What Song Today?

I never set my alarm to wake me with music. Not unless you count the lame guitar strum on my alarm app.

I wake up with a song in my head every morning, and it usually turns into an earworm.

I’m not complaining, though.

My brain picks great songs!

Mostly.

Since they’re stuck on a loop in my brain all damn day, it really sux ass to be stuck with “Come on Eileen” or “I’m Leaving On A Jet Plane” or God help me, “Achy-Breaky Heart.”

Holy shit, did I just say that? No, no, no! Bad loop, bad loop.

That song may have made Billy Ray Cyrus a star and a bazillionaire, but damn. What a bad song.

And now it’s stuck in my head.

Stupid earworm.

Music Soothes The Savage Beast

Music calms the heart, lyrics rouse your soul, and combined, they soothe our brains. No, really. It’s science.

It doesn’t matter what kind of music, only that music which moves you.

So don’t let music snobs, ahem, critics tell you what music is good.

Hey, music critics get shit wrong every day!

You get to choose your good music!

Unless it’s Billy Ray Cyrus. Because then, we need to talk.

Although I did kinda dig that cowboy song he did with Lil Nas X…

But anyway.

Fuck music snobs.

Crank your Nickelback if it makes your heart happy.

LOL, maybe don’t crank Nickelback; you might cause a stinken riot on your street.

A perfect example of band hate grown to epic proportions.

I mean, a, Your insults made the band members cry big bottle-blonde man tears all the way to the bank, and b, If you don’t like them, DON’T LISTEN TO THEM!

But wait. Why do people hate Nickelback?

What did these nice fellows from Canadia do to foster such hate and vitriol?

This reddit thread articulates a sensible reason why Nickelback brews such hate:

From reddit, a long damn time ago, user BodatheDestroyer, answered the question, “Why do people hate Nickelback so much?”

BodatheDestroyer:

Long Ago…in a time far far away….the 90's….a tragedy happened… After the unfortunate death of Kurt Cobain there was a struggle in the music industry for direction. Bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden continued to lead the charge for a creativity instrumentally while other bands like Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots adjusted and continued to produce music that was primarily vocally focused. This gave rise to the evil powers that lead to the search for the new “It Front Man”.

Bands continued to copy this new obscure vocal sounds of hymms and hawws that had been done so well by Eddie Vedder and Scott Weiland in the past and dressed themselves and styled their hair in way that mimicked Mr. Cobain as to blend with the mourning culture. Front men such as Gavin Rossdale and Placebo’s Brian Molko even copied the “Jagstang” guitar developed by Cobain in a sense to copy and push the style only to continue their perversion of grunge.

Mainstream media caught wind of the style of grunge and adapted the look into its culture. Bands like Creed and Nickleback suddenly crept into the radio waves as a resurrection of the style and made it comfortable for the mainstream to feel like it was a part of the new cool “Alternative” movement while everyone else in the grunge movement was still mourning bands like Nirvana and hoped for more from the Progrock/ Grunge Movement. Instead the music industry was pumped full of terrible sued o country rock ballads that lead way to the terribleness of the Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit genre.

So to answer your question in a summed up version. Nickelback is a media corporation’s horrible answer to the aftermath of a discord from a generation who lost their artistic leader in a true art. All in order to make a buck after which the general population that has no taste still to some reason still listens to the they dispense and the continence of their success stands against everything that the grunge movement, which they base the entirety of their style from, stands for.

Whew. A little wordy and a lot to unpack. But I think the major theme here is spot-on.

We miss Curt, so the asshole corporate music heads forced Chad on us.

That’s okay, though. Fly your Nickelback flag and sing that shit loud and proud.

Except for “Photograph.” LOL, don’t play that one.

You might get shot.

No one needs to hear that shit again.

Welcome To My Week!

Monday: Evil Woman by ELO

“There’s a hole in my head where the rain comes in”

How fucking appropriate is that for a Monday morning?

I was 11 years old when this song was released in 1975. I didn’t hear it until a few years later when I took control of the radio airwaves in my bedroom with the radio alarm clock my uncle gave me for my birthday.

Goodbye to Mom’s country western, hello rock and roll!

Hits like “Can’t Get It Outta My Head,” “Evil Woman,” “Living Thing,” “Mr. Blue Sky,” “Showdown,” and “Strange Magic” were regulars on the radio in the 70’s and 80’s.

But when ELO showed up in the soundtrack for “Boogie Nights,” in 1997, they made fans out of a whole new generation.

So hell yeah, I’m happy to let Jeff Lynne’s smooth vocals rain in my brain.

I’m ready for you, week. Put up your dukes.

Tuesday: “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac

This is the first rock and roll song I ever heard.

Well, okay, it really wasn’t the first. I grew up on Elvis, after all. But it was the first rock and roll song I heard when I was a newly minted teenager.

I couldn’t believe there was more music out there than the boring stuff George Jones and Tammy Wynette twanged about or the semi-dirty, holy-shit-I-can’t-believe-my-mom-and-dad-are-listening-to-that-smut by Conway Twitty.

“Dreams” made me want to find all of Fleetwood Mac’s songs and listen to them, and I did. And that’s when I developed a lifetime crush on Lindsey Buckingham.

He looks a little strange now, but back in the day? Swoon. Plus, that guitar? Oh yeah!

Fleetwood Mac made me want more music. I wanted all of rock and roll.

“But it’s only me who wants to wrap around your dreams”

Hmmm. How many of us have wanted to peer into our lover’s dreams?

Not just me, right?

Ahem. I’m grown up now and know better than to poke around in someone’s dreams.

Just let me see your playlist, instead.

Wednesday: “Love Song” Tesla

Might as well start hump day off with a little love, I guess.

I’m a big fan of 80’s rock, whether hard rock, glam, thrash metal, punk, I don’t care, it’s all rock and roll to me. They called Tesla glam because they toured with Diamond Dave and Poison, but I never bought that moniker.

They were more acoustical, in my mind and a lot more soulful than they are often credited.

Singer Jeff Keith loves this song and says he won’t play a set unless this song is included.

He told Dan MacIntosh at Song Facts:

“It’s got to make it in the set or I don’t want to do the set, because it’s all about the love. Tesla’s always been about the love.

We play these rock festivals, and even though the crowd is there to rock, they go, “Wow, love, man” when we play it. Tesla’s always been about the love, we’ll always be about the love. That’s who we are and that’s what we are. And we will forever play “Love Song” every time we ever play. Because love is how we all got here. Love’s what makes the world go ‘round. Love stands above everything, even the hate. Love is what keeps the world ticking.”

“Keep an open heart and you’ll find love again, I know”

Yeah. Sprinkle that shit everywhere, Keith.

Thursday: “Born To Run” Bruce Springsteen

Best. Rock and Roll. Song. Ever.

Fight me.

I was late to the game on this song, too. Released in 1975, it didn’t cross my path until ’79. It was a life-changing moment for me.

“Cause tramps like us, baby, we were born to run”

Um, excuse me? We can do that?

Don’t tease teenagers with stuff like that.

“I wanna guard your dreams and visions”

Please?

In the liner notes to his Greatest Hits album, Springsteen wrote: “My shot at the title. A 24 yr. old kid aimin’ at ‘The greatest rock ‘n roll record ever.’”

Yeah, man, you freaken nailed it.

Give him the crown.

Friday: “Jailbreak” AC/DC

Of course I’m starting my Friday with “Jailbreak.” Dude, what else would begin that sparkly day?

This song was first released in 1976 but it didn’t make it to U.S until 1984, four years after AC/DC’s smash album Back In Black was released.

I loved this song from the first second I heard Angus’ opening riff.

Being on Team Bon doesn’t hurt, either.

“It’s all in the name of liberty”

Don’t get me wrong, big fan of Brian Johnson and in fact, Back in Black is one of only two albums I’ve had in vinyl, 8-track, (gasp!) cassette, disc, and on all my streaming services, but I’m a Bon Girl at heart.

“I ain’t spending my life here.”

I’m really not. Bring that weekend shit now.

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That’s it for this work week’s songs! Hope you enjoy my faves as much as I do! Let me know your faves in the comments!

Wonder what songs the weekend will bring?

Brace yourself.

I’ve been known to inflict Boy Bands on my weekend crew.

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A version of this story originally appeared here. Thanks for reading!