The Police - “So Lonely”
There are songs about being lovelorn and miserable - those predictably sad-sack numbers by Richard Marx or Coldplay or whoever you get your Sad Song Smack from - and then there’s The Police, whose biggest singles were about stalking someone they love, getting their asses kicked by the brother of someone they loved, being muted by a magical witch they loved, being drunk and on an island alone sending bottles to people they love, and a whore. That they loved.
And what’s nice is that these songs are just as heartbroken and sad and fucked up as anything you’ll ever hear. They’re desperate, all of them (even this nonsense). But The Police do more than “pop” songs. Are these punk songs? Reggae songs? Ballads? Does it matter? Whatever they are, they’re the heart’s equivalent of being given Triaminic as a kid. Doesn’t really get the job done like it should, but tastes far better than any of the other shit shoved down your gullet. And also, you can take it in public without puking it up or crying. That’s nice, too.
And this song? Well, technically, it’s about being lonely. Which is decieving. Because it’s really a song about being lonely for other people (the chords are a blatant ripoff of “No Woman, No Cry”) and misunderstood (the slipped-out chorus was often mistaken for “Sue Lawley” or even “salami” by dickfaced critics and casual listeners alike). Which is kind of, really, what it’s like sometimes.
Okay, I leave for, like, five minutes to go take care of some shit, and what do I come back to?
- Dana blogging love letters.
- Dana reblogging a Stars song. From Alex Balk.
- Alex Balk reblogging pictures of “cute” children. From John Carney.
- Laura blogging high school regrets.
- Andrew likes Berlin?
- She, of all people, gets it right?
I’m sorry, was there some kind of estrogen-sprouting party I missed out on? Is today backwards day? People - get your shit in order. We have asses to kick and noise to make and things needing fucking up. I’m back and I’m pissed and I have no time for dalliences. There is work to be done.
In other news, the second step is anger.
Feist. Muppets. Drugs.
The best part about all of this nonsense is that someone actually leaked a Sesame Street clip. I’m also reminded of the theory that Sesame Street is totally for watching on drugs.Feeling Good
For some reason, it’d been a while since I’d heard the song until I heard someone casually singing it over the weekend. Do you know what a great song this is? It’s a song that’s always struck me as having something a little devilish about it. Some days, I hear relief in it. Others, hedonistic pleasure in washing away everything that came before. My favorite cover of it is Muse’s - I believe they actually released it as a single - in which they nail down the darker tones of the song.
One of my favorite uses for the song that I can remember is the Six Feet Under Season 4 promo, where it’s conceptualized and played to pretty great effect (remember, friends: Six Feet Under are not only the only TV show to receive song licensing from the Arcade Fire, but they actually threw a b-side their way for one of the music-from-the-show soundtracks: “Cold Wind”. This is notable because they’re notoriously picky about who uses their songs.)
The “designers” weigh in: 99 and Brian Van. Hey, at least they “got it.”
Since everyone else is putting their pennies in, I’ll show my hand. I absolutely shit myself. Though I think my paranoia that Andrew will let this stand for too long is well founded.