Some Songs Considered

“You Wanted a Hit” - LCD Soundsystem
(Words: James Murphy, Music: LCD Soundsystem, available on This is Happening, DFA/Capital 2010)  

Music Diary Project Day One (Context here)

Off-Key Teenager - Two lines of “Pretty Girl Rock” (Keri Hilson) 

The first song I heard came at work, overhearing a kid walking in the hallway singing two lines from this song - “It’s not my fault so please don’t trip / Don’t hate my ‘cause I’m beautiful.” It’s noteworthy because after hearing the remix with JennyMack (who is also doing the Music Diary Project) I told her that specific line alone (plus a solid beat and catchy melody) would make that song a hit. 

“You Wanted a Hit” & “Home” - LCD Soundsystem

These two were the first songs I listened to by choice today in the car on the way home. I’ve had bits of both of these songs stuck in my head since seeing LCD Soundsystem this weekend (and I promise this post will be the last I have to say about them for a while!). 

“You Wanted a Hit” specifically reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from Pitchfork’s annotated discography. In it, James Murphy says, “instead of writing an op-ed piece, I have a band that’s an op-ed piece.” It’s a pretty terrific line to summarize that certain type of the band’s songs (Matthew Perpetua comes to a similar conclusion today on Fluxblog regarding “Yeah”), and “You Wanted a Hit” fits that well. If only more op-eds came with similarly icy synth melodies. 

“Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” - Marvin Gaye and “Graveyard Girl” - M83 

Listened to both with headphones while grocery shopping. They were from an old mix I had on shuffle, and I’m sure that I had good reason for having both of them in the same mix. Regardless, I hadn’t heard either in a while and it was good to hear them both. 

“Hey Hey What Can I Do” - Tim Palmeri (Led Zeppelin cover)

My friend Pete posted a link to an Archive.org show from Tim Palmeri, who fronts a jam band by day and occasionally plays random cover filled shows at a local bar in between. Most notably, Palmeri performs with a loop pedal, which lets him solo while “accompanying” himself. (Also, this is one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs).

“One Shining Moment” - Luther Vandross 

This is the song CBS uses for their NCAA tournament montage. I only caught the end of the game, but it looks like it was ugly, ugly basketball. 

Conclusions: None really. I was kind of busy today and didn’t have any “appointment listening” or extended car trips or long periods at my desk (when I wasn’t writing in silence), so there wasn’t a whole lot to catalog. I imagine more in the forthcoming days. 

What did you listen to today?

“Rock and Roll” – Led Zeppelin
(Words/music: John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant, available on Led Zeppelin IV, Atlantic 1971)

It’s been a couple years since “Rock and Roll” was used in a car commercial, so it’s been a long time since I’ve heard the song.  iTunes tells me it’s been since February 2008, so that was at least the last time I actively chose to listen to it.  In the interim, I’d forgotten how wonderful it is. 

That, in a nutshell, sums up my feelings about Led Zeppelin, or at least about their best known songs.

Back in November, I said that I gravitate toward the “less canonical songs” because I spent my teenage years bombarded by the band.  At one point in time, the drum intro to “Rock and Roll” sent that special spine-tingling excitement through my body.  Now, it generally gets me to switch the radio station.  Every time, whether I actively think it or not, I know that I’m being unfair running from Led Zeppelin the same way I run from songs I actively dislike.  I know that ten years ago if “Rock and Roll” came on, I’d drive around the block a couple times just so I could finish hearing it.  This might come across as a statement about getting older, but the truth is that once a week I sit in my car somewhere for another thirty seconds to finish hearing a song before going on with the rest of my life.  Thankfully, I still find joy in music – until today, it rarely came from Led Zeppelin.

I’m not sure what possessed me to put on “Rock and Roll” today, but I’m glad that I did.  The thing that struck me the most was its looseness.  I think of Zeppelin as this monolithic band with an immovable sound, but here at least John Bonham and John Paul Jones establish an open groove, giving Jimmy Page the space for a blues solo that sounds playful rather than ominous or foreboding.  Even Robert Plant’s screaming, propelled along by that piano that always surprises me, sounds like the yelps of a man having fun.

I’m tempted to use this as an example of the idea that taste is cyclical, but I’m not sure that’s the case.  Yes, the end result is the same – I wish I could stay up tonight, put Led Zeppelin IV on my turntable, and redigest this album for the first time in several years.  However, it’s not entirely accurate to say I see the same things I liked a decade ago; in fact, I’m certain I’ve never really considered Led Zeppelin as “sounding like they’re having fun.”  Instead, this makes me think that our taste continually evolves and makes these return visits interesting, if for no other reason than to see how we’ve grown.  After all, songs don’t change – we do.

More on Led Zeppelin: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

“Hey Hey What Can I Do” – Led Zeppelin
(Words/music:  John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant, available on “Immigrant Song” Single (Atlantic 1970), Led Zeppelin: The Complete Collection (Atlantic 1990))

Like many American males, I went through a Led Zeppelin phase as a teenager.  I remember buying the Remasters CD set as an introduction to the band and playing “Communication Breakdown” to break in the first subwoofer I ever owned.   For a variety of reasons, I went a long time after this phase ended without actively listening to the band.  Whether it was from overdosing on them at age fifteen, never getting into the mystical lyrics (never been a Lord of the Rings devotee), or just becoming preoccupied with other bands, my time in the cult of Zeppelin gave way to a begrudging respect from afar.  I still worshiped John Bonham’s quick hands and feet, but again I felt myself pulled toward other drummers.  This seemed emblematic of my relationship with the band in general – they seemed so far out of my league that I never felt a strong connection.

Now, when I think of Led Zeppelin, I’m drawn toward the less canonical songs – perhaps because of the seemingly millions of times I’ve heard “Black Dog” on the radio, or maybe because I still harbor contrarian tendencies.  Regardless, these are the songs that pique my interest, in part because something like “Hey Hey What Can I Do” still manage to sound like Led Zeppelin songs without the aggressive guitar riffs.  Instead, it draws on the blues more for subject (in this case, heartbreak) than style, relying on the less-heralded arranging skills.  Specifically, the lively mandolin dances around the acoustic guitar chords in a playful way, and the backing vocals (a relative rarity in the Zeppelin catalog) build on the song’s campfire feeling.  Of course, it still gives Robert Plant’s caterwaul an opportunity, particularly in the song’s outro, but it also features the rare experience where Plant’s narrator isn’t in control.  Perhaps I’m letting the strength of his voice influence my memory, but Plant’s characters generally have a sense of control or power (or, if nothing else, at least a sense of action).  In this song, his protagonist has little else to do but leave behind a wild woman.

More on Led Zeppelin: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm