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#885: Eminem ft. Hailie Jade – My Dad’s Gone Crazy

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I didn’t get to listening to The Eminem Show in full until I was 14. ‘Course I knew who Eminem was. You couldn’t miss him in the ’00s. Except for that time where he didn’t make music for a while. But I didn’t appreciate albums so much then as I did as time went on. And when I saw the tracklist on Wikipedia, I want to say I had the same reaction to those who bought the CD when it came out in stores in 2002. “My Dad’s Gone Crazy… featuring Hailie Jade? Nah, he didn’t get Hailie on a track with him?” Well, he did. The Hailie. His daughter who he shouted out, referred to in so many of his tracks, the apple of his eye was appearing alongside her father on a song. And it wasn’t as eyeroll-inducing as I thought it would be. Eminem is his (back then) usual comical, cursing, witty self. It just so happens that his daughter’s on there too.

Inspired by an out of the blue moment where Hailie said the title phrase one time when she was in the studio with her father, the track, I think, encapsulates all of Eminem’s alter egos/rapping styles, whatever you want to call them, into this track. In three verses, Em makes some not so subtle references to 9/11 – which at that time had only happened a few months prior – raps about hurting people with chainsaws, having sex with Dr. Dre with no protection, how much his mother talked nonsense, and, generally, how he wouldn’t have to rile the public up with the things he raps about if people just left him alone. Hailie comes in at times with some adlibbing and suitable sound effects. Whenever she appears, she’s upfront in the mix just to make it clear that, yes, she is on this. That may annoy some people. I’ve become used to it myself. I’m always glad though that it was never this schmaltzy daddy-daughter song. It’s one where Em asks for Hailie as he seems to be going on a downward spiral, which is kind of hilarious.

I think the last verse on here must be one of Em’s most underrated. As the last song on the final album of that classic trilogy, all of those lines truly summarise why Eminem had an effect on all of those who were listening to his songs/albums/anything that he was coming out with up to that point. Through it all there was the one person who he was doing it for, which was his daughter, and now here she was on a song with him at the peak of his powers. It’s beautiful stuff when you think about it. It really never was the same for Em after this particular album, as has been well-documented. Looking back, there’s something a bit bittersweet about it all. It is what it is.

#884: The Wombats – My Circuitboard City

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In the spring of ’09, The Wombats released ‘My Circuitboard City’ as a standalone single. The track itself wouldn’t have been out of place on their debut album, which was their most recent one at the time. I assume that it was not included, A) Because they didn’t feel the same way as me, or B) The song just wasn’t fully completed at the time. It’s about going out in the town, making a fool of yourself and feeling like a loser afterwards. Something I’m sure everyone can relate to. I’ve definitely had those moments. I think it’s fair to say that its relatability plays a part in why I like it. But when I was 14 and hadn’t gone through those experiences yet, the music and melody covered the majority.

It wouldn’t have fit on that first album just because of the topic it covers. There are a lot of musical traits common throughout that record that pop up on here too. Catchy refrains that are repeated endlessly, ‘doo-doo’ melodies and vocal harmonies, that youthful tone to Matthew Murphy’s vocals. All the works. But because it wasn’t included on any album, and I don’t think the Wombats have a ‘greatest hits’ compilation or anything like that, it’s probably a tune that a lot of people either don’t know about, or thought they had a dream that it existed and went on to forget about it. But hopefully this post works as a reminder that this song is out there, and has been around for 12 years now. Whoever may be reading this, go out there and spread the word.

And with that, I’ve now covered every Wombats song that I personally enjoy in this long, long series. For now at least. Another one could arrive way in the future. Though I must admit, I like that first album a lot and didn’t follow them that much from their second onwards. But tell me if I’m missing out on anything. If you’re a Wombats person, revisit those tracks I’ve written about by clicking on these individual words. Thanks again for your time.

#814: Parquet Courts – Master of My Craft

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Parquet Courts, Parquet Courts. Not the hugest fan of them, I have to admit. Not because they’re bad. They do make great songs, but I’ve never been able to fully enjoy their whole discography from front to back. I did a ‘review’ for Sunbathing Animal way back when. It’s not very good. But That was after I had heard Light Up Gold for the first few times and thought, “Wow! This is my new band.” I’ve not listened to that album for a while. If I had started this blog a bit later, ‘Bodies Made Of’ would’ve had its own post on here.

I’m digressing. Continuing on with the ‘songs from the perspective of someone we shouldn’t like’ theme established from yesterday’s post, this is ‘Master of My Craft’. It’s the first song on Light Up Gold, and it’s sung by co-lead vocalist Austin Brown. I think it’s all right to assume that this is from the POV of some sleazy, selfish, corporate business-oriented person who has no compassion whatsoever for other people. This person won’t even take a minute out of the day to talk to you. It’s madness. I’m exaggerating. Brown’s kind-of-distant vocal delivery suits the song’s message well, and I’ve personally liked the almost-monoaural mix the track has. Makes the performance sound all the more compact and tight.

With about fifty seconds to go, the vocals finish and the band jam on two chords with Brown providing a solo in each ear. Listening to the song by itself, you may think that it ends quite abruptly. You would be right. Some would tell you that the best way to listen to the song is when it’s then followed by the next track on the album, ‘Borrowed Time’. That would have had its own post too. That way you get a solid six minutes of some good rock music. You wouldn’t believe that one song ended and the other started the way this transition goes. The band perform the two songs live below.

#812: The Beatles – Martha My Dear

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Not so long after John Lennon finishes wailing about happiness being a warm gun on The Beatles’ White Album comes ‘Martha My Dear’. The track is virtually a solo Paul McCartney venture. He plays all the instruments on there bar the violins, trumpets and all the other ‘classical’ instrumentation. Those were arranged by the band’s producer George Martin. The song is also notable for being about McCartney’s dog who he owned at the time. I’ve seen that a lot of people don’t take it seriously for that reason and jokingly categorise it under the ‘granny shit’ label that Lennon had reportedly said about some of McCartney’s material.

But really, I think it just goes under the list of great songs that the man wrote. Another great melody as per usual. And that piano run is hard to play. I’ve tried. There’s a lot of skipping and jumping from note to note while trying to maintain the timing. I’ve also liked how the song always keeps moving and changing. McCartney sings along with the piano and violins for the first verse/chorus(?), then the horns come in for the “hold your head up” section to add some oomph, and then takes off with the “take a good look” bridge. It’s hard to label the song’s parts. There’s not really a chorus because the piano lick is kind of the main refrain of it. It’s just one nice melody after the next, with a nice instrumental walk-in-the-park section.

So a guy just wanted to write a song about his dog. There’s no problem with that. Have you seen the pictures of Paul and Martha? It seems that they were very close. A lot of credit has to go to George Martin on this one too. His arrangement for the additional instruments make this track a lot more dramatic than it has any right to be. This would be the beginning of Side 2 if you were listening to it on vinyl. I think I’ve got to say that that side may be my favourite on the double album. The run from ‘Martha My Dear’ to about ‘Rocky Raccoon’ is one of their strangely gratifying moments on any of the band’s albums.

#772: They Might Be Giants – Lost My Mind

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They Might Be Giants’ ‘Lost My Mind’ was initially released on a teaser EP leading up to the band’s then upcoming Nanobots album in 2013. Alongside it came ‘Call You Mom’, a rocker about a narrator with mummy issues, and ‘Black Ops’, a stranger number that was a bit more experimental. ‘Lost My Mind’ was my favourite on that collection and stayed as one of my highlights when the album eventually came out.

In this song, John Linnell takes the phrase of ‘losing someone’s mind’ and puts it in a very literal sense. The narrator’s mind has gone missing, they think they might have misplaced it somewhere, and if it’s buried underground they’re not going to go digging for it because they don’t have the time. Some fans of TMBG really wish to understand the meaning behind a lot of the band’s songs. Sometimes they’re so surreal that it makes a lot of listeners wonder what Linnell and Flansburgh are on about. I’m not sure there’s much in ‘Lost My Mind’ to deeply understand though. It’s one of the few where you just have to take it as it is. I think that’s an aspect that makes it stand out to me.

Also there’s bags of melodies in here that I can’t help but sing along to. The track has a bit of a wandering feel to it. In contrast to ‘Call You Mom’, the track that preceded it on the Nanobots EP, ‘Lost’ is a slow burner and the guitars in your face as much. It’s midtempo, carried by a blaring keyboard played by usual guitarist Dan Miller and a steady rhythm section. John Linnell sings the lead and does so very well. I like the final chorus in which John Flansburgh sings the backing while Linnell holds out a longer note and sing together to create a good countermelody. That’s something to look out for.