Monthly Archives: January 2014

My iPod #226: The Fratellis – Cuntry Boys & City Girls

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And that’s not me being vulgar. That is the title of the track.

You’ve gotta love a bit of wordplay. The boys are from the country, but are also obsessed about the the female sex organ, you see.

What it’s all about is basically all in the title name. Girls from the city goes to the country, boys see them and are attracted, girls find themselves ‘strangely’ attracted to them…. good times occur.

I honestly can’t sing along to this because the lyrics aren’t embedded in my head, even though I’ve had “Costello Music” for yeeeears so I have to come to the conclusion that I put it on my iPod because it sounded really good.

Americans probably don’t know the song because it was removed from the US version of the album, probably to censor the rude word within the song title, so here it is! After seven years of it being released I am very sure that you’ve heard it anyway.

My iPod #225: The Beatles – Cry Baby Cry

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Uni work starts again from tomorrow until April. Can’t wait. Early wake ups three times a week and sitting through two hour lectures on a Friday. What could be better.

Never mind. Life goes on.

“Cry Baby Cry” may be another track out of the many on “The Beatles” that some consider to be filler. On the contrary I think it has as much worth as “Dear Prudence” and “Glass Onion” on the track list, even if it is not as highly regarded as the former or as continuously questioned as the latter.

“Sing a Song of Sixpence” always comes to mind when I hear this song, seeing as many words in that nursery rhyme are found in the track. A king is there, a parlour is mentioned, a queen and so on and so forth. But this track does not have a cheerful melody like that rhyme. In fact, this is the total opposite of what a nursery rhyme should be.

The descending phrase from E Major to G Major within the verses mixed with some minor chords along the way, John Lennon’s light and barely double tracked vocal and that harmonium in the introduction make this track very moody and quite saddening to listen to. It makes it even worse knowing that it’s the last time you hear Lennon’s voice on the album.

The actual track ends before it switches to Paul McCartney with a guitar singing “Can You Take Me Back”, which makes it even weirder and creepy. Then the next track “Revolution 9” starts and it goes all over the place from there.

My iPod #224: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Crosstown Traffic

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“Crosstown Traffic” is a track from The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s third and last album, “Electric Ladyland” in 1968. I did listen to the album. That was a while ago. Like in late 2012. So I’ll probably have to listen to it again, to see whether I like it or not.

The only reason I know “Crosstown Traffic” more than any of the other songs on the album is because it is the only one that has a music video, a video that I’ve seen at least four times on the television.

The song is a huge metaphor. Jimi travelled a lot, and was probably hit on by lot of women along the way. Probably be with one and then it would be on to the next one. So he basically compares them to traffic, because he needed to be somewhere else. To entertain the masses of fans he had.

The track is groovy, but pumping too. It sounds like a theme tune to a seventies, undercover police show. I get that feel from it, I don’t know why. Someone did go a bit crazy with the panning though, instruments move from one channel to the other multiples times. I don’t know if that’s really needed. But it’s a minor thing. The song is still good.

My iPod #223: Billy Talent – Crooked Minds

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Good times were had last night. Moving from one place to another, plenty of loud music and dancing was involved. I can remember it all too which is a bonus. So as I sit here on my desk, reminiscing and waiting for the second half of the Arsenal game to start, I bring you the first post of two for today.

“Dead Silence” is Billy Talent’s fourth album, released in September 2012. It brought to an end their “Billy Talent (enter roman numeral here)” naming system that the band had used for their first three albums, but it also brought forward some new ideas and sounds too. Ian D’Sa – the guitarist with the Paul-from-Tekken-like haircut – handled the album’s production, there is the of a piano in one of their songs, it also includes two of the most ‘poppiest’ (don’t like that word) tracks I think the band have done. I listened to it when it became available on Spotify, and it was “Crooked Minds” that really grabbed my attention.

With a message similar to “Red Flag’s”, something along the lines of how ‘the kids’ of today will rise up, cast off the shackles and fight to right the wrongs of the government, “Crooked Minds” reminded me of the material from “Billy Talent II”. That album, for me, is my second favourite…. but only marginally. By the skin of my teeth. But “Crooked Minds” just had the energy that that album had, and what was missing, I feel, on “Billy Talent III”.

Actually, that’s a bit unfair. “Billy Talent II” is great as well….. I’ll save that for another day.

I think it is that “Yeah” that Ben screams/yells at the start that certified it for me. “Devil in a Midnight Mass”…..-esque, you could say.

My iPod #222: John Lennon – Crippled Inside

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“Crippled Inside” from “Imagine” is a “corny Country-Westerner” as described by Lennon himself (about 1:05 minute in) when discussing the tracks he had ready to be placed in the tracklisting, before proceeding to sing it briefly.

I listened to “Imagine” (the album, not the song) for the first time when it was (what would have been) his 70th birthday in 2010. If there was a time to start listening to his solo material, it was definitely then. And after the calming, piano driven ‘anthem’ comes this bouncy track.

It’s about putting on a false appearance and pretending to be happy when in fact you actually feel worthless. Some take it to be an insult song to Paul McCartney; they weren’t getting along so well at this time. Figure it out for yourselves.