The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side by The Magnetic Fields

Another favorite by the Magnetic Fields. The above short animation was made by an art student to accompany the song, and it's really lovely. Thank god this song supplanted LOC in my consciousness today. I left a job interview feeling lighter than usual of late, and whistled this song as I walked down the streets of the financial district.

Year: 1999
Rating: Hot!

Land of Confusion (redux)

* The frequency of this awful song in my neural jukebox requires me to refer to it, henceforth, simply as LOC.

Last post: 2/9/09
Year: 1986
Rating: Cold
Noteworthy: Yes, in the shower once again.

Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones

There are a few Stones songs I really love, and their musical influence is enduring. Start Me up doesn't make the cut. Exhibit A: car-as-cock analogies. Exhibit B: Jagger in a leotard. Exhibit C: "You make a dead man come." One of the most revolting lyrics in rock history.

For a good time, give a listen to the Folksmen parody.

Year (original): 1981 Rating: Cold
Year (parody): 2003 Rating: Warm

Mad About You by Belinda Carlisle

This song came into my head, no doubt, because I'd looked into Amber's eyes last night and said, "Baby, I'm mad about you." Cooing and smooching ensued.

While I much prefer her Go-Go's era, I am genuinely fond of this Belinda Carlisle solo song. On listening now, I realize it's some mediocre pop, but back in the '80s, I surprised even myself by admitting to Barry on some extended teenage phone chat that I actually liked it. Her other big solo hit from her second album without the band is squarely in late-'80s diva territory, in which I can't hang.

Year: 1986
Rating: Warm

The Lines You Amend (redux)

Still in m'head.

Last post: 2/14/09
Year: 1996
Rating: Hot!

Help Me, Rhonda by the Beach Boys

Another song that stuck in my head as a result of linking it in my Musical DNA entry. Above you'll find an interesting alternative version and takes with notorious harsh coaching by Beach Boys manager and Brian, Dennis, and Carl's father, Murry Wilson.

Year: 1965
Rating: Warm

Life During Wartime by Talking Heads

Here's a yummy live performance from 1984. Originally released on the album Fear of Music in '79, this really became a quintessential '80s song. It's kind of the most "'80s-sounding" song on the record, actually. The rest of the tracks are more arty and almost prog, which isn't surprising, with Robert Fripp contributing in studio and Adrian Belew on tour.

Year: 1979
Rating: Hot!

Logistical update

Hi all,

Be sure to keep checking back over the next couple days - I'm back-dating a bunch of new entries to catch up with the original list of Songs in My Head that I started on Facebook on February 9, 2009. I want the posting dates to match the actual days those songs were, you know, in my head. Scroll down to see entries dated earlier than the introductory posts on 2/21. I'll be caught up to "real time" pretty quickly, I imagine. I'm sure this post is unnecessary, but I'm anal like that. Hope you're enjoying!

The Book of Love by the Magnetic Fields

In my entry entitled My Musical DNA, I linked to a studio version of this song (set to an old silent film of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk). The above version is from a 2008 show, a tour I got to catch.

The Book of Love has music in it
In fact, that's where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental
Some of it is just really dumb

It was just a wonderful experience to see them live and stripped down to such spare acoustic accompaniment. For those of you unfamiliar with the Magnetic Fields, their sound is often much more produced and heavily influenced by '80s synth-pop. Here's an example of one of their more synthy songs. They have huge catalog of material, and songs range from old-timey country to ultra-modern, but nearly always with a tinge, or maybe a gash, of irony, arch humor, and melancholia.

Year: 1999
Rating: Hot!

The Prune Song by Frank Crumit and Harry DeCosta

An old Camp song based on this tune came into my head, and in researching it online, I discovered that it goes all the way back to 1928, written by Frank Crumit and Harry DeCosta. If you view the song at YouTube you can see the full lyrics - it's a real treat. My favorite verse is:

Prohibition worries us
But prunes don't sit and brood
For no matter how young a prune may be
It's always getting stewed

We ended the song with that last couplet in the version we sang at Camp, but it took several years of singing it throughout my childhood before I figured out that "stewed" was a euphemism for "drunk." Once I put that together, I loved the song even more.

Year: 1928
Rating: Warm (very)