Thursday, August 21, 2008

Songs that make me want to cause Mayhem

I was in my Trader Joes today and I often wonder where they get the music from.This store plays all kinds of things.Some days it's reggae off an L.A. station but most of the time it's in house music.I don't know what Trader Joes does music wise but sometimes it's big band other days old rock but usually a rock mix.Today I walked in and heard Areosmith and that Emotion song but then I heard the first notes of a song so vile I thought this can't be.I've avoided this song like a bad hit of acid since 1972 when it haunted my waking hours.On the school bus drivers radio,in the car,at the mall.I have heard it a handful of times since then and like a bad Poe strory it gives me pause and brings all sorts of bad things to mind.That song is "Alone again Naturally" by Gilbert O'Sullivan and when the clerk saw me looking at the ceiling in angst he asked me what was wrong and I said this song!.I hate this song!"Isn't it Paul McCartney" he says and I'm thinking you could confuse it with most of his dreck after the Beatles."No it's some Brit or something(the name escaped me till later) and hopefully he's dead." I said in reply.He laughed when I told him about how often that freakin song was played for over two months.Then I told him about 77 when I quit the campground in North Truro and went to work at Babes.The campground owner kicked me out so I borrowed a friends tent and got a site in overflow for a few weeks till I found a place to live at Horton's campground down the road from my old campground.The first ten days I'm there this guy next to me got up at 5.a.m. and cooked breakfast while he played a Harry Chapin 8 track over and over.Since I was a dishwasher at Babes I started a bit later around 7:30 than the rest of the boys but instead of sleep I spent two hours hung over each morning listening to that damm Taxi song over and over and over.There are others but none so vile as those two.The opening chords to"Smoke on the Water" still gives me the chills in a oh christ how many times can they play this song on FM in one day.Another time I drove from Rochester to Boulder with a friend and he had one 8 track of the Elton John album"Don't shoot me,I'm only the piano player" All the way across the country we played it.Freakin Daniel was leaving tonight on a plane enough times to rack up some big frequent flyer miles.There are others just on principal.The mere mention of Streisand or Celine Dion makes me wish I owned a sawed off shotgun.Then there's the special place in hell I have for Michael Bolton.I'd like to stop that caterwauling once and for all.There are others(You better hope I don't find you Morris Alpert) and they know who they are.

1 comment:

nnyhav said...

I hear ya.

I had a college housemate who owned two records: Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run and the soundtrack to Rocky. Part of his wake-up routine.

"Last year me and my friend George drove across the country. We switched every half mile. We only had one cassette tape to listen to on the entire trip...I can't remember what it was." -- Steven Wright