Tag Archives: that

My iPod #529: The Offspring – Hit That

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“Hit That” was the first single from The Offspring’s album Splinter, released in 2003. Some consider the album to be the beginning of the band’s downfall, others see it as their last great album before things went pear-shaped. I did want the album went it was first out because, at the age of eight, I thought “Hit That” was the best song around. And because I hardly ever saw its video on TV, I used to go to the band’s website and watch it endlessly.

To be honest the song hasn’t aged that well. It sounds like it was made for 2003, and that year only…. Maybe 2004 too. The keyboard line doesn’t have the same effect it did all those years ago. But nostalgia’s sake makes me listen to it. It does still get me singing along too.

Sleeping around with many people and not thinking about the consequences is the main subject of the track, and it differs from many other tracks on Splinter in that it is carried by slick bass groove rather than punk guitar chords. I’s not their best song, but don’t let that stop you from hearing it out.

My iPod #474: Weezer – The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)

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“The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” is one of the most confusing Weezer tracks to exist. It can also be considered to be their most epic, depending on your taste. Lyrically, the song finds Rivers Cuomo at the height of hubris. In every line he is adamant on telling you he’s the best, no one can tell him he’s not the best, he will show that he is the best if you don’t believe him, he’ll mess with you if you get in his way leading into the final verse in which he defiantly declares that he is the song’s title, and it is his destiny to give to the world.

The other thing about this song is, for every verse that is delivered the band sing in a different style ranging from rap, to Slipknot, to Beethoven and Bach. Quite the mindfuck. Though it does make for an adventurous and unpredictable six minutes of your life. On listening to it years ago, I still have the thought that what happens in this just shouldn’t work. I shouldn’t like this at all. But it does. And I do. It is weird.

So either Rivers had just cracked during the writing of this, or it is the sign that the man is some sort of crazy genius.

My iPod #422: Super Furry Animals – The Gift That Keeps Giving

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“The Gift That Keeps Giving” is a song by Welsh band Super Furry Animals “conceived as a Christmas single” and eventually released as one on Christmas Day in 2007. It was also the final single to be released from their then most recent album Hey Venus!, their eighth overall.

Although all this time has passed, I have never got round to listening to the album. But “Gift” remains as my constant reminder of why I should one day, never mind the fact that the band’s whole discography is one of the most consistent by any group. I remember its music video being repeated again and again during the festive period on MTV2… it doesn’t quite match up to the tracks joyous message. But it still did its job of getting inside my head because of how warm and homely it sounded.

A track of a steady tempo with beautiful vocal harmonies and rich instrumentation, “The Gift That Keeps Giving” maintains a comfortable groove and infectious melody resulting in one of the band’s most mellow and yet enjoyable pieces of work.

My iPod #21: The Used – All That I’ve Got

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Hi everybody. I’m a bit late, I’m sorry. I’m on my iPod right now, my mum wouldn’t get off the computer, but it’s fine. I may have to make this quick, the battery’s running out.
‘In Love and Death’ is some album. It’s not regularly considered to be something of a concept album, but it could easily, seeing as it is about those two themes. Written during a particularly miserable period for Bert McCracken, it can sound really happy in some parts and downright pissed off and depressing in others.
‘All That I’ve Got’ first came into my life through a friend of my sister. Her friends must have sent her the song through MSN or something, but I can’t remember if sis liked it or not. I used to watch Kerrang! too, and it showed ten seconds of their new single at the time ‘I Caught Fire’ when it advertised the new videos that were the ‘ones to watch’. However, I wasn’t really interested, I don’t think I liked the look of make up on lead singers so I didn’t really bother listening to the song.
Coming after ‘Let It Bleed’ on the album, ‘All That I’ve Got’ is quite a sad song 😦 You wouldn’t think it listening to the lyrics or the actual music. According to Wikipedia, it was written after the lead singer’s pet died, and it’s never great when that happens.
I think the song describes any person in a situation when a loved one has died. It’s shown on soap operas all the time. There’s a character whose dad or brother has passed away. A friend asks “Are you ok?”, and the person answers, “Yeah, sure, why wouldn’t I be? Haha.” Then you see them crying in their pillow when they go to bed.
The narrator of the song does the same thing, and putting on the strong, ‘I don’t give a shit’ facade is the only thing he has from making himself look like a pussy in front of other people.
To anyone who has had that experience, it’s alright to feel sad. It’s never happened to me before so I don’t want to sound patronising. Whoever has left will always be with you, in your head and in your heart.
Until next time.
Jamie.