piano into to Rewind sounds like the greatest chord progression Billy Joel never got around to writing himself while the chorus starts to sound like the melody of Alone by Heart before going somewhere different when the horns come in.

Song to Download – Fire Escape

Bible Belt gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Feed Your iPod vol. XXXII: Summer in the City

Here is one for the youngins that don’t realize there was music recorded before they were born. In fact this song even outdates me by more than a few years. Summer in the City comes to mind mostly because the last two days have topped off here at over 90 degrees after an extremely mild summer so far. Since I had it this far without the air conditioner being turned on I decided a couple weeks ago that I would try to go the whole summer without it. Thanks to the mini-heat wave I spent the last two days sweating profusely as I walk around in nothing but my boxers to stay cool. And whenever I sweat profusely, I think of this song because it just sounds like the musical version of sweat.

Summer in the City – The Lovin’ Spoonful

That Rebel Moon Is Shining

Back in the nineties I had a deep disgust of country music as I felt it contributed to the dumbing down of its listeners with its songs about sexy tractors. I am pretty sure my country music fans peers in high school grew up to be the people that blacked out John McCain’s name on their front yard McCain/Palin ’08 sign. It wasn’t until college that rediscovered the genre thanks to Rick Rubin reintroducing Johnny Cash that I realized that is basically country radio, much like Top 40, was contributing to the dumbing down of its listeners, but if look deep enough you could find quality country music.

Of course today the borders of pop and country are getting so melted to the point where singers like Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift are considered country even though they are basically just pop singers who occasionally utilize fiddles and banjos. But Emmylou Harris they are not. These last two weeks those borders have gotten even murkier.

The melding of pop and country come to a head with current Swift opening act Gloriana which even features Cheyenne Kimball whose reality show chronicled her attempt to be the American Avril Lavigne. Now in a group with a heavy dose of mandolins Kimmel is happy to straddle the two genres. Their self titled debut starts well enough with the southern rock of How Far Do You Wanna Go? which is followed by the mellow clap along Wild at Heart that will probably ever Swift fan will be singing along to by the end of their tour with her. The only song after track two worth mentioning is You Said which sounds like a left over from Kimmel’s solo outing. Sadly the rest of the album if ripe with filler, and with a group of four singers I was expecting more harmonizing, but the four tend to just take turns with lead vocals.

Gloriana gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.




No one, though, has blended the two genres more than Jessie James to the point that more than anything James acts the part of a country singer with the cut off jeans and t-shirts (with that said, her name is no pseudonym, she was born Jessica Rose James) but she is much more a Christina Aguilera clone than Reba McEntire. Yeah there is an occasional banjo, but songs like Wanted are as disposable as disposable pop can get (although any red blooded American male won’t get tired watching the video). And the lyrics don’t help her out much like “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you happy to see me” from Bullet which was not surprisingly co-written by Katy Perry. Interestingly enough the strongest song on her also self titled debut is Psycho Girlfriend. Cheesy titles and screaming intro aside, it is one of the few songs James doesn’t try to out-Aguilera Aguilera and utilizes a silky vocal over a sly track and even slips in some Suzanne Vega to boot. If only her whole was this fun and clever.

Jessie James gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

The Way I See it, You’re Kind of Like You’re Car

Early in the movie Bart got a Room, Ashley Benson (who seems to where a cheerleader outfit more often than Hayden Panettiere) gives a monologue about the car that Steven Kaplan is driving her around in is just like Steve, not flashy but dependable. But Benson might as well been talking about the movie which may lack any flashy names but is at best watchable even if it falls flat at time.

Newcomer Kaplan is the lead of the movie despite not named Bart. It is the fact that even Bart got a room for after prom that makes Kaplan’s search for a date even urgent. Naturally underclassmen cheerleader Benson is at the top of the list but there are a few other opportunities Kaplan tries, including a blind date, in hopes of not getting stuck with going with his best friend, Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), because, much like Bart, we wants to get a room and share it with someone and not just to play Scrabble with all night.

Making it harder for Kaplan is that both his recently divorced parents are doing better finding dates. Mom Cheryl Hines (Waitress) has gotten serious and is hoping a question gets asked soon. While dad, William H. Macy (Wild Hogs) has resigned to finding dates in chat rooms (not the kind Chris Hansen trolls, but real adult ones) with mixed result. Bart Got a Room is dependable for a few laughs but is prone to breaking down for short stretches throughout.

The DVD does get bonus points for including a Pop-Up Videos style commentary that is much more entertaining than standard audio commentaries.

Bart Got a Room gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.