Corwood Rep
Member
I was recently thinking about this, how there are some songs where I remember where I was/what was going on when I heard them as much as I remember the actual song. I'm trying to get some lyrical ideas going for my brother's band, and this is really coloring the way I write lyrics, because I associate certain themes in those old songs with mood and nostalgia and very specific emotions. Here are some of mine:
The Pogues - Goodnight, Irene.
This is the last song on their new boxset, hidden track. I remember, my parents had just broken up and I was sleeping at my mother's place, really bummed out because everything was so unfamiliar. I walked out of her condo at about two in the morning, and walked down to the river. When I got there, the moon was reflecting perfectly, so I started throwing rocks into the water. This song came up on my iPod and blew my mind. When Shane MacGowan sings "Well Irene God knows I love her / Love her 'til the sea runs dry / If Irene turns her back on me / I'm gonna take morphine and die" and the horns and backing vocalists kick up and Joe Strummer yelps out "wah-ha-ha-haaaa!" it gave me chills.
Johnny Cash - Delia's Gone.
I have two particular early childhood memories of popular music. The first was hearing "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams, by way of my grandpa, when I was like 3, through the outdoor sound system out by his carport overlooking his tractor and barn. The second was when he came back from the record store and put on Johnny Cash's first American album. My grandma was making biscuits and gravy, it was early in the morning and my grandpa was smoking a Cuban cigar he'd just bought. I was blown away by how badass this song sounded. I also still vaguely remember the video, which featured Johnny digging a grave and looking at a noose or something.
Johnny Cash - Cocaine Blues.
My grandpa had "Live At Folsom Prison" on in his truck when he taught me to drive. This song came on just when I had figured out how to shift gears with his somehow-backwards manual transmission and I could keep a consistent-ish speed. I started doing about 60 mph down this farm dirt road, kicking dust up everywhere, having the time of my goddamn life.
The Clash - Bankrobber.
My mom had a bunch of Clash vinyl. One day when I was like 7, when she was out of town (she wouldn't let me touch her records), I put on this single and listened to the song about 20 times in a row, because I just loved the lyrics. There was something about Strummer's delivery that was really evocative to me. "And the old man spoke up in a bar / Said I never been in prison / A lifetime serving one machine is ten times worse than prison." That was the first time I actively sought out music, really, and it played a big part in how I subsequently discovered music on my own. I sing this song all the time, just recreationally.
The Clash - Safe European Home.
My dad hated music, always did, because I guess his brother was in a psych-metal band as a teenager or something and he'd play electric guitar at all hours of the night. To really listen to music as a kid, I had to sneak out to the garage and turn on the car stereo. About 3 a.m., I put on "Give 'Em Enough Rope" and I was rocking out, doing all that bullshit air guitar stuff, and my dad woke up. He swung open the garage door and yelled and yelled and yelled and I just couldn't give a fuck.
John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom.
When my brother was about 6 months old, I had this song on and he was crying, so I turned it up to see if it'd distract him enough to get him to shut up. He started making a "bu" sound the second time the chorus came up, and he stopped crying. After that I'd play it when he got bitchy. After a month or so, he started asking me to play it. I'm pretty sure "Boom Boom" was his first actual word, although my mom swears it was "mama." Bullshit. He's 3 now, and he can sing pretty much this whole song, verse for verse.
The Pogues - Goodnight, Irene.
This is the last song on their new boxset, hidden track. I remember, my parents had just broken up and I was sleeping at my mother's place, really bummed out because everything was so unfamiliar. I walked out of her condo at about two in the morning, and walked down to the river. When I got there, the moon was reflecting perfectly, so I started throwing rocks into the water. This song came up on my iPod and blew my mind. When Shane MacGowan sings "Well Irene God knows I love her / Love her 'til the sea runs dry / If Irene turns her back on me / I'm gonna take morphine and die" and the horns and backing vocalists kick up and Joe Strummer yelps out "wah-ha-ha-haaaa!" it gave me chills.
Johnny Cash - Delia's Gone.
I have two particular early childhood memories of popular music. The first was hearing "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams, by way of my grandpa, when I was like 3, through the outdoor sound system out by his carport overlooking his tractor and barn. The second was when he came back from the record store and put on Johnny Cash's first American album. My grandma was making biscuits and gravy, it was early in the morning and my grandpa was smoking a Cuban cigar he'd just bought. I was blown away by how badass this song sounded. I also still vaguely remember the video, which featured Johnny digging a grave and looking at a noose or something.
Johnny Cash - Cocaine Blues.
My grandpa had "Live At Folsom Prison" on in his truck when he taught me to drive. This song came on just when I had figured out how to shift gears with his somehow-backwards manual transmission and I could keep a consistent-ish speed. I started doing about 60 mph down this farm dirt road, kicking dust up everywhere, having the time of my goddamn life.
The Clash - Bankrobber.
My mom had a bunch of Clash vinyl. One day when I was like 7, when she was out of town (she wouldn't let me touch her records), I put on this single and listened to the song about 20 times in a row, because I just loved the lyrics. There was something about Strummer's delivery that was really evocative to me. "And the old man spoke up in a bar / Said I never been in prison / A lifetime serving one machine is ten times worse than prison." That was the first time I actively sought out music, really, and it played a big part in how I subsequently discovered music on my own. I sing this song all the time, just recreationally.
The Clash - Safe European Home.
My dad hated music, always did, because I guess his brother was in a psych-metal band as a teenager or something and he'd play electric guitar at all hours of the night. To really listen to music as a kid, I had to sneak out to the garage and turn on the car stereo. About 3 a.m., I put on "Give 'Em Enough Rope" and I was rocking out, doing all that bullshit air guitar stuff, and my dad woke up. He swung open the garage door and yelled and yelled and yelled and I just couldn't give a fuck.
John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom.
When my brother was about 6 months old, I had this song on and he was crying, so I turned it up to see if it'd distract him enough to get him to shut up. He started making a "bu" sound the second time the chorus came up, and he stopped crying. After that I'd play it when he got bitchy. After a month or so, he started asking me to play it. I'm pretty sure "Boom Boom" was his first actual word, although my mom swears it was "mama." Bullshit. He's 3 now, and he can sing pretty much this whole song, verse for verse.
