Tag Archives: get awkward

#691: be your own PET – The Kelly Affair

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2008 is so long ago now. It’s actually a year I can barely remember. I would have been in year 8. 12 going on into teenage years. Life was pretty carefree. I was there but I don’t think I took the time to take things in.

One thing I do remember was be your own PET releasing their second album Get Awkward in March of that year. That turned out to be the band’s final album too. I had been following them since they released their ‘Damn Damn Leash’ single in 2005, so it was always good to see something new by them appear on TV or just be given to the masses in general. I believe ‘The Kelly Affair’ was the first official single from the album. I’m not sure that I cared for it that much. Thinking on it now I couldn’t say why. Jemina Pearl’s voice had a lot more power behind it. They’d also gained a new drummer after their first one left. Jonas Stein’s guitar and Nathan Vasquez’s bass playing were just as playful and riffy as they were on the debut album. But nothing too major had changed. It took me to download Get Awkward and listen to the track within the context of the album to realise that hey, ‘The Kelly Affair’ isn’t that bad. You think silly things when you’re twelve.

The track’s been in my library for so long now that I’ve never thought to research on what it’s about. From listening to the lyrics, I thought that Pearl made up this song about being in a fake band called The Carrie Nations and living in a valley where everywhere you look someone’s taking a few anti-depressants. But no. The song is just about what happens in the film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. There is a band who are called The Carrie Nations who were originally called The Kelly Affair. ‘Z-Man’ is the guy who makes himself the band’s producer. And ‘the valley’ is where all the sex and drugs happens. Maybe I’ll watch the film if be your own PET think it was good enough to write a song about.

My iPod #503: be your own PET – Heart Throb

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“Heart Throb” is from be your own PET’s second album Get Awkward, released two years after the band had been on the radar for a while and unveiled their debut album to the masses. The second album exhibited a slicker production and precise style to the band’s music, but the change did not take away from their ecstatic performances and juvenile subject matter.

The third track “Heart Throb” is a fast-paced, in your face slammer about a girl who, despite having a boyfriend already, can’t help but get weak in the knees when she catches another boy – possibly the ‘heart throb’ the song is titled after – looking back at her when she tries to catch his glance. She has major feels for the guy, but realises that it’s probably for the best that nothing could happen between them, because she already has someone who will take of her.

It is an exciting listen. Over just after two minutes, but a balls-to-the-wall performance nevertheless.

My iPod #142: be your own PET – Bummer Time

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The song is not called ‘Blummer Time’*, the person who spelt that is dumb. It is ‘bummer’, to feel down, to be depressed, to be disappointed in something. A bummer.

For today’s post, I’m going to change things up a bit. I will take you through the song, and analyse the lyrics with you. Let’s go.

Bummertime! Bummertime!  – The song’s name is “Bummer Time”
It’s bummertime!
BUMMER!  – Why is it called “Bummer Time”? We don’t know. We’ll see soon.
(x4)

I’d think about you all week long  – She’d think about who?
My mind constantly singing your theme song  – Oh, so it’s like a character in a cartoon or something?
And did you know i looked up to you? – I’ve felt that way people on the TV at some point in my life.
I wanna be just like you! – Like a superhero kind of thing.

No one knows how it was for me – She was a true fan of this person. No one else cared.
No one knows what you meant to me – She loved this person/cartoon? A bit weird.
Everyone talks about it like they were there  – Self explanatory.
All this nostalgia but nobody cares!  – Talking is cheap. Narrator is stunned at people’s ignorance.
Everyone talks about it like they were there
All this nostalgia but nobody cares!  – So stunned, she had to repeat it twice.

I woke up early just for you – Understandable.
I waited all week long for you too – Any child does that if their favourite programme is weekly.
And there you were on my TV – Yep.
It’s like you were there just for me!  – Yeah!

Bummertime! Bummertime! – Still don’t get why there’s a bummer involved.
It’s bummertime! – It is annoying when someone doesn’t appreciate greatness.
BUMMER! – What more could possibly happen?
(x2)

When the time came I’d play along – Like Dora the Explorer? Man, I hate that shit.
I didn’t know that you’d soon be gone – Show got cancelled. Narrator gets older.
And now you’re back what can I say? – Show comes back on TV. Person she admired is older.
I can’t even look at you the same way! – He looks like crap. Narrator is disappointed.

No one knows how it was for me
No one knows what you meant to me
Everyone talks about it like they were there            SHE CARED SO MUCH FOR HIM.
All this nostalgia but nobody cares!                        ALL THOSE TIMES WERE IN VAIN.
Everyone talks about it like they were there
All this nostalgia but nobody cares!

I woke up early just for you!
I waited all week long for you too     PERSON SHE ADMIRED WAS NOTHING SPECIAL.
And there you were on my TV            HER CHILDHOOD WAS A LIE.
It’s like you were there just for me!
BUMMERTIME!                               So that’s why the song’s called “Bummer Time”.

“Bummer Time” is on be your own PET’s second album “Get Awkward”. It’s short and sweet, and totally encapsulates that feeling of disappointment when your favourite TV show returns when you’re older and you can barely look at it in the same way you did with amazement when you were a child.

Life’s a bitch.

Jamie.

09/06/2020* I’m guessing the title on the video was mispelled as ‘Blummer Time’ at the time this blog was originally uploaded. I don’t know, it’s been a while.

My iPod #102: be your own PET – Black Hole

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Well, I never thought that I would ever be locked out of my own house. And yet, I’m typing this to you from my aunt’s house because that is exactly what has happened. My sister has my mum’s key – I didn’t know, my mum didn’t know, my sister didn’t tell my mum, mum and I went out shopping and now I’m here.

It’s fine though. It’s fine. Sometimes you just have to laugh about these things. It’s just another day, that we’ll laugh about in the future. Maybe just me, I don’t know about Mum.

So, the song. “Black Hole” is the second song from be your own PET’s sophomore and final album “Get Awkward” in 2008. During the time between then and their first album, the band’s original drummer left and was eventually replaced by another. I never thought such a small change could affect a band’s sound so much, but it apparently did. The songs on the album had clearer melodies, Jemina Pearl drops her singing-talking-wailing delivery that she used for most tracks on the band’s debut, only using it for some on “Get Awkward”. The band still had the same energy, but there was a clear maturation in their sound.

“Black Hole” is the song for someone who loves violence, hates being bored and loathes the town they reside in because there’s nothing to do. When there is something to do, they always end up repeating the same routine. And this sucks for the person in question. The song’s not on the international release (it’s only found on the UK version) due to ‘controversial lyrics’ and was instead released separately alongside 2 other songs on the “Get Damaged EP”. That’s pretty dumb, if you ask me. Sure, ‘wanna choke myself on a telephone cord’ is a bit rough, but people know that it’s not a cool thing to do. Don’t they?

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.