Category Archives: Dreamin’ Songs

Dreamin’ Songs – “Cherish” By Madonna

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Editors note, I wrote this some 15 years ago.  This is a little embarrassing to read now, but as I wrote in a more recent post, I’ve got to own up to who I was, warts and all.

I admit it. I liked Madonna when I was a boy. I’ll even admit I had something of a boyhood crush on her. Or maybe it was boyhood lust, I don’t know.

This was pre-married to that Brit who used to make interesting, funny, violent films until he got married to an aging pop star and dropped completely off the map. This was pre- way over the top kinky sex Madonna. This was even mostly pre- pushed the envelope way too far with a big, expensive photo book that everyone talked about but no one bought Madonna.

No this was when Madonna was mostly known for her excellent pop music and her pushing the envelope (but not too far) videos. As a kid, I dug her catchy singles and her risqué (but not too risqué) profile.

“Cherish” came in the latter part of my favorite period Madonna (her next album would be the too kinky, too weird, not very interesting Erotica where I lost all interest.) It is a decent, if not all that memorable little tune, but one I still keep on the dial when I find it on the radio.

It is the video, however, that I remember most. It was shot in beautiful black and white by glamor photographer Herb Ritz. It is essentially Madonna dressed in a low-cut, short black dress cavorting in the ocean with a little mer-kid. She looks stunningly gorgeous and appears to be having a great deal of fun. Mainly though I liked the low-cut, short dress in the ocean part. Madonna was always good at showing some skin in those days, and as a pubescent boy, I was always willing to watch.

I don’t have the slightest idea why this song popped into my head this morning. I don’t believe I have heard it recently and lawd knows I don’t really listen to Madonna anymore, but there it was, and here it is.

Dreamin’ Songs – “World Leader Pretend” By R.E.M.

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Our air conditioner is broken again, and as it was 86 degrees inside our home last night, the wife and I decided to take a trip to some fine air-conditioned air in the local Barnes and Noble. As most of our CDs are now locked inside cardboard boxes we were limited in our music choices for the drive.

We wound up choosing REMs major label debut, Green. I say we, but it should be noted that in fact, the decision was really nothing but my wife putting it in the CD player. I make that distinction as I probably would not have chosen that particular album. It turned out to be a good choice, as it is an excellent album. A fact I tend to forget.

I say all this to point out the sheer simplicity of understanding why “World Leader Pretend” floated back into my brain this early morning.

It is what I would call an underrated classic.“Pop Song” and “Stand” tend to get the glory from this album, or even the beautiful “You Are Everything” but “WLP” should get high praise as well.

Musically it is a little mid-tempo number with lilting guitars and a bit of a cadence on the drums. It sounds a little military – well military with background vocals by Mike Mills. The sound fits the lyrics which use a great deal of military language to discuss deeper, personal ideas.

It juxtaposes the concept of governments raising walls and preparing their defenses with the singer’s own emotional walls and defenses, proclaiming at last that he raised these walls and he will have to be “the one to knock it down.”

That’s a pretty universal sentiment and one that has struck large chords with me at various times in my own life when I raised my own defenses.

It is also, I believe, the only time REM has printed the lyrics of a song in their liner notes.

Dreamin’ Songs – “Believe It Or Not” By George Costanza

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Yeah, that’s right. The song stuck in my head is the Seinfeld spoof where George’s answering machine is him singing the theme song to the Greatest American Hero with lyrics changed to match an I’m-not-home message.

I loved Greatest American Hero growing up. I don’t really remember much about it except for the red suit and how the guy never could really fly. I picked up season 1 from the library but didn’t get past the first episode.

Some things are better left to nostalgia.

The Seinfeld episode is the one where George’s girlfriend takes him to a ball in a beautiful dress and George thinks this is his one chance to make a great entrance. Of course, George now thinks the girl is trying to break up with him, so he is avoiding her. We hear the answering machine’s outgoing message (one too many times) as he is screening his calls.

Not a bad episode, but not a great one either.

I saw that episode not too many days ago and I guess it got recycled in my sleep.

Dreamin’ Songs – “Damn, Sam (I Love A Woman That Rains)” by Ryan Adams

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You really shouldn’t expect more out of me this week than Ryan Adams, Ryan Adams, Ryan Adams. My excitement, while not yet peaking, is reaching all-new heights. I’ve also been listening to him pretty much non-stop for the last week, which explains why he is serving up Dreamin’ Songs twice in a row.

There actually was a non-Ryan song in my head when I first woke up this morning, but instead of waking and writing it down, I drifted back to sleep, and when I awoke a second time this song was stuck in my head.

“Damn Sam” is off of Heartbreaker, which is sometimes my favorite Ryan Adams record (when it isn’t relinquishing its throne to Cold Roses or the unreleased Destroyer.) It is also his most, well, heartbreaking. I simply can’t listen to most of those songs without drowning in a depressed stupor. And this particular song constantly sees me in a puddle of tears.

The thing about it this morning is that I couldn’t remember the opening line. I kept singing, “As a man, I ain’t never been much for….” and I couldn’t remember the rest. I got the follow-up line, “I’m as calm as a fruit stand in New York and maybe as strange,” but that first one kept ending in question marks.

I kept adding in words that might make sense: “picking up dames?” or “lying lame?” I knew it had to rhyme somewhat with “strange,” but that doesn’t leave a lot of options. It tormented me out of bed, into the shower, and through breakfast. Finally moments ago, after finally leaving it alone for a bit, it came during laundry. “as a man, I ain’t never been much for sunny days.”

Ah, that makes tons of sense, since Ryan is kind of a dark dude, and this song is all about his manic obsession with the rain. Seriously the guy throws in a line about the rain at least once an album. He’s the John Cusack of the songwriting business.

Dreamin’ Songs – “Tennessee Sucks” – Ryan Adams

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Amazingly, I have not yet mentioned the Ryan Adams/Gillian Welch decision around these parts. I shall surely do my best to discuss that very thing soon. For now, I shall only say that I’m going to see Ryan Adams in less than two weeks.

Because of this, I have been listening to my Ryan Adams records with great dedication. The queer thing is that despite my obsession with Mr. Adams, there are a few records that I have not listened to very often.

The full blame goes to my bootleg collection. I have quite a large stack of bootlegs, and I have a tendency to go for those rather, than the studio albums – with the exception of Gold, Heartbreaker, Cold Roses, Jacksonville City Lights, and occasionally Love Is Hell. That’s a big exception, I know and for the record, the records that have not received a lot of spins are – Demolition, 29, and Rock N Roll.

With the newfound studio dedication, these less-loved albums have received my full attention. I am learning to really love Demolition and 29 is growing on me, though I don’t know if I’ll ever much care for Rock N Roll.

All of this brings me to “Tennessee Sucks,” which is off of Demolition. The album as a whole has continued to grow on me with repeated listens. Where, at first, I found it too soft and depressing, I have learned to appreciate its simple melodies and poetic lyricism. This song is a good example of that with its pretty piano emphasis and it’s the refrain of “Tennessee sucks in the summer/what have you got that can put us under?” Which gets bonus points for mentioning one of my favorite states, and nails a certain teenage feeling I often receive.