#weezer death and destruction

[greyfoxweezterr]

[DECEMBER 2023] Songsterr Tab for Weezer - "Death And Destruction" has been updated, as per user request!

(This song had a partial existing tab from 2010 by Songsterr user "Leonard", though I chose to make a new tab from scratch.)

"Death And Destruction" is the fifth track from Weezer's 2002 album, Maladroit; it was originally written to simply be an instrumental song, before Rivers added vocals later on. On an album which I feel is known for its chugging progressions and high energy riffs, "Death And Destruction" proves to be a unique listening experience with its slow, improvisational feel, combined with its tonal variation that changes between its clean-tone disconsolate verses and weighty, distorted choruses / instrumental interludes. Even to this end, however, the distorted tone of the chorus chord progressions, vocal reverb, and short overall runtime still makes it feel at home on the Maladroit album.

The track's unique sound also proved to make it quite the challenge to tab out, as the bass line, lead guitar, and drums all seem to have a degree of improvisational variety between each section of the song that meant they could not be simply copy-pasted over. In addition, the song is in 6/8ths time, which—when combined with its already slow tempo—made it difficult to determine how to adequately recreate the grace notes present on many of the instruments. However, I'm still happy with the finished tab, and in particular I have always loved the ending of this track, with its descending chord progression and spelling-out of "I L-O-V-E Y-O-U", so I enjoyed getting a chance to tab it out!

[weezeranitsweezy]

bro this is the shit

[longliverockback]

Weezer The Lion and the Witch 2002 Geffen ————————————————— Tracks: 1. Dope Nose 2. Island in the Sun 3. Falling for You 4. Death and Destruction 5. El Scorcho 6. Holiday —————————————————

Brian Bell

Rivers Cuomo

Scott Shriner

Patrick Wilson

* Long Live Rock Archive

[dougielombax]

Alright.

Behold my anti-sex music playlist!

For music that just won’t work when you’re planning on doing it.

Not saying any of these songs are bad. Just that they won’t be good for sex.

In my mind…

Here they are:

1. Chumbawumba - Tubthumping.

2. Blarf - Banana

3. Eric Andre & the Last Seed - Beef Patty

4. Midge Ure - The Man Who Sold the World (OH NO. NOT ME)

5. The Serbian National Anthem! (Bože pravde) - by I Don’t Fucking Know. (Yes I’m serious)

6.Geometry Dash theme tune

7. My Country ‘Tis of Thee (Boston Pops version)

8. Peaches - Fuck the Pain Away

9. That FUCKING Pina Colada song!

10. Aerosmith - I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing

11. Otis Redding - Shake

12. The Trashmen - Surfin’ Bird

13. Liberty Bell March - John Philip Sousa

14. That weird boingy Delaware version of the Dr Who theme what was only used once in the Australian broadcast of Carnival of Monsters.

15. Swans - She Loves Us

16. The Platters - My Prayer (for any David Lynch fans, if you know, YOU KNOW!)

17. Grieg - In the Hall of the Mountajn King (it HAS to be the Portsmouth sinfonia version)

18. Georg Friedrich Handel - Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah (also the Portsmouth Sinfonia version, ideal for maximum awkwardness)

19. 1800 Pain - Hurt

20. Weezer - Buddy Holly

21. ANYTHING by Nickelback (especially Photograph (LOOK AT THIS FUCKEN’ SHIT!) or Rockstar)

22. The Cure - Friday I’m in Love

23. Nine Inch Nails - Mr Self Destruct (only an animal could fuck to this!)

24. Hanggai - Drinking song (this is actually a fucking banger but still)

25. Jamie Christopherson - The Stains of Time (except every single lyric is AND IT WILL COME)

26. Babylon Zoo - Spaceman

27. Suede - Filmstar

28. Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart (on full blast)

29. Ligeti - Lux Aeterna (may induce existential crises)

30. Korngold - Theme from King’s Row

31. AJCW - Wonderland (very loud, this is some cosmic horror shit)

32. Girl Talk - Play Your Part (Pt 1.)

33. Akira Yamaoka - Black Fairy

34. Ludvig Forssell -204863

35. Bach - Chorale BWV 645 (slow instrumental organ/trombone version)

36. Akira Yamaoka - My Heaven

37. Kikagaku Moyo - Dripping Sun (the beat drop at the end is some next level shit)

38. Carpenter Brut - Le Perv

39. Dawn of the Dead - The Gonk

40. de Wolfe music - Lubricator

41. Wizzard - I Wish it could be Christmas Every Day

42. Venetian Snares - All the Children are Dead

43. Van McCoy - Do the Hustle

44. Roy Orbison - In Dreams (look, it’s a great tune, but still).

45. Smash Mouth - Walking on the Sun

46. Mansion Basement - Resident Evil Director’s Cut Soundtrack

47. Happy Days (as in the main theme tune from Happy Days!)

48. Exhumed - As Hammer to Anvil

49. Muddy Magnolias - American Woman (David Lynch Remix) (if you fuck to this then you are legally not a human, you are a CREATURE)

50. Sonny Terry - Old Lost John

51. Hanatarash - My Dad is Car (VERY LOUD!)

52. Clubbed to Death (instrumental)

53. Jerry Manolas - Midnight Dream

54. Guided by Voices - Game of Pricks

55. Ludvig Forssell - Death Stranding theme tune

56. Glenn Miller - In the Mood

57. Venetian Snares - Winnipeg is Fucking Over

58. BJ Thomas - Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head.

59. Limp Bizkit - Break Stuff

60. Huun Huur Tu - Eerbek Aksy

61. Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight

62. Mussorgsky - The Great Gate of Kiev

63. Low Roar - Give Up

64. Ludwig Van Beethoven - Rage Over a Lost Penny

65. Neon Indian - Slumlord’s Release

66. The Caretaker - All You are Going to want to Do is Get Back There.

67. Horace Heidt - This Time It’s Real (instrumental - slowed down)

68. BluntedBeatz - I Am

69. Eddie Vedder - Out of Sand

70. Olga Wojciechowska - Remember When the Light Came (unfortunately I can’t find it ANYWHERE!)

71. Blarf - The Me in Me

72. Chuck Person - Lightning Strikes

73. Polkas y Huapangos - Los Dos Laredos. (Pretty sure you legally CANNOT fuck to this)

74. Tom Jones - What’s New Pussycat (VERY LOUDLY)

75. Merzbow - Ultramarine Blue

76. Fool’s Garden - Lemon Tree (I NEED Wes Anderson to use this song in his next film! FIND A WAY to get him to do it!)

77. Big Brother Theme Tune

78. Fanfare Vagabontu - Batuta Din Moldova

79. Lvovsky - Now the Powers of Heaven

80. Tuvan Ensemble - Arbyn Ossun

81. Weird Al - EBay song

82. Marathon 2 main theme (I mean come ON!)

83. Electric Light Orchestra - Mr Blue Sky (SHUT UP!!!!)

84. My Chemical Romance- Famous Last Words

85. Van Halen - Panama

86. Powermad - Slaughterhouse

87. Bjork - It’s Oh so Quiet

88. Sigur Rós - Hoppípolla

89. Richard Strauss - Zueignung (specifically the version performed by Jessye Norman (RIP))

90. Apollo 100 - Joy (especially if you speed it up)

91. Carol Anne McGowan - Sycamore Trees (look it’s beautiful but you cannot fuck to it!)

92. Brian Eno - Weightless

93. Jean Sibelius - Symphony no 2.

94. Handel - Hallelujah Chorus (as performed by the Portsmouth Sinfonia)

95. The White Buffalo - I Know You (it’s a great piece of music but it’s really depressing)

96. Rednex - Cotton Eye Joe

97. Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance

98. Blink 182 - I Miss You. (WHERE ARE YEEEEEEEW)

99. Francis Stanfield - O Sacred Heart. (Yes I know it’s a Catholic hymn! That’s the point!)

100. Surasshu - The Penis (Eek!)

101. Non Phixion - The CIA is Trying to Kill Me

102. All-American Rejects - Move Along (SHUT UP! It’s a good song but come on)

103. Big Data - Bombs Over Brooklyn (their curiosity for learning has skyrocketed)

104. Adam & the Ants - Stand and Deliver

105. Animal Collective - Derek

106. Ludwig Van Beethoven. Symphony no. 5. Movement 1.

107. Hong Kong 97 Soundtrack - I Love Beijing Tiananmen.

108. Mr Bean animated series theme tune (piano, obviously).

109. John Williams - The Immolation Scene. (From the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith soundtrack)

110. Ludwig Van Beethoven. Again. - Ode to Joy. Symphony no 9. Movement 4.

111. Vague003 - Tonight

112. Tchaikovsky - Serenade for Strings in C Major Op. 48.

113. Old Gods of Asgard - Take Control

114. Zbigniew Preisner - Lacrimosa, Day of Tears

115. AJCW - Fog Horm

[vanweezer]

tagged by freaking @omegalomania ! thanks :]

choose an artist you like and use the names of their songs to answer these questions as closely to the truth as possible!

you know i had to do it to em.

ARTIST CHOSEN: weezer

what is your gender: thought i knew

describe yourself: king of the world

how do you feel? la mancha screw job

if you could go anywhere where would it be? across the sea

who is/describe your best friend: my best friend

your favorite time of day: happy hour

if your life was a tv show, what would it be called? pink triangle

what is life to you? cold dark world

relationship status? death and destruction

what do you fear? too many thoughts in my head

tagging @awstenknight @kyleknight @longtimelie @sicklysweetholiday @purgatoryhips and @girlmikeyway. go nuts

brobecks post credit scene because im insufferable

what is your gender: i'd be a punk (if my mom would let me

describe yourself: why i don't smile

how do you feel? boring

if you could go anywhere where would it be? downtown

who is/describe your best friend: you stole my head

your favorite time of day: goodnight socialite

if your life was a tv show, what would it be called? better than me

what is life to you? everyone's a jerk but me

relationship status? a letter

what do you fear? die alone

[primusliber-traduzioni]

Weezer - Maladroit

E mia cara, tanti saluti alle cose che non proveremo mai

(da: Slave)

1. American Gigolo

Gigolo americano

   Okay, mettetevi seduti tranquilli, ragazzi

Ce n’è di strada da fare

Ve l’ho già detto una volta che vi conviene non interrompere lo spettacolo

   Avanti, avanti, avanti, avanti

Avanti, avanti, avanti

   Se mi vuoi, non mi puoi avere

Perché mi devi capire

   Sta’ lontana, tesoro, sono un tipo solitario

Ce ne ho di cose da vedere

Te l’ho già detto una volta che ti conviene non fidarti di quello che dico

   Avanti, avanti, avanti, avanti

Avanti, avanti, avanti

   Se ti fa schifo, no, non posso darti torto

Perché io sto male, per cui me la prendo con te

   E l’ho già visto ‘sto giochetto

Il mio amore viene direttamente davanti alla tua porta

Per me non c’è più speranza

   Se ti fa schifo, no, non posso darti torto

Perché io sto male, per cui me la prendo con te

   E l’ho già visto ‘sto giochetto

Il mio amore viene direttamente davanti alla tua porta

Per me non c’è più speranza

       2. Dope Nose

Naso da droga

   Debiti sul groppone

Ammazzo il tempo da solo

Sonno, vieni a salvarmi

Riportami a casa mia

   Per quelle volte che vuoi metterti a chiudere rime pianissimo

Io compaio, ti mollo un ceffone e mi godo lo spettacolo

   Che buon profumo il formaggio su un pezzo di agnello bruciacchiato

Frocio dell’anno capace di menare il tuo uomo

   Per quelle volte che vuoi metterti a chiudere rime pianissimo

Io compaio, ti mollo un ceffone e mi godo lo spettacolo

Eh, questo naso da droga

   Per quelle volte che vuoi metterti a chiudere rime pianissimo

Io compaio, ti mollo un ceffone e mi godo lo spettacolo

Eh, questo naso da droga

       3. Keep Fishin’

Va’ avanti a frugare

   Non sarai mai un tipo migliore

Se non ti lasci il mondo alle spalle

Perdo le giornate, affogate

   È proprio il pensiero di te che ami qualcun altro

Mi si spezza il cuore a vederti appesa allo scaffale

   Non farai mai le cose che vuoi

Se non fai niente per trovarti un lavoro

Perdo le giornate, affogate

   È proprio il pensiero di te che ami qualcun altro

Mi si spezza il cuore a vederti appesa allo scaffale

   Ah, mia cara, quando ti amo

Va’ avanti a frugare se senti che è vero

Non c’è molto che possiamo fare per salvarti da te stessa

   Perdo le giornate, affogate

   È proprio il pensiero di te che ami qualcun altro

Mi si spezza il cuore a vederti appesa allo scaffale

   Ah, mia cara, quando ti amo

Va’ avanti a frugare se senti che è vero

Non c’è molto che possiamo fare per salvarti da te stessa

   Non sarai mai un tipo migliore

Non sarai mai un tipo migliore

   Perdo le giornate, perdo le giornate

Perdo le giornate, perdo le giornate

Perdo le giornate, perdo le giornate

Perdo le giornate

       4. Take Control

Prendete il controllo

   Lasciami adesso

Fammi vedere come si fa

   E non mi vergognerò delle cose che facevamo prima

E non tornerò mai più qua

   Conduci e prova

Dimmi perché

   E non ti deluderò

Non infangherò il tuo nome per tutta la città

E non tornerò mai più qua

   Tutti, tutti, tutti quelli che conosco, prendete il controllo

   E non ti deluderò

Non infangherò il tuo nome per tutta la città

E non tornerò mai più qua

   Tutti, tutti, tutti quelli che conosco, prendete il controllo

       5. Death and Destruction

Morte e distruzione

   Non posso dire che mi ami

Per cui piango e soffro

   Ogni volta che ti chiamo

Trovi un modo per tirarmi il pacco

   Ormai ho imparato a girarmi e guardare da un’altra parte

   Ormai ho imparato a girarmi e guardare da un’altra parte

       6. Slob

Sciattone

   Lasciatemi stare

Non rispondo al telefono

E non li ascolto i messaggi

Mandati da uno che chiama e dice

Non mi piace come vivi la mia vita

   Trovati una moglie

Trovati un lavoro

Stai vivendo un sogno

Non fare lo sciattone

   Lasciami di nuovo

Non frequentare la mia tana

In attesa che compaia qualche minimo indizio

Che mi son bevuto un po’ della birra del nonno

Non mi piace come vivi la mia vita

   Trovati una moglie

Trovati un lavoro

Stai vivendo un sogno

Non fare lo sciattone, sciattone, sciattone

   In attesa che compaia qualche minimo indizio

Che mi son bevuto un po’ della birra del nonno

Non mi piace come vivi la mia vita

   Trovati una moglie

Trovati un lavoro

Stai vivendo un sogno

Non fare lo sciattone, sciattone, sciattone

       7. Burndt Jamb

Stipite bruciato

   Gusto gotico, quanto mi manchi

Se potessi una sola volta baciarti, sarei felice

Per un istante della mia vita, ci sarei

   E l’acqua che mi scorre addosso diventa sempre più fredda

Rendimi felice

   Per un istante della mia vita, ci sarei

   Rendimi felice

Per un istante della mia vita, ci sarei

       8. Space Rock

Space rock

   Ti viene da piangere quando hai a che fare coi ragazzi

Sanno tutto loro, e ti inchiodano alle discussioni

   È un gioco, e tu ci stai

Ma non ci si può divertire se loro non fanno altro che dire bugie

   Sanno tutto loro, e ti inchiodano alle discussioni

   È un gioco, e tu ci stai

Ma non ci si può divertire se loro non fanno altro che dire bugie, bugie

       9. Slave

Schiavo

   Amore, vivo a malapena

Tra le tue braccia, schiavo

Sogni, esagerati

Ogni notte, schiavo

   Chi si è messo il tuo cuore?

Chi si è messo il tuo cuore?

Chi si è messo il tuo cuore?

Perché io non potrò mai cambiare, no

   Quando stai per conto tuo

Riesci a vedere le cose

Chiare, chiare cristalline

E sei libero, schiavo

   Chi si è messo il tuo cuore?

Chi si è messo il tuo cuore?

Chi si è messo il tuo cuore?

Perché io non potrò mai cambiare, no

   E mia cara, tanti saluti alle cose che non proveremo mai

   Chi si è messo il tuo cuore?

Chi si è messo il tuo cuore?

Chi si è messo il tuo cuore?

Perché io non potrò mai cambiare, no

   Amore, vivo a malapena

Amore, vivo a malapena

Amore, vivo a malapena, schiavo

       10. Fall Together

Cadere insieme

   Andiamo insieme, tesoro

E se sì, sarò il tuo punto debole, tesoro

E ti prenderò

   Inventare, iniettare

Cadiamo insieme, rialziamoci

   Ogni volta che mi vuoi, tesoro, io ci sono

Ecco cosa ti insegnano, tesoro, a farti piacere come suono

   Inventare, iniettare

Cadiamo insieme, rialziamoci, rialziamoci, rialziamoci

   Inventare, iniettare

Cadiamo insieme, rialziamoci, rialziamoci, rialziamoci

       11. Possibilities

Possibilità

   Ah, ah, le possibilità

Portarti a casa con me tra le tue braccia

   Non pensavo di fare una cosa del genere

Portami fino in fondo

E fai dire al tuo corpo

   Ah, ah, prendimi per mano

Che sia io l’uomo tra le tue braccia

   Non pensavo di fare una cosa del genere

Portami fino in fondo

E fai dire al tuo corpo

   Ah, sei andata via

Ah, sei andata via

Sei andata via

Sei andata via ma resterai

   Non pensavo di fare una cosa del genere

Portami fino in fondo

E fai dire al tuo corpo

   Ah, sei andata via

Ah, sei andata via

Sei andata via

Sei andata via ma resterai

   Ho bisogno di te

Nel mio sangue ci sei te ora

       12. Love Explosion

Esplosione d’amore

   Ascoltati un po’ in giro

Tutta la gente che affolla casa tua vuole ucciderti mentre dormi

   Mettiti comodo e inchinati agli altri, quanto gli piace insultarti

Vogliono ucciderti mentre dormi

   E tutte le cazzate che spara la gente (L’amore è un oceano)

Non importa quello che cantano (Esplosione d’amore)

   Salta fuori, salta fuori, scatenati

Questa è per te, per cui sù, sù

Esci da quella casa, mia cara, e dammi un bacio

   E tutte le cazzate che spara la gente (L’amore è un oceano)

Non importa quello che cantano (Esplosione d’amore)

   Salta fuori, salta fuori, scatenati

Questa è per te, per cui sù, sù

Esci da quella casa, mia cara, e dammi un bacio

   Mettiti comodo e inchinati agli altri, quanto gli piace insultarti

Quanto gli piace insultarti

Quanto gli piace insultarti

       13. December

Dicembre

   Solo l’amore può lenire il dolore di un ragazzo sorpreso dalla pioggia

Solo la speranza ricorderà, fuoco acceso a dicembre

Solo l’amore, solo l’amore

   Solo la fede può riportare in vita uno che cade nel dimenticatoio

Solo la fiducia può ispirare polmoni fradici a esalare fuoco

Solo l’amore, solo l’amore

   È una cosa del tutto naturale

La luna è piena solo a metà

Il meglio che abbiamo lo diamo via

Il meglio che abbiamo lo diamo via

Solo l’amore

   Solo la fiducia può ispirare polmoni fradici a esalare fuoco

Solo l’amore, solo l’amore

   Solo l’amore, solo l’amore

       14. Living Without You

Vivere senza di te

   Voglio andare a vedere casa tua per vedere come te la vivi

Vivere senza di te

E se te ne frega qualcosa, ti voglio anche da questa distanza

Vivere senza di te

   E se ti va di provare a tornare a parlarmi, sarò il tuo migliore amico

E io ti voglio

   Le cose che hai scritto per stroncarmi quando stavo cercando

Vivere senza di te

Di stare con te, di esserti amico, mi hanno fatto stare proprio male

Vivere senza di te

   E se ti va di provare a tornare a parlarmi, sarò il tuo migliore amico

E io ti voglio

   Dolce ragazza, ho bisogno di te

Secondo me potrebbe essere proprio bello

   Vivere senza di te

Vivere senza di te

   E se ti va di provare a tornare a parlarmi, sarò il tuo migliore amico

E io ti voglio

   Dolce ragazza, ho bisogno di te

Secondo me potrebbe essere proprio bello

       15. Island in the Sun

Isola con il sole

   Quando sei in vacanza

Non trovi le parole per dire

Tutte le cose che ti vengono in mente

E anch’io voglio sentirmi così

   Su un’isola con il sole

Giocheremo e ci divertiremo

E mi fa stare così bene che perdo il controllo del cervello

   Quando sei su un mare dorato

Non ti servono i ricordi

Solo un posto dove sentirti a casa

Scivolando nell’atmosfera

   Su un’isola con il sole

Giocheremo e ci divertiremo

E mi fa stare così bene che perdo il controllo del cervello

   Scapperemo via insieme

Passeremo del tempo per sempre

Non ci sentiremo mai più male

   Su un’isola con il sole

Giocheremo e ci divertiremo

E mi fa stare così bene che perdo il controllo del cervello

   Scapperemo via insieme

Passeremo del tempo per sempre

Non ci sentiremo mai più male

   Non ci sentiremo mai più male, no, no

Non ci sentiremo mai più male, no, no

[theflowersarenotdead]

My Spotify Wrapped Top 100, AKA, best playlist ever:

100, “Hollywood” Jukebox The Ghost

99, “Sythesizers” Butch Walker

98, “The Night We Met” Lord Huron

97, “Glory” Friday Pilots Club

96, “Where Are All The Scientists Now?” Jukebox The Ghost

95, “Green Light” Lorde

94, “Different State of Mind” Kid Bloom

93, “Tonight You Are Mine” The Technicolors

92, “Bye-bye Darling” BØRNS

91, “Bleed Magic” I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

90, “Ghosting” Mother Mother

89, “Woozy” Glass Animals, Jean Deaux

88, “Siren 042” Lala Lala, WHY?

87, “Kiwi” Harry Styles

86, “Destroyer” Saint Motel

85, “Lampshades on Fire” Modest Mouse

84, “Youngblood” 5 Seconds of Summer

83, “Guys my Age” Hey Violet

82, “Young and Beautiful” Lana Del Ray

81, “Love It If We Made It” The 1975

80, “Woods” Daisy the Great

79, “Sunlight” Hozier

78, “Woman” Harry Styles

77, “Destruction” Joywave

76, “half sleeping on the carpet” Daisy The Great

75, “Almost (Sweet Music)” Hozier

74, “Still Sane” Lorde

73, “MAKE IT MINE” REI AMI

72, “BOYFREN” LoveLeo

71, “HAHA” lil darkie

70, “Royals” Lorde

69, “She Plays Base” beabadoobee

68, “Always Something” Cage The Elaphant

67, “Fred Astaire” Jukebox The Ghost

66, “Mr. Brightside” The Killers

65, “Infinitesimal” Mother Mother

64, “Modern Day Cain” I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

63, “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene” Hozier

62, “Tessellate” alt-J

61, “Honey Whiskey” Nothing but Thieves

60, “BLOODMONEY” Poppy

59, “In Hell I’ll Be In Good Company” The Dead South

58, “Lucifer Yellow” Choir Vandals

57, “Pirate Muse” Feed Me Jack

56, “Tongue Tied” Grouplove

55, “Sneaker Juice” Abhi The Nomad

54, “Rockstar Shit” BLIND.SEE, BRYOZA

53, “Girls in Bikinis” Poppy

52, “Built My Home on Hollow Ground” Daisy the Great

51, “Demons” Hayley Kiyoko

50, “Feels Like Summer” Weezer

49, “Love Is Mystical” Cold War Kids

48, “Something Good” alt-J

47, “Everything Now” Arcade Fire

46, “I’m Fine” Daisy the Great

45, “Baby You’re a Haunted House” Gerard Way

44, “Mr Loverman” Ricky Montgomery

43, “Like or Like Like” Minature Tigers

42, “Watermelon Sugar” Harry Styles

41, “bodyache” Purity Ring

40, “Sober” James Arthur

39, “Take My Time” Daisy the Great

38, “Whole Wide World - Unpeeled” Cage The Elaphant

37, “Crazy” Nothing but Thieves

36, “E-GIRLS ARE RUINING MY LIFE” CORPSE, Savage Ga$p

35, “Arsonists Lullaby” Hozier

34, “The King” Conan Gray

33, “Oh No!” grandson

32, “Only Angel” Harry Styles

31, “The Fall” half•alive

30, “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” Cage The Elaphant

29, “A 1000 Times” Hamilton Leithauser, Rostam

28, “Space Ghost Coast To Coast” Glass Animals

27, “Smoke from Your Cigarette” The Belmonts

26, “Slip Away” Perfume Genius

25, “Something For Your M.I.N.D.” Superorganism

24, “Sex and Candy” Marcy Playground

23, “THAT BITCH” Bea Miller

22, “Doin’ Time” Lana Del Ray

21, “Dreams Wash Away” Joe Wong

20, “In a Week” Hozier

19, “still feel.” half•alive

18, “Changing of the Seasons” Two Door Cinema Club

17, “For Elise” Saint Motel

16, “Smile Like You Mean It” The Killers

15, “Take A Slice” Glass Animals

14, “Record Player Song” Daisy the Great

13, “Kids with Guns” Gorillaz

12, “arrow” half•alive

11, “Tokyo Drifting” Glass Animals, Denzel Curry

10, “Sick Feeling” boy pablo

9, “Animal” Sir Chloe

8, “Social Climb” I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

7, “Girls on Film” Duran Duran

6, “Awake At Night” half•alive

5, “Gooey” Glass Animlas

4, “Take Me To Church” Hozier

3, “Saint Bernard” Lincoln

2, “Pork Soda” Glass Animals

1, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” Tears for Fears

[sagehaleyofficial]

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (9.10-9.17.19):

NEW MUSIC:

·         nothing,nowhere. and Travis Barker dropped a new, guitar-driven groove titled “TRUE LOVE” from their upcoming EP collab, Bloodlust, out this Friday. This marks the second single from the EP after the heavy first single, “DESTRUCTION,” was released early last month.

·         Fall Out Boy releases an ice-cream themed music video for their new single, “Dear Future Self (Hands Up),” featuring Haitian rapper and musician, Wyclef Jean. The second new song they’ve released this year thus far, they collaborated with rappers ILoveMakonnen and Lil Peep on the song “I’ve Been Waiting” this past April.

·         Green Day releases new song “Father of All…,” which they debuted live on Jimmy Kimmel Live later in the week. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong was quoted as describing the song as “a unicorn falling out of the sky,” hence the single’s unicorn-themed album artwork.

·         Waterparks released another song, “[Reboot],” from their upcoming third full-length album, Fandom, due for release on October 11th. Like many of the band’s songs, the fourth single discusses a failed relationship and its aftermath.

·         The sequel to Fall Out Boy’s greatest hits album, Believers Never Die Volume Two, had its track list revealed. The album will contain singles from Save Rock and Roll to the present, including a new song titled “Bob Dylan.”

·         Microwave released a lookalike-filled music video for their song “Mirrors.” The single comes from their latest album, Death is a Warm Blanket, which was released last Friday.

·         Stand Atlantic dropped a new song, “Hate Me (Sometimes),” along with a vibrant new music video to accompany it. The video features the members dressed in an array of weird costumes including mice and flowers.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

·         Twenty One Pilots, the 1975, Angels and Airwaves, IDKHBTFM, and several others are announced to play a five-day holiday concert series in Chicago. The concert will be called The Nights We Stole Christmas, and is hosted by radio station 101-WKQX.

·         Green Day, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy announce dates and release tickets for their long-anticipated Hella Mega Tour, and played an intimate gig at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles.

·         Dashboard Confessional revealed a new compilation album, as well as a 20th celebration tour to accompany its release. The band will be supported by The Get Up Kids and Piebald on select dates of the tour.

·         Mayday Parade reveals the Forever Emo Tour, in which their set will consist of covers of pop-punk and emo classics, as well as new music. The band has also partnered with a handful of local emo night DJs for each date.

·         In light of blink-182 and All Time Low’s cancelled gig in Columbus on September 22nd, Neck Deep will be playing a show at the local Woodlands Tavern that same night. Blink-182 still has a handful of dates remaining on their tour despite the final stop being cancelled.

·         IDKHBTFM play a previously unreleased track, “Lights Go Down,” during their set at Riot Fest in Chicago this past weekend. It is rumored that the track may be included on their long-awaited full-length debut next year.

·         Lil Wayne cancelled his blink-182 tour set in St. Louis after he was kicked out of his hotel, resulting in police involvement. Back in July, the rapper walked off stage just a couple of songs into his set while threatening to drop off the tour.

·        Avril Lavigne kicked off her first tour in five years in Seattle on Saturday, with a set list containing hits spanning her entire career. The set list begins with her most recent hit, “Head Above Water” and concludes with her early single “I’m with You.”

·         The Offspring were announced to play the very first “World of Tanks” in-game virtual concert. The show will be available starting tomorrow.

OTHER NEWS:

·         Vans teased their latest collection themed around the cult classic Nightmare Before Christmas, coming soon. Each shoe style is transformed to include characters such as Sally, Jack Skellington, the Zombie Band and more.

·         Former-MCR frontman Gerard Way’s hit Netflix series, The Umbrella Academy, announced three new characters for Season 2. None of the aforementioned characters are found in the original comic.

·         Save Face provided a near-perfect cover of My Chemical Romance favorite, “Teenagers.” The cover comes off a recent split EP with fellow musicians, Graduating Life.

·         In preparation of their opening gig on the Hella Mega Tour, the Interrupters released a ska-punk cover of Billie Eilish’s hit single “Bad Guy.” The Interrupters show no signs of slowing down before then, kicking off a headlining U.S. run next month before traveling to the UK.

·         The Cars frontman and founder, Ric Ocasek, passed at 75 from heart disease in his home, receiving tributes from many musicians. He was also famous for producing several iconic albums in the alternative scene, including multiple albums by Weezer and No Doubt’s Rock Steady.

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

[greyfoxweezterr]

Could you fix up Death and Destruction? The current version is kinda inaccurate, and missing the solo and the entire ending part.

The tab has been updated on Songsterr—thanks for the request!

[mattholicguilt]

jessica’s x-men spotify playlists (part 2)

Pairings & Relationships:

scott and jean but it’s bad - uhh that’s pretty much it. arctic monkeys, the mountain goats, the front bottoms

mr. and mrs. x - rogue and remy are married let’s have a party but also can these two co-exist without self-destructing?? lindsay mendez, demi lovato, kacey muscgraves

welcome back to the world - this is one of literally six different emma/sean mixes but this is the most recent one and it’s about emma having just lost scott and sean being very freshly resurrected. florence, lesley gore, sara bareilles

jeanwarren - in my defense this ship has literally existed since xmen 1 so. i just want them to find solace in each other yaknow? yeah yeah yeahs, kerli, adele

hank/scott - here’s another ship that’s existed since xmen 1. dodie, troye sivan, champaign

ric and tabby - rowdy best friends. culture club, zendaya, paramore

emma/jean - just.... just date each other. how much nicer would x-men comics be if jean and emma just dated. hayley kiyoko, tegan and sara, nicki

lorna/jean - i started thinking about how jean was lorna’s best friend and she could’ve comforted lorna after alex left her at the altar and they should’ve bonded over the summers bros screwing them over and also they should’ve kissed. julia nunes, la roux, rilo kiley

Characters:

ro munroe - ororo should be leading any team she is on. janelle monae, eurythmics, alabama shakes

you’re the train that crashed my heart - laura kinney angst but also fight songs. bat for lashes, fob, kid cudi

man out of time - i love bishop. he’s from the future but he’s hangin out here now. fall out boy, modest mouse, kanye

remy lebeautiful - i love gambit he’s such a dweeb. wilco, front bottoms, ajj

gabby kinney - my sweet child whomst i love. she’ll knock you out though. hailee steinfeld, hayley kiyoko, carly rae jepsen

the wail of the banshee - sean’s back and i’m so happy he’s alive. there’s a lot of like. irish sea shanty-ish music on here because ya know. also the avett brothers and giles’ song from the buffy musical episode. 

illyana - when you’re lowkey queen of a demon realm but you also wanna go get froyo with your girlfriend. cults, lily allen, lindsay mendez

magik - another illyana playlist but this is primarily songs from 1983. journey, culture club. basically what she might have listened to while chilling with the new mutants and trying to ignore all her trauma. 

emma frost - emma gets treated like crap, especially now that she’s just lost the man she loved. lily allen, marina, alanis

kitty pryde - let her come out marvel. demi, kesha, alanis

jubilation - jubilee isn’t a vampire anymore but she’s still a mutant single mom and she’s like. 20??? she might be 24 who knows. anyway i love her. ariana, st. vincent, joni mitchell 

madrox - jamie can’t make a fucken decision to save his life. oingo boingo, front bottoms, tmbg

kid omega - obligatory quentin quire playlist. i have them for a bunch of young x-kids but his is the most complete rn. i’ll probably make a post with all of them eventually. this has ajj, against me!, panic!

warren worthington iii - SAD archangel playlist. it’s got “back pack” by ajj on there. also crywank and hozier. 

stars and $#%^&*@ garters - hank mix that’s kind of silly. oingo boingo, tmbg, the song “man or muppet” from the muppet movie. 

yana - don’t ask me why i have 3 illyana playlists idk why. this one, like the quentin one, goes with a whole set for the new mutants but no one else is complete yet. dead man’s bones, sufjan, brandi carlile

sina grace’s iceman - i really loved how sina grace managed to explore both bobby’s gayness and bobby’s depression without letting one overshadow the other. this is a playlist dedicated to that. ajj, front bottoms, nana grizol

tabby smith - explodey girl. sabrina carpenter, the runaways, madonna. this is more geared toward tabby in the 80s/early 90s x-factor v1 era

rictor - shakey boy!!! fun fact- my image of rictor is half 15-y.o. shaky boy from x-factor v1 and half x-factor investigations depressed depowered ric with a big blank spot where i haven’t read x-force yet. the turtles, the guess who, the front bottoms

Situational/Team:

Dark Phoenix Saga - these are songs i imagine could’ve been playing on the radio while they’re on the butte, while they’re fighting jason wyngarde and the hellfire club, and like. when they’re on the moon. pink floyd, fleetwood mac, the police

generation x disbanded - sad mix about emma, sean, monet, jubes, paige and jono recovering after everett’s death and angelo’s death, and all of them learning to go on with their lives now that the team is gone. samia, mumford & sons, kt tunstall

mama’s home - jean’s back!!!!! shania twain, ariana, janelle monae

there goes the pryde - songs for kitty after she leaves petey boy at the altar. dixie chicks, fleetwood mac, crazy ex girlfriend soundtrack

dig up charles xavier and shoot him again - i hate. that man. garfunkel and oates, tmbg, 3OH!3

uncanny - i am excited about uncanny x-men coming back and i’m excited about the writers. abba, drake, styx.

eXtermination - anybody reading eXtermination? it’s exciting. mainly i am just ready to be done with the young o5. gotye, mgmt, owl city. 

astonishing x-men - i’m fcking living for matt rosenberg’s astonishing run right now it’s so funny and messed up. also i hope u appreciate the cover art on this one because i think it’s hilarious. weezer, bear hands, huey lewis

scott at the orphanage - sad mix about scottie growing up. crywank, soft cell, ajj

x-terminators - this is for the o5 x-factor’s young wards. messing stuff up, bein teens. this is music that tabby would play on the boom box while she and rictor are antagonizing skids and rusty is making sandwiches for artie and leech. 

[aaronotheosis]

rules - tag 10 people you would like to get to know better

tagged by @notthe-latte-hottay - Thanks for tagging me! I’ve never done one of these!

name - Erin

birth year - I’d rather not say...schwoopsie

height - 5′5 and a half

put your playlist on shuffle and name the first four songs

Death And Destruction | Weezer

Hidden In the Sand | Tally Hall

Brave as a Noun | AJJ

When He Died | Lemon Demon

grab the nearest book, turn to page 23, line 17

“[…] Me and Georgina in our double suite. We were considered […] ” - Girl, Interrupted, By Susanna Kaysen.

when was the last time you played air guitar?

Last Monday! I was helping teach a children’s dance class.

celebrity crushes?

I don’t really get celebrity crushes, but I think Winona Ryder and Freddie Highmore are pretty cool!

what is a sound you hate/love?

I hate the sound of people scratching things and also vacuums, but I don’t really love any particular sounds I think

do you drive? and have you ever been crashed?

ya girl is learning how to drive and it’s terrifying

last book you read?

Girl, Interrupted, by Susanna Kaysen.

do you believe in ghosts?

I do somewhat

do you believe in aliens?

yeah man i am one

do you like the smell of gasoline?

Yuck

last movie you saw?

Monty Python and the Holy Grail!

do you have any obsessions right now?

tgwdlm (duh), the phantom of the opera, and bates motel are things i really love right now

do you tend to hold grudges?

Not really, unless the person has done something really bad.

are you in a relationship right now?

no. nope. never. not gonna happen.

not tagging 10 people (i know,  i’m a rule breaker) because i don’t really know who to tag! tagging @ohscrivello  @thatblucat @yesrobertmanion @ladeedahdahday @tgwdlm-onlyblog

[longliverockback]

Weezer Maladroit 2002 Geffen ————————————————— Tracks: 01. American Gigolo 02. Dope Nose 03. Keep Fishin‘ 04. Take Control 05. Death and Destruction 06. Slob 07. Burndt Jamb 08. Space Rock 09. Slave 10. Fall Together 11. Possibilities 12. Love Explosion 13. December 14. Living without You 15. Island in the Sun —————————————————

Brian Bell

Rivers Cuomo

Scott Shriner

Patrick Wilson

* Long Live Rock Archive

[prehistoricsounds]

This past fornight's arrivals

New ones from Jacob, Jeff The Brotherhood, Goggs, Gang Of Youths, Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil) & The Family Dog, Liars, Mudhoney "Digital Garbage" is finally here!, Tenacious D "Post-Apocalypto", NY Hardcore veterans Sick Of It All "Wake The Sleeping Dragon", Seasick Steve "Can You Cook?", Tom Morello "The Atlas Underground", Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats "Wasteland", Pierce Brothers "Atlas Shoulders", Disturbed "Evolution" and more!

Reissues from Bruce Springsteen, Five Finger Death Punch, Blink 182 and of course King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

Alkaline Trio - Is This Thing Cursed? [LP] Amy Winehouse - Back To Black [LP] Behemoth - I Loved You At Your Darkest [2LP] (sold) Blink 182 - Dude Ranch [LP] Blink 182 - Enema Of The State [LP] Blink 182 - Take Off Your Pants & Jacket [LP] Bob Dylan - More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 [CD] Bored! - Get Off My Wah Wah And... Suck This! [LP] Boy George & Culture Club - Life [LP] Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch [2LP] Bruce Springsteen - Lucky Town [LP] Bruce Springsteen - MTV Unplugged [2LP] Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel Of Love [2LP] Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club [2LP] Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman [LP] Cave - Allways [LP] Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory [LP] Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River [LP] Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy And The Poor Boys [LP] Derek & The Dominoes - Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs [2LP] (sold) Disturbed - Evolution [LP] Dusty Springfield - Dusty In Memphis [LP] Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road [2LP] Eminem - Slim Shady [2LP] Five Finger Death Punch - American Capitalist [LP] Five Finger Death Punch - Poor Until Payday [LP] Five Finger Death Punch - The Way Of The Fist [LP] Five Finger Death Punch - War Is The Answer [LP] Gang Of Youths - MTV Unplugged Live From Melbourne [2LP] George Harrison - Live In Japan [2LP] Goggs - Pre Strike Sweep [LP] Greta Van Fleet - Anthem Of The Peaceful Army [LP] Grinderman - Grinderman (Green) [LP] Guns & Roses - Appetite For Destruction [LP] INXS - The Swing [LP] Jacob - Show Me Some Passion [LP] Jeff The Brotherhood - Magick Songs [2LP] Jim Moginie & The Family Dog - Bark Overtures [CD] John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band [LP] John Mayall With Eric Clapton - Blues Breakers [LP] Jurassic 5 - Power In Numbers [2LP] King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - 12 Bar Bruise (Double Mint) [LP] King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Eyes Like The Sky (Halloween Orange) [LP] King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Float Along...Fill Your Lungs (Easter Yellow) [LP] King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Oddments (Grimace Purple) [LP] King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Willoughby's Beach (Red) [EP] Kings Of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak (Clear) [2LP] Kurt Vile - Bottle It In (Blue) [2LP] Liars - Titles With The Word Fountain [LP] Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On [LP] Metallica - Reload [2LP] Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue (Blue) [LP] Mudhoney - Digital Garbage (Loser Edition) [LP] N.W.A. - Efil4zaggin [LP] N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton [LP] Nathaniel Rateliff - In Memory Of Loss [2LP] Nirvana - MTV Unplugged [LP] Nirvana - Nevermmind [LP] Nirvana - Nirvana [LP] Paul McCartney - Egypt Station [2LP] Pierce Brothers - Atlas Shoulders [LP] Radio Birdman - Descent Into The Maelstrom [DVD] Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire [LP] Rage Against The Machine - Renegades [LP] Rage Against The Machine - The Battle Of Los Angeles [LP] Seasick Steve - Can You Cook? [LP] Sick Of It All - Wake The Sleeping Dragon! [LP+CD] Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger [LP] System Of A Down - Hypnotize [LP] System Of A Down - Toxicity [LP] Tenacious D - Post-Apocalypto [LP] The Aints! - The Church Of Simultaneous Existence [LP] The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (Mono) [LP] The Cult - Pure Cult [2LP] The Jam - This Is The Modern World [LP] The Killers - Sams Town [LP] The Killers - Wonderful Wonderful [LP] The Kinks - Are The Village Green Preservation Society [LP] The KVB - Of Desire (Red & Blue Vinyl) [LP] (sold) The Prodigy - No Tourists [LP] The Scientists - The Scientists [LP] Thee Oh Sees - ORC [2LP] (sold) Tom Morello - The Atlas Underground [LP] Two Medicine - Astropsychosis [LP] Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland (Fluro Orange) [LP] Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland (Vanilla) [LP] Various - Guardian Of The Galaxy 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 [LP] Various - Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 OST (Deluxe) [2LP] Various - Pulp Fiction OST [LP] Various - Sweat It Out (10th Anniversary) [2LP] Weezer - Maladroit [LP] Weezer - Pinkerton [LP] Weezer - Weezer (Blue) [LP]

[objectivesubjectivity]

Ranking all the 2021 CDs I physically own: 24-32

The following is the second of five entries in an entirely subjective and personalized ranking of the 41 albums released in 2021 that I physically own.

32. Spirit of the Beehive - ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH: It’ll probably take at least a couple more spins until I “get it” (the second listen was certainly more palatable than the first) but I’ll have to work up the appetite first. Must hear track(s): THE SERVER IS IMMERSED

31. Torres - Thirstier: A couple of real earwormy tracks rise to the top of this indie rock love fest. Must hear track(s): Don’t Go Puttin Wishes In My Head, Thirstier

30. Virginity - Popmortem: A dinner plate of aggressive Weezer-esque rock with a couple tracks good enough for seconds. Must hear track(s): IamYOUareMEtoo, Just Like the Way

29. Angels and Airwaves - Lifeforms: “I said we're not alone and the government knows it,” is just about what I should expect from Tom at this point in his life. Must hear track(s): Rebel Girl, Euphoria

28. The Dirty Nil - Fuck Art: Cheeky, heavy power-pop that proves to be a damn good time if not much else. Must hear track(s): Doom Boy, I’m Done With Drugs

27. Ryan Adams - Wednesdays: There’s still too much blame and self-pity here even if the production and song craft is some of the best Adams has delivered in years (a more repentant Adams might have landed “Birmingham” a place in rock’s great “fuck you” songs). Must hear track(s): Birmingham, Dreaming You Backwards.

26. The Mountain Goats - Dark in Here: On what’s probably close to their millionth album, Darnielle and crew put forth another string of, mostly compelling, folksy melodies. Must hear tracks: The Destruction of the Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower, Argument with the Ghost of Peter Laughner About His Coney Island Baby Review, Mobile

25. D Smoke - Black Habits: Yeah, Smoke’s a bit of a poor man’s Kendrick but that still places him leaps and bounds above the competition, just not good enough yet to warrant 16 tracks. Must hear track(s): Gaspar Yanga (feat. Snoop Dogg), No Commas, Closer to God (feat. SiR)

24. Sincere Engineer - Bless My Psyche: Deanna Belos proudly sports her Counting Crows & Lawrence Arms influences and, every so often, they blend perfectly. Must hear track(s): Out of Reach, Dragged Across the Finish Line, Hurricane of Misery, Trust Me

[mbvvacationbibleschool]

LSD and the search for God

I’ve taken LSD a couple times and not really felt it worth writing home about, but this 1.5 tab adventure during the early summer was pretty awesome actually. I think the cannabis edible really kicked it in. I’m willing to try 1.75 or even 2, maybe, sometime soon. Our ball python had escaped his enclosure about a week before this, we were a bit worried he would turn up dead, but I tried not to let it get to me.

It started out in my house at 12:00 noon with my spouse, watching Journey to the Microcosmos and then Bleach, my wife was eating some lunch as Bleach was playing and I started getting a little antsy, I couldn’t stay still.

She wanted to make pizza for some reason, but our flour was rock hard, so I had to crush it up in a colander. It was like gypsum, it was so hard. It ended up looking super weird, like the chunks in the dough were like little white gems in some flesh/silly putty, anyway. I called my wife’s hands working the dough “legs’ by accident; they reminded me of raw plucked chicken legs.

We went outside. I was lying on the grass, noticing all the trees gently reacting to the wind simultaneously as if tugged by the same invisible string. “EVERYTHING’s CONNECTED, bro.” I climbed a tree and lost my wife for a second, feeling a twinge of panic. Overall it was incredibly chill. I was seeing some patterns in the concrete or whatever.

I decided to put on the second side of Weezer’s blue album when I got home. Only In Dreams brought me to tears once again, it’s powerful stuff. 

TLDR I had reached peak and  I realized I might have to kick it up a notch.

I took an edible and went outside. As the song Locket by Crumb started, (at about 4:00) I had a feeling it was coming. I came around a bend and there was God smiling upon me through the sun and the trees. I laughed.

I wondered how an infinite God of all eternity would give a damn if someone ate a piece of paper. The stigma behind taking LSD seemed so petty and stupid and human. There was no guilt in my heart, only love. I saw the expanse of time and felt my life as just a page in a flipbook, a 3D blip in a 4th dimensional infinite expanse, if that makes any sense.  I became a pantheist- God IS everything. I imagined an afghan, all these little holes representing consciousnesses  linked to the divine source, living as the purest expression of his divine will. All the forces of nature- even the erosion of time and of death, the struggle against entropy; this too is the nature of God. For it is written: “Even the rocks cry out!” 

I decided that  any time you put God in a box (something that makes him smaller in any way), you’re probably wrong. No one has a monopoly of truth when it comes to the nature of an infinite God.. 

I was also seeing Yin and Yang, but didn’t realize it at the time. I saw entropy as a struggle- destructive forces allow for creation. 

...Any “game changer” event will simply be worked around by the tenacity of life on earth, (this was a visualization of evolution and resourcefulness) I saw this as water filling up a space of twigs and dead grass. 

I returned to my house and wife and I could barely hold a thought, couldn’t stop talking. I put on electric sheep’s fractal mix and talked about the divine for a while. I laughed heartily at the “cosmic joke,” which I took to be “can’t you see everyone is making a big fuss over nothing?” (Nothing matters, ultimately) I felt that pretentious feeling of being woke along with the irony of it. I believed morality is always a little grey, because we never have a big enough picture to see how every consequence of an action will play out, we have an incredible drive to survive and our behaviour is written in our genetic code or cultural programming. No one accuses the toad of evil when it swallows a worm. I only know slightly better than them. I believe if there is a judge of our souls, they will be far more JUST than we imagine.

I almost got into a thought loop by trying to remember how I got to the conversational point I was at. “First I thought this, then I thought this...”  I told my wife I was “full of words.” 

I was worried I was being annoying to my wife by talking too much, and I somehow decided this was from being “rejected as a cub” (dismissed and igby other people), which I’m not really sure if it’s actual rejection or just that I’ve always had anxiety about rejection, mostly from being a teen and onward.

I was crying so much while I was hugging her that I felt like I was a marsh- the cleanest, freshest water, teeming with plant life. It was just after 5:00, so I realized I had quite the ride in front of me. 

We tried to watch the Midnight Gospel, which was far too much at the time. The first episode is steeped in drug culture. Because I am familiar with this “drug culture” I was cringing. I am this person? “Marijuana saved my life, man.” I was so shook by this that it sent me in a psychedelic spiral and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It took me a bit to realize that this was a podcast, and I believe the first episode was chosen to get the topic out of the way and let viewers know right away what they are in for. Anyway. I ended up watching the series later on in the night.

Next thing I know I was lying under some “fairy lights” listening to ambient music. I can’t recall the closed eye visuals and kind of fell asleep, but at 3:00 am, a rustle woke me up. Our ball python was in the room, and we got him home safe. It felt like a fitting end to the journey, or that his appearance was caused by the end of my trip. Maybe the stimulating effect of LSD allowed me to sleep light enough to hear him. 

I learned a little bit about theology, and to not “yuck on other’s yums” but mostly I solidified my beliefs in pantheism and nihlism or whatever. I was unemployed at the time of this experience so my day to day existence was quite trivial.

[troutfishinginmusic]

Essay: The problem of character songs during the Grunge era

No one believes Jello Biafra when he joyously sings about killing poor people on The Dead Kennedys’ landmark 1980 album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. Each word drips with contempt for the machinery that grinds down the underclass. The takeaway is easy, American society cares little about poor people.

On the opposite side of the spectrum sits Dire Straits’ 1985 hit “Money for Nothing” a supposed critique of working class ignorance. The song is a character study that echoes sentiments of homophobia, racism and misogyny. There’s something uncomfortable about a cheesy ‘80s song saying these things. It feels like an endorsement of the callousness of the time. 

Making these songs is a high wire act. When using method to criticize worthy targets, Grunge and post-Grunge often struggled. Good intentions can be taken as a consignment to bad behavior. Most people won’t pay attention to the creator’s motivations. Here are three examples of these odd relics:

Nirvana-Polly

All things Kurt Cobain have been dissected in the years following his death. Most people are now aware of his feminism. But when Nirvana’s Nevermind exploded, less was known.

“Polly” is about a 14-year-old girl who was abducted and raped in Aberdeen, Cobain’s hometown. The song is written from the point of view of the abuser: “Polly wants a cracker/Maybe she would like some food/She asks me to untie her/A chase would be nice for a few.”

The song was reportedly sung by two men as they raped a woman. Cobain responded to the event in the liner notes to Incesticide: “Last year, a girl was raped by two wastes of sperm and eggs while they sang the lyrics to our song 'Polly.' I have a hard time carrying on knowing there are plankton like that in our audience.”

The liner notes also went a step further: “If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us—leave us the fuck alone! Don't come to our shows and don't buy our records.”

The song wasn’t a hit, but it was on a gigantic album. Millions bought the album and heard it. Some more than likely took it the wrong way. Nirvana had more feminist songs including “Been a Son,” “About a Girl” and “Pennyroyal Tea.” Cobain went a step further and tried to make a song he viewed as even more straightforward. It ended up making things even more complicated.

“Rape Me” is seen as a difficult relic of a progressive band. It’s intentionally uncomfortable. It’s a stark song from the point of view of a survivor essentially saying no matter how much you abuse me you’ll never win. The song is a taunt and a reclaiming of agency from the abused. The song became huge on American radio. It was put on the airwaves during the 1994 Rwandan genocide to encourage abuse against the Tutsi population.

Kurt Cobain was a celebrity with a conscience who had good intentions. He carried feminist ethos into mainstream Rock from the underground. What he underestimated was rape culture’s resilience and ability to repurpose critiques into endorsements.

Stone Temple Pilots- Sex Type Thing

It’s a bit jarring to hear Scott Weiland’s booming Grunge croon sing “I said you shouldn't have worn that dress, worn that dress” in 2020. What sounds like a justification of rape culture is the exact opposite. It’s something strange and complicated. It’s possibly one the bravest and strangest songs in pop music.

The 1993 song was intended to be an anti-rape statement. It’s about the destructive state of mind that led a group of jocks to sexually abuse a woman Weiland dated.

“I just put myself into the mindset of the total macho American male attitude toward women and their sexuality, which I think is something important that needs to be said,” Weiland said on an episode of Headbangers Ball.

The song was more than likely difficult for its creator, even if it wasn’t on a conscious level. Weiland details getting raped by an older student when he was 12 years old in his autobiography Not Dead & Not For Sale. This is an event he was only able to come to terms with after years of therapy. The idea of a survivor reliving their trauma and taking on the viewpoint of an abuser is unthinkable.

And yet the lumbering riffage and earworm chorus made it into a radio staple. It was a song I remember being slotted on local alternative radio stations with less socially conscious material. While some may have followed up and tracked the song’s meaning, others probably saw it as endorsement of bad behavior. The song did some good and more than likely caused harm.

“Hopefully the idea comes across and isn’t misconstrued,” Weiland said in the Headbanger’s Ball interview. “The last thing any of us would want is for the point to be taken literally.”

Cold-Stupid Girl

Cold was more of a Grunge or a post-Grunge band than a Nu Metal band. Yet they were on the same label as Limp Bizkit. They shared stages with Nu Metal bands. The band also had a song to slot in between the casual misogyny of the time.

“Stupid Girl” was the band’s biggest song. The 2003 song from Year of the Spider had a surprising co-writing credit from Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo. It featured lyrics like “Wanna love ya, wanna bug ya/Wanna squeeze ya, stupid girl/Wanna touch ya, wanna take ya/Wanna shut ya, stupid girl.” When I first heard these lyrics as a teenage boy they spoke to angst I felt at the time. When I revisited the song as an adult I was repulsed by the song and the sort of ugliness I thought it fed into.

I was wrong. What I failed to consider were lyrics like “I'm a loner, I'm a loser/I'm a winner in my mind/I'm a bad one, I'm a good one/I'm a sick one with a smile.” The lyrics show how completely unaware the narrator is of his toxic attitude toward woman. He doesn’t realize he might be the problem in a relationship turning sour.

This was singer Scooter Ward’s intention for the song: “You could just be a total piece of trash and at the same time, you don't know that you are. You have this person that's going to leave you and you don't have any idea why. A lot of people are blind to the fact that they are idiots."

Cold had been around since the late ‘80s and were previously called Grundig. The band’s first self-titled 1997 album as Cold is weird. It features bleak, noisy guitars. It shares more musical DNA with Nirvana and Helmet than anything Korn was doing. It featured depressing songs about relationships and serial killers. It wasn’t far removed from Kurt Cobain’s songwriting, although not quite as revolutionary.

Yet the context was different. The explicit feminist politics of many Grunge bands had faded. It was replaced with apolitical bands that were more relatable. Pearl Jam featured politics and musical experimentation that weren’t always relatable. A band like Creed had more relatable bombastic songs about relationships and faith. Record labels snapped up Creed-like bands after Grunge’s first wave. Grunge’s dismantling of ‘80s glam excess was rebuilt in its own image.

Cold became famous during this time. Even if some of the band’s songs railed against things like child abuse, its major hit could be woven into prevailing ideas of the time.

Takeaway

Art’s intent can become inconsequential once it’s released. That’s the unsaid bargain and it can be very frustrating. It can be easy to disregard songs with ugly lyrics. In a world filled with so much hatred and bigotry, there doesn’t seem to be much use for them.

Yet there is a danger of completely turning away from disturbing topics. Art that glosses over inequity and ignorance can allow it to fester in the shadows. Great art can do many things. It can comfort, sooth and entertain. It can also spur activism, awareness and steps toward change.

Grunge and post-Grunge, at their best, tried to do this. They attempted to take the revolutionary politics of the underground and bring them to the masses. The problem was releasing them into a society that hadn’t resolved those issues. While they exposed a lot of people to new ideas, they also could normalize existing inequality.

In 2020 we should look at these songs as a sparks that changed mainstream, male-dominated radio Rock. They did so by subverting norms and slipping in radical politics. They did this imprecisely and left too much room for ambiguity. Current music should look at these songs as examples of what to do and what not to do. Artists have responsibility and if they are tackling injustice should at least try to be clearer.