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?

“Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” – Marvin Gaye
(Words/music: Marvin Gaye, available on What’s Going On, Motown 1971)

When presented with a soapbox, Marvin Gaye responds with a snapshot rather than a sermon.  The What’s Going On album draws on a host of social issues, yet it’s not driven by a specific agenda.  Take “Mercy Mercy Me,” a song that still seems relevant as the world’s leaders meet in Copenhagen right now to discuss the global climate.  Gaye describes the fragile state of the environment in a subdued yet soulful tone.  While he implies judgment on the situation when he notes that “things ain’t what they used to be,” he never pushes his agenda.  In this case, it’s an asset to the song; Gaye’s arrangement feels intimate and contemplative, and any attempt at sloganeering wouldn’t fit the situation. 

So why bring up the environment at all?  In this case, it seems like an issue of conscience.  Gaye seems intent on crafting an accurate depiction of his world and wrote songs about what he saw.  “Mercy Mercy Me” depends on this feeling of authenticity; otherwise, the Hollywood strings and orchestral touches might feel cheesy.  Instead, these embellishments give Gaye’s impassioned vocals and serious subject matter the gravitas it deserves.  Anything else – whether a truncated vision of the world, an out-of-character rally cry, or the privileging of persona over person – makes “Mercy Mercy Me” laughable.  While other scenarios use personas to their advantage (and Gaye does this as well, especially in his “Let’s Get It On” days), a disarmingly beautiful song like “Mercy Mercy Me” calls for complete truth.  Even if the truth is that Gaye doesn’t have an answer (and if anyone did, our leaders wouldn’t be in Copenhagen right now), he does his part by getting the conversation rolling.

More on Marvin Gaye: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

“Let’s Get It On” – Jack Black
(Words/music: Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend, available on High Fidelity OST, Hollywood Records 2000)

Jack Black is many things, but he is not Marvin Gaye, and a prerequisite for this cover working as well as it does is that Black understands this.  That’s not to say Black turns this into a Tenacious D song, because that wouldn’t work as well.  Like his character in the film, Black turns in a sincere version of the song that pays homage to the original without trying to one up it.  He sings in a comfortable place in his vocal range, occasionally dipping into his falsetto but only to hit high notes.  In fact, Black sings without any of the usual theatrics that fill his Tenacious D songs (or his performance in the movie – think of his unnatural swiveling during “Walking on Sunshine” when we first meet him), instead sounding relaxed and almost reserved.  It’s a testament to Black both as a singer and an actor, knowing when and where to turn on his absurdist charm and where to refrain.  Ultimately, Black’s personality yields to the song, one Gaye sang with his natural charisma and Black’s (relatively) subdued performance works as a silent hat tip to Gaye’s original performance; Appropriately, Black’s version becomes enjoyable because it doesn’t force us to compare it to the original and pick out the “superior” version.  Instead, it becomes a loving tribute to a soul standard and, to those who hadn’t seen the HBO episodes, a public introduction to Jack Black as a singer, one that (at least in part) helped create the opportunity for his ridiculous career as a rock frontman.

More on Jack Black: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm