Audition (1999)

audition poster

Audition is a peculiar type of horror film. It is not the violent, gorefest that you might expect from the new stream of Japanese horror films, and certainly not from Takashi Miike, director of such bloodfests as Ichi the Killer and Full Metal Yakuza. It is also not the suspenseful, scare them with what you don’t see the type of horror film that Alfred Hitchcock might make.

In fact, for the first 2/3s of the movie, it is more akin to a family drama than anything you’d call horror. The plot concerns a middle-aged widow, Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), who is encouraged by his teenage son to start dating again. Not knowing how to go about this, he decides to hold auditions for his new wife. Real-life auditions, like you, ’d do in hiring actors for a movie.

Lots of women show up and are interviewed for the lifelong role of wife. Aoyama is intrigued by one woman, Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina), and begins to date her. Eventually, we find that Yamazaki is not all who she seems to be and thus the horror begins.

Miike’s ability to turn the conventions of an old romantic formula completely on its head is nothing short of masterful. Watching the first thirty minutes or so of the film, you would have no idea that horrible, bloody things were going to take place later on. Had I not known what to expect from a Miike film, I would have thought I was watching an old-style romance.

Yamazaki at first seems like a natural mate, she is beautiful, sweet, and shy. Miike lets the twist in her character come in slow, short, and shocking bursts. The screw tightens and the horror grows.

The gore is actually pretty minimal, but when the horror comes it comes quick and merciless.

Asian extreme horror is not for everybody. The blood and the gore are too much for a wide audience. But for those with the proper stomachs, Takashi Miike is a master and Audition is one of his best.

A Dream

Originally posted on May 18, 2006.

I was in my high school during some sort of break period.  I was with two young men, who I actually did go to school with, Billy and Brett.  We decided to ditch the place and began walking the hallways.  For some reason, I was sitting in a big office chair, which I did not leave and in fact, rolled through the halls in.

In reality, my high school was set in a building that was very close to my junior high building.  The junior high building was in fact connected to the middle school and elementary school building.  In the dream, even the high school building was connected to the others via hallways.

We began slowly walking down the halls to the elementary school.  We looked at the young kids walking by, studied our old lockers, and generally reminisced.  Eventually, we came to the end of the building and walked outside, me finally leaving the chair.

It was recess, and there were all kinds of kids running and playing.  Over there was the BigToy, and just in front was a lively game of softball.

I watched the boys play softball as the batter lobbed a ball directly to the third baseman.  A pudgy kid, the third baseman was, and he promptly dropped the lob, then proceeded to fumble with it off the ground, allowing a man to score.  When he finally got the ball under control the play was over and he tossed it to the pitcher amongst some good ribbings from his teammates.

At this time an elementary school teacher, Mrs. Buchfink, noticed us and asked what we were doing.  Billy immediately walked over making up a story about it being break time at the high school and we got bored playing a game.

I, too, walked over and began discussing how long it had been since I was on this side of the school.  I waxed nostalgic with Mrs. Buchfink on how things had changed and how old it all made me feel.

A current coworker, Monique, appeared and I asked her how long she had been at this school, to which she replied she came last year.

I began talking about the parking situation with the teacher and then I awoke.

While this may seem a very bland and boring dream to most, and in fact, it is rather dull, there is something I find quite interesting about it.  You see Billy was a real student at this school and one I had an odd relationship with, and have dreamed about before.

I was very shy in school, and quite unpopular.  Like a lot of kids not on the popular roster, I wanted very much to be there.  I was simply too shy to get anywhere near it.  In order to not be a complete loser and absolutely alone I often hung together with other unpopular kids, even if I didn’t particularly like them.  As if being seen with some jerk was better than being seen alone.

Billy was one such kid.  I never particularly liked him, but for different classes and projects, we grouped together.  Mostly we tolerated each other, though sometimes we fought both verbally and even once physically (though the pacifist in those days I deflected most of the punches without throwing my own).

Since leaving high school for good, I have often dreamed of Billy.  In those dreams, he is always the annoyance and tormentor.  In my dream life he is that much more of a jerk and spends his time doing everything to irritate me to my last nerve.  The dreams are never exactly the same, but his role in them is identical.

It is in this most recent dream, which he has taken on a new role.  For the first dream ever, Billy is not tormenting me but rather being nice to me, if not exactly a talkative friend.

Random Shuffle (05/15/06) – Donna the Buffalo, Don McLean, Rolling Stones, Nivana, & Leftover Salmon

donna the buffalo

“River of Gold” – Donna the Buffalo
from Donna the Buffalo

I caught these guys live at the Lotus Festival here in Bloomington a few years back. They played an intimate show literally under a tent. I was way up close whirling and twirling my head off. My lovely wife was enjoying the music, but not being really familiar with their songs was less enthusiastic than myself. We were very close to the speakers and the sheer volume started to get to her, so she backed away and hit the far end of the tent.

Enjoying myself too much I let her go while I stayed. A dumb move for a married man, I know, but darn these guys were flippin’ fantastic, and I wasn’t about to give up my good seat just to please my wife. And besides, she’ll get over it, right?

Turns out, at the end of the show, she wasn’t mad at me for not joining her, she was mad at me for dancing too close to some groovy hippy chick. Most of us at the front were doing what I call the white man’s groove which consists of lots of short step hops, maybe a twirl or two, and the flailing of arms like drunken chickens in a coup. While doing this, many of us get kind of entwined and bump into each other on accident.

Apparently, I was grooving too close to an attractive girl. I can’t say that I didn’t notice this girl, or didn’t enjoy being in close proximity, I am male and human after all. However, I really was way more into the music, than the girl. Come on, I’m happily married, and I know my wife is somewhere behind me, probably already mad at me. No chance I’m going to try anything.

She stayed mad for a few days, and it was all worth it. Being that close to one of the best bands playing music today was so totally worth a little married madness that I’d do it again.

Donna the Buffalo is a hard band to describe. They have influences from reggae, ska, classic rock, folk, and old country music. They play the type of music that I’d play if I played music. It is fun. It’s music to groove to, to get up and dance to, to close your eyes and get off to. The lyrics are lightly political without sounding preachy or political.

“River of Gold” is a great bouncy tune with a chorus to shout along to.

“I want the river to rock
I want the river to roll
I am willing to lose complete control.”

Tell me that’s not something to get lost in while chanting with a thousand other fans.

don mclean tapestry

“And I Love You So” – Don McLean
from Tapestry

One of a handful of songs that makes me sit down and listen, no matter where I am or what I am doing. It is a song that can make me weep, and always makes me tearful with remembrances. Funny thing for a love song to do.

Though it is a delicate love song, there are lines about loneliness that remind me of times in my own life when I was alone. I listened to this song a great deal towards the end of my college career when the course of my life was unclear and when there was no true love in sight. When Don sings of knowing “how lonely life can be” I feel that loneliness somewhere deep inside. Even now, while happily married I can still remember all those lonely nights through my life and I must take pause.

rolling stones let it bleed “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – The Rolling Stones
from Let it Bleed

This song reminds me of two things vividly; the opening scene to The Big Chill of course, but also of a night sitting in a friend’s dorm room.

The friend in question made a comp tape with what he called the “Big Three.” It included “Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Inagaddadavida” by Iron Butterfly. Late one night he lit some candles, burned some incense, turned off the lights, and cranked it up. A bunch of us boys were in there, as we always were hanging out and talking about everything and nothing at the same time. The tunes fell out like wine and we had a great, great time.

I’m not sure what the neighbors thought, what with the ten-minute drum solo, but man we sure dug it. I mostly remember the Iron Butterfly tune and its psychedelic craziness, but the Stones song is what remains in my music collection. The funny thing about that version was that my friend had taped it off the radio, so the first few seconds consisted of some annoying DJ chattering over the opening organ bits. But the rest was all rabid rock and roll.

What a night it was.

nirvana nevermind “Drain You” – Nirvanafrom Nevermind

Anytime I think of Nirvana now, I think of a lovely young lass I met at some summer camp way back when. It was shortly after Cobain had killed himself and the uncertainty of everything was still in the air. I was a senior in high school and uncertainty was always in the air, but after the icon of my generation (or my life at least) whacked himself things were even more in turmoil. This maiden and I stumbled upon a conversation at the side of an auditorium where some uninteresting musical group was singing. She likes my hair (it was long and not so receding back then) I liked her…well I just liked her, she was all girl, and I liked girls.

She had big scars up and down her arm, where she had cut herself over the deal with Kurt Cobain. Written things like “Kurt Lives Forever” into her skin. I dug the crap out of Nirvana, but not enough to ever carve anything into my body. Like many girls of her age and persuasion, I suppose she was just trying to feel something, but at the time all I could think about was “cool.” Well maybe not cool, but my brainwaves weren’t far beyond anything but hormones.

I’m older now, and while I appreciate the intensity of youth, and the historical significance of Nirvana, my ears prefer much gentler things these days. Once in a while I find some old punk/metal records and play them loud whilst driving down the road. But mostly I leave the angst to the kids these days.

o cracker where art thou “Low” – Cracker and Leftover Salmon
from O’Cracker, Where Art Thou?

An odd, interesting mix to leave this week’s Random Shuffle. Leftover Salmon teamed up with Mark Lowry of Cracker fame in a bluegrass mixing of some of Cracker’s songs. It works in more ways than it has any right to. Their version of “Low” is one of the exceptions. The original has a deep foreboding sound to it that just can’t be conjured with a banjo.

Leftover Salmon can create panoplies of musical gyrations, but here they leave too much out. There isn’t enough going on musically to keep my interest. In the final coda, all the instruments come out, and it becomes something to listen to, but by that point, I’ve already tuned out or hit forward.

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

howls moving castle poster

Originally written on Mary 12, 2006

It seems Japan is the country of mention when it comes to film these days. Not only have they produced some of the best horror films of the last decade (see Ichi the Killer and Ringu) but they’ve made some incredibly imaginative animated films as well.

The most well-known animated director is a man named Hayao Miyazaki. A few of his films to make it over the pond are Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and most recently Howl’s Moving Castle.

Most of his films live in a fantasy world where mysterious, enchanting creatures roam freely with humans in a land where time seems to have escaped. People use modern conveniences along with ancient methods of living. There is usually a small, weaker protagonist up against massive odds.

In Howl’s Moving Castle, a young, unconfident girl, named Sofi has a spell cast upon her by an evil witch causing her to appear as an old woman. As this woman, Sofi gains some confidence and takes off for the moving castle which wanders through the countryside.

In it, she meets up with a young boy, a demon living in the body of a constant fire, and Howl himself. Howl is a wizard, who has nearly slipped into oblivion over self-doubt. He does, however, slip out of his castle to help stop a war going on between his own country’s land and another.

It is a moving story of characters finding their own character and becoming strong humans. It is told in a creative, beautiful way and is truly a cartoon that means just as much to adults as children.

Miyazaki creates animated features that are fit for the whole family in a way that is entirely different than those films from American companies like Pixar. Films like Toy Story appeal to all ages in that they are hilarious to everybody. The jokes hit on kid levels and adult levels without ever becoming saccharine or too mature. I love Pixar films, but Miyazaki films are so incredibly different.

There is humor in his films, but it comes from a very human place. In Howl’s Moving Castle, the only really jokey character is the demon fire, and that mainly comes from the fact that Billy Crystal does the English voice for the character. Mostly, there aren’t a lot of jokes as much as humor that comes from the situations.

It is more of a fantasy than a comedy, with fantastic characters and mesmerizing animation. Fully and highly recommended for anyone.

Bootleg Country: Frank Sinatra – Oakland, CA (05/22/68)

With the advent of inexpensive, high-speed, broadband internet, actual tape trading has almost died out. There is no longer any need to look up tape lists, find good traders, and go through the hassle of mailing packages. Now all you have to do is point, click and wait while the internet brings you a new concert recording.

Bootleg collectors are a notoriously cranky bunch. They also have the ears of an audiophile. Back in my trading days I had to adhere to numerous rules to make the serious collector happy. Before CDR, all music had to be recorded on Maxwell XLII tapes, anything else was sub par in terms of quality. I had to write down source material and what generation of tape I had. Each recording from tape to tape reduced the quality of the actual sound.

Even in this new world of exact digital copies, and easy downloads; one still has to be precise as to where ones bootleg collection comes from. Serious collectors will collect several versions of a particularly fine concert to get the best possible source material.

The problem with downloading concerts is that they are often very large files. A Grateful Dead concert often went for three sets, lasting into the wee hours of the morning. Three or four compact disks worth of music can add up to several gigs for a download.

Though the rest of the digital community has converted entire music collections to the .mp3 format, bootleg collectors of stature, cannot stand the degradation in quality that comes from such a compression. Yet, .wav files are much, much too big for a conceivable download.

There are a couple of formats that are now used to compress sound files into something downloadable, without causing any compromise in the sound quality. Both SHN and FLAC are acceptable compression files.

Both types of files come with their own software to decode the compressions (or compress .wav files). Each also creates special signals that can be read by the software to ensure the compression still contains exact data. You can find SHN software at the immensely informative Etree site and flac software is available at their own website.

There are numerous websites out there in which to download new and old bootlegs. One of the most useful, and expansive is archive.org. The archive has thousands of concerts available in a myriad of compressed and uncompressed files.

One of the most popular formats in which to download bootleg concerts today is BitTorrent. This format has gotten a lot of flack lately in the media because it has also become the primary source of illegal downloads as well.

BitTorrent is kind of an evolution of the peer-to-peer download software as developed by Napster and Gnutella. BitTorrent’s ability to allow everyone to download small parts of the shared file from everyone allows for simple and fast downloads.

There are torrent sites out there for nearly every band that has ever played a concert. One of my favorites is bt.etree.org. It’s very jam band friendly, but well, so am I.

If Wilco is your band of choice then let me introduce you to Via Chicago Torrents.

Is bluegrass your thing? Then check out the Bluegrass Box.

If none of this suits your fancy, then drop on down to Pure Live Gigs, where they torrent everything from the Rolling Stones to Frank Zappa to Stevie Wonder. With a few searches, you can find just about anything you would ever want. It’s a big bootleg world out there, so come on in, the music’s just fine.

Frank Sinatra
05/22/68
Oakland, CA

One of the interesting things that have happened to my collection since going broadband is my ability to collect a myriad of bootlegs from a variety of genres. In my tape trading days, I generally stuck to the Grateful Dead and other jam bands. The trading scene consisted mostly of bands that actively allowed tapers into their midst and legally allowed their concerts to be traded, freely amongst fans. Where a lot of your big-name acts actively pursue punishment for concert recorders, most jam bands, following in the footsteps of the Grateful Dead, accept and encourage the sharing of their concerts.

However, as my horizons expanded with each available download, I found live concerts of nearly every type. While Frank Sinatra may not sing “Fly Me to the Moon” in 50 different ways, it is still interesting to hear how he sounded in a live setting. At under a quarter per blank disk, and only a few bucks a month for the internet connection, the price was completely right to find out.

This show is a lovely-sounding soundboard of Sinatra singing many of his standards and fan favorites. The backing band is swinging and his voice is in full form.

Apparently, there were some hecklers at this show, for a few times Sinatra cuts his singing off to take a crack right back at them. Just before he sings “Nancy (With the Laughing Face)” he jibes, “Oh the back the back…” obviously frustrated with the hecklers. Yet, through it all, he is the ultimate professional, never breaking the rhythm of the song.

Sinatra has such a fluid, real voice that many of the songs sound almost exactly like the studio versions. It is a voice so strong that it doesn’t need the digital clean-up of the studio to make the girls swoon.

More than once I’ve gotten a few queer looks from other drives as I buzz down the road singing at the top of my lungs with Frank on “Fly Me to the Moon.”

Sinatra seems to love all the songs he sings. To introduce them he announces this is one of the greatest songs ever written. Towards the end, he nearly runs out of adjectives to describe the songs (the greatest/sweetest/loveliest American/folk/contemporary songs ever written by a left-footed Bulgarian ballerina, etc.)

Personally, I could do without some of the slower ballads like “It Was a Very Good Year,” and the very rich, and very white Sinatra really can’t pull off the powerful slave song “Ol’ Man River,” even if it was written by two very white men.

But this is Sinatra, and to complain over a few song choices is trivial. The voice is there and that’s enough to win points with any lover, playing over a candlelit dinner.

Random Shuffle (05/08/06) – Gene Autry, Otis Redding, Prince, Jeff Tweedy & Guns N Roses

sleepless in seattle

“Back in the Saddle Again” – Gene Autry
From the Sleeping in Seattle soundtrack

Though a bit of a cheesy romantic comedy, Sleepless in Seattle sports a very nice soundtrack consisting of great vocal jazz, old country, and classic standards. This Gene Autry number is the kind of country music I love. Before country music was bastardized by slick production and the anti-Christ named Shania Twain it was full of old cowboy songs and blues-inspired cheatin’ songs.

It is music with a heart. Everyone’s heard the old joke about what you get if you play a country song backward – you get your wife back, your house, back, your dog back… – but there is a sincerity and a joy to that music not felt in Nashville proper for years.

otis blue

“You Don’t Miss Your Water” – Otis Redding
from Otis Blue

Nobody sings soul music like Otis Redding. There is so much heartache in his voice he could make a statue of Hitler cry. Yet he could jump out of his soul with some rhythm and blues.

He does a version of “Satisfaction” that even Keith Richards says sounds more like what he wanted than the Stones version.

This is a slow, soulful number with heartbreaking lyrics, but it’s not my favorite Otis tune. It’s just a tad too slow for my liking, without a great melody to back it.

It’s still powerful Otis soul, but if I was recommending Otis Redding sad songs, I’d head for “These Arms Of Mine” or “Pain in My Heart” before I led anyone to this song.

purple rain

“When Doves Cry” – Prince
from Purple Rain

Ah, Prince when he was just Prince. They say his last album was pretty smokin’ but I have to admit I haven’t given it a spin. Judging from his appearance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a couple of years back, he’s still got it though.

This song reminds me of my sophomore year at college. There was a social club on campus that were nicknamed the Doves. Pledges had to sing this song at will, or maybe they had it on a t-shirt. Anyways this was their song.

A great freaking song it is. Killer guitar, a sweet backbeat, and Prince doing his Prince thing like no other.

“I’m the Man Who Loves You” – Jeff Tweedy
from 3/05/05

From a live acoustic solo gig, he did in Chicago. Well, later he was joined by most of Wilco, but the first set is nothing but Tweedy and his guitar. He does some old Tupelo numbers and lots of Wilco favorites.

This version suffers a little without the band, but it’s cool to hear these songs stripped down to just the basic melody and Tweedy’s oddball lyrics. He actually manages some pretty good fast picking on his little acoustic.

I keep expecting to hear the crowd really sing along since it must have been an intimate show, but I never do. I guess they had respect for the man and the song and didn’t want to disturb him.

“Paradise City” – Guns N Roses
from (10/2/87)

There has been a lot of brouhaha over Axl Rose and the new Guns N Roses album that has supposedly been coming out for several years now. This is the stuff that keeps people talking about a band that really hasn’t done anything since the early 1990s.

The sound quality on this live performance is a little muddled, but the blazing, explosion coming from the band is enough to blow out the speakers and make the neighbors call the cops.

Axl is all over the place screaming like a mad chimpanzee on fire. Slash tears the mutha up with his solo. The rest of the band blazes like a blind demon on Judgment Day. I just got this bootleg in the mail yesterday, so I can’t say much about the rest of the disk, but if this version is anything like the rest, then sign me up for the reunion tour.

Bootleg Country: Alison Krauss + Union Station – Woodstown, NJ (09/02/05)

I first started collecting bootlegs in 1997. The internet had really just come into its own, exploding all over the place, including my little apartment. I had recovered from the staggering amount of boobies available and had begun looking for other interests, including music.

With my 2800 kps modem, there wasn’t much use in looking at graphic-intensive sites so I quickly made a place for myself on Usenet groups. One of my favorite places was rec.music.gdead, a land of plenty for Grateful Deadheads.

Patiently I read through months of messages about trading live bootleg tapes. It seemed to be a secret society thriving on the edge of this international, public network. They even used secret code words like B+P*, SBD**, and GDTRFB***. I had been chatting long enough to understand the basics of internet speech, I could LOL with the best of them, but these deadheads had a language all to themselves.

There were agreements going on all the time, special music and tapes being passed back and forth all carrying their own specific rules. Rules which if you broke, you were forever labeled with words like “bad trader,” marked like the beast to be banished from this secret world.

After several months of deciphering the code words and understanding the secret rules to this society, I finally decided I wanted to enter into this world.

With the help of a buddy who had a few bootlegs (which he had obtained by giving out hamburgers to a local trader, which is a story in itself) I posted a message to the board asking for trades to help a newbie out.

I was overwhelmed with responses. Numerous folks said they would dub some shows for me if I would send them blank tapes and the price of the postage to get them to me. A couple of kind folks sent me freebies, including one guy who sent me a stack of tapes from every decade the Grateful Dead played.

Quickly I turned around and asked for more trades, passing around my little list. Others, just like me, with small lists, gave me lists of their own, and trades were made, and more music was obtained.

It was addictive. I kept a list of what tapes I had, who I had traded with, to whom I was currently trading, and who was a bad trader. Though most folks in the scene were very cool and kind, there were a few folks who would set up a trade, receive the tapes I had sent, and then never send anything back. This was more of a hassle than an actual loss.

To set up a trade in those days, I would spend hours on websites that contained thousands of tape lists. I’d search those lists looking for shows I didn’t have and that sounded interesting. Then I’d search another website to get the set lists and reviews of that particular show. When I found some things I wanted, I’d email the owner and ask for a trade.

Half the folks never responded, either they were too busy or I had nothing they wanted. After sending out 10-20 requests a few responses would come in. Multiple emails would pass setting up all the requirements for the trade. There would be discussions of the quality of the material, what type of tapes we each used, and whether we wanted to send the cases or not. On and on we worked out the details until finally all was settled and nothing was left to do but start recording. It might take a week to get everything settled upon and a trade officially made.

So, it was extremely disappointing to go through all that work and receive nothing in return because of a bad trader.

But when a trade went through there was nothing sweeter. Seeing that bubble mailer lying next to the door when I got home was paradise. Opening the package, reading over the tapes received, and then sliding them into the tape deck to fill the room full of beautiful new music was nothing short of awesome.

Some of the best music I’ve ever heard comes from these bootlegs.

Alison Krauss and Union Station
09/02/95
Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival
Woodstown, NJ

Alison Krauss has a lovely voice, smooth as silk pie. It’s the kind of voice that makes your loins weep. It’s the kind of voice that will make atheists believe, and the faithful renounce their calling for there can be no god, but Alison. She’s not a bad fiddle player either. With the Union Station, Alison sports one of the finest bluegrass units playing music today. This particular show has everything you could want from an Alison Krauss concert — well, except the masterful dobro picking of Jerry Douglass, who didn’t join the band until 1998. Even so, the music sported here in both the early and late shows is full of fast-picking and soulful ballads.

With songs like “Baby, Now that I’ve Found You,” I suspect that if you followed up with audience members you would find more than a few children who have birthdays nine months after this show.

Dan Tyminski, most famously known as George Clooney’s singing voice in O Brother, Where Art Thou? adds the perfect harmony to Alison’s lead. The entire band aptly plays along during the slow songs and tears it up for the faster ones.

If I have a complaint it is about the quality of the actual songs. I’ve never heard a studio album from these guys that I’ve really enjoyed. They seem to choose songs written by friends, which should be great for the friendship, but not necessarily a good choice for the band. There is generally very little to latch on to and remember after the music is over. I rarely find myself humming one of their tunes, or singing a remembered lyric.

This is easily overlooked, for the entire band members excel with their musicianship and Alison sings like the heavens above. Listening to them live I forget that the songs themselves aren’t necessarily awe-inspiring. This is surely a case where the band performs well beyond the songs themselves.

*B+P – Blanks and Postage, one-sided trades where somebody with a bootleg will record it for another if that person sends the blank tapes and enough postage to ship the tapes back.

**SBD – Soundboard tapes, used to signify bootlegs recorded directly off of a soundboard feed.

*** GDTRFB – “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad” title of a traditional song covered many times by the Grateful Dead

Random Shuffle: May 01, 2006 – Elton John, Sebadoh, Bob Dylan, Marc Cohn, & John Denver

elton john honky chateau “I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself” – Elton John
from Honky Chateau

Remember the line in High Fidelity where Jack Black, speaking about Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” asks if it is unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter-day sins. A question that could easily be asked of Elton John, whose Lion King soundtracks and lyrical changes to dead princess’ are enough to put him on the bad artist list.

But it’s songs like this that make me resurrect the old man again and again. Suicide was never so fun, at least not until Heathers came along. The music is like a circus, with a choir-like chorus singing a hymn to the fallen egos of teenage life. Perhaps it is a bit morbid to smile so big while singing along to a song all about killing oneself, but John creates such a terrific melody that it’s hard not to jump up and dance around the room listening to this tune.

Revisiting his early 1970s albums make me remember what a really terrific artist Elton John really is, but like a lot of artists with a string of hits so overplayed on classic rock stations you have to dig into the albums themselves to understand.

bob dylan blood on the tracks “Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts” – Bob Dylan
from Blood on the Tracks

At nearly nine minutes this is one Dylan story song that I’d like to cut out a few verses from, but being the master storyteller, you’d have a hard time finding something weak enough to cut.

Supposedly this album was written at the time of Dylan getting divorced. But like much of Dylan’s life and music, there is plenty of information refuting this as well. Whatever the inspiration, this is one of the best albums by an artist full of great ones.

Like “I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself” this song has a bit of a carnival going on in the music. The organ rolling in the background bounces as Dylan acts as the barker telling his story for all who will listen.

marc cohn album “Walking in Memphis” – Marc Cohn
from Marc Cohn

There was a period of four years that I often made the nearly 800-mile drive from Montgomery, Alabama to Claremore Oklahoma, and back, visiting my family from college. On almost every trip this song played while I traveled through the city of Memphis, and I swear to you it was always raining. Perhaps it was just me, or maybe Memphis radio stations like the idea of playing a song about Memphis in the rain while it is raining in Memphis. Whatever the case, it always produced a big smile in the middle of a long drive home.
I was fifteen when this song first came out. I grew up attending a conservative Christian church, but the first part of my teenage years was spent rebelling against those ideas. My parents were always urging me to make the commitment and become a Christian. There were too many questions that went unanswered in my head to take that step, yet the thought of being a heathen and rotting in hell kept me up more than one night.

I loved this song, but the lyric where the lady asks the singer if he’s a Christian, and his reply “Ma’am I am tonight” always gave me pause. I liked to think for that moment in the song, I too was a Christian and then I was pained to realize that I was not, nor necessarily wanted to be one.

sebadoh bakesale

“License to Confuse” – Sebadoh
from Bakesale

Speaking of college, I met my first real girlfriend via a Dinosaur Jr. t-shirt during my freshman year. It was her that turned me on to Sebadoh, being fronted by Lou Barlow, Dinosaur’s original bassist.

Though not really my style anymore, songs like this remind me of my long haired-hard rockin’ punk days. This is low-fi, loud guitar post-punk music. It’s a somber song, bad relationship singer-songwriter stuff, recorded in a bedroom and amped up to justify the grunge rockers’ credibility.

john denver rymes and reason “Leaving On a Jet Plane” – John Denver
from Rhymes and Reasons

I always duck my head when I admit I’m a John Denver fan. He’s just not hip, or cool anywhere in the world. But there is something about that nerdy folk singer that I dig to my core’s end.

Back several years ago when my wife was just my girl I finally made the jump from being in a long-distance relationship (she lived in Indiana, me in Tennessee) and moved to the same town as her to see if this could really work. She promptly moved to Montreal, Canada.

There were some major bumps in that road for the summer she was gone, and this song brought tears to my eyes more than once. She had left on a jet plane and though I knew she was coming back, I wasn’t so sure I’d be there to meet her. It all worked out well, and three years into a marriage this song can still bring back tearful memories.

A Freak Happening

Originally posted on April 28, 2006.

On my way home from work today I’m stopped at a red light at an intersection between 2nd street and Highway 37. Both streets are always very busy, and on Friday afternoon just after 5 o’clock, they are crammed with traffic.

So, there I am waiting at the red light amongst all the other saps trying to get home for the weekend when out of nowhere this big, fat tire comes flying out of the sky. It was a good twenty feet in the air at its peak and came crashing down right onto the back windshield of this little silver car.

SMASH!

The window went out with an explosion of shattered glass and panic. The tire then leaped back into the air, crashing down onto the trunk of the next car then rolled across the rest of the road resting at a curb.

Looking around I couldn’t see any car crash or anything else that would indicate where the tire came from. It wasn’t like there was some wheeless auto lined up on the exit ramp, or a big truck hauling tires. Absolutely nothing around that could have lost a tire.

The lady in the car was unhurt and pulled to the side of the road. The rest of us drove off quietly, stunned into silence at the sheer oddity of it all.