Tag Archives: let’s

#733: be your own PET – Let’s Get Sandy (Big Problem)

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The video for ‘Let’s Get Sandy’ by be your own PET appeared on MTV2 one day when I was eleven. Before I had enough time to digest what was going on, the song was suddenly over. This track is only 58 seconds long which blew my mind at the time. I didn’t think you were even able to have songs that last for that short amount of time. But alas, there it was. And it turned out to be a single as well. That music video may have been shown once or twice afterwards, at least that the amount of times I saw it again, and then it disappeared from rotation. It is above though, and sees the band members and random people in strange costumes playing a game of hide and seek in the woods.

‘Sandy’ is a ball of energy. Quite the cliché thing to say but if there was a song that saying applies to, it’s this one. 264 beats per minutes is what I’ve gathered from my calculation. That’s fast stuff. And something to look out for is drummer Jamin Orall’s performance on the kit; he’s thrashing away on the cymbals and snare like his life depends on it. It’s not told what the ‘big problem’ as listed in the title is, but singer Jemina Pearl tells us that she didn’t want to make ‘it’ one. And then afterwards goes on about not being let into the ‘news, film, and park’ and breaking a twelve year old’s arms in two places. It’s a bunch of nonsense really, but I still like it to this day.

#732: The Rutles – Let’s Be Natural

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Another great Beatles parody courtesy of musician, comedian, actor and all round nice man Neil Innes as part of the Rutles All You Need Is Cash film project from 1978. Innes sadly and quite suddenly passed away last December, but his work under the guise of Ron Nasty lives on. I got to know the music of the Rutles more or less around the same time I was on my Beatles tip of 2009/10. Unlike other parody acts that can make a proper half-assed effort in portraying their sources, Neil Innes and The Rutles were always very respectful in their mimicry while also maintaining humour and making great music in general.

‘Let’s Be Natural’ closes out the soundtrack album that accompanied the Rutles film and was released on both the original LP in 1978, and the 1990 CD reissue which included seven more songs not found on the vinyl release. It’s a clear nod to the Beatles song ‘Dear Prudence’, even taking that track’s bassline for its own during the choruses. There’s a bit from ‘If I Fell’ in there too. Innes sings with John Lennon’s trademark nasal tone among some relaxing arpeggiated chords and ‘aaah’ backing harmonies. Man, it’s a very soothing track. But I guess you could ask why you would want to listen to this if you could listen to The Beatles at any time. Probably because if you got to a place where you got tired of listening to them, this would be the closest you would get to their type of music without it actually being by them. Plus all four Beatles approved their music. Paul McCartney less so, apparently. The point still stands.

So I hope you enjoy it. The song’s message is all in the title. R.I.P. Neil Innes.

My iPod #293: They Might Be Giants – Don’t Let’s Start

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Wonderful news, I am now back in university after a three week break with the family. Will my style of writing change because of it? Probably not. And why would it?

That seems a strange way to begin this post. To be honest, I am just writing down whatever comes to my head because I didn’t plan what to write about “Don’t Let’s Start”, one of They Might Be Giants’ most popular songs which can be found on their debut album from 1986. I have never taken the time out to really think about what I would type for all the songs that have preceded this, but for some reason I have no clue where I could ‘start’ with this track.

It is definitely one of the group’s best. And one of Linnell’s, seeing as he wrote it. The thing is I couldn’t tell you what its subject matter is. Linnell vaguely stated that it is about ‘not let’s starting’ and also admitted that he wrote the music first, and the syllables in the lyrics were able to fit in with the melody. Maybe it’s not about anything important. Maybe it’s about nothing at all. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is how it’s all delivered to the listener, right?

Well, it’s pretty quick. But a lot happens in just under three minutes. This track contains one of Linnell’s most eccentric vocal takes, singing softly one second before passionately yelling the next and then throwing out a random tongue twister. It also contains the band’s most dramatic yet most memorable lyrics: “Everybody dies frustrated and sad, and that is beautiful” and “I don’t want to live in this world anymore”. A bit morbid, true. But the happy, stop-starting music makes them all sound hilarious and nonsensical.

The track got They Might Be Giants ‘noticed’ for obvious reasons, and they went on to dominate the world with their drum machine, and eventually their actual backing band. Still going strong today, too.

* Here is the interesting demo for “Don’t Let’s Start”. I don’t know why, but I get an image of a boombox and kids playing hopscotch in the street in time to the music when I hear it. It sounds real old school.

** Plus, the version in the video at the beginning of the post is the single version. The album version is only slightly different, but they’re both the same track. I do prefer the album version though.