The fourth installment of the DSP playlist.
*Whoops, accidentally published two songs on the 28th.
Category: December Song Project
My DSP 4: The Underdog
Song: The Underdog
Artist: Spoon
Year: 2007
Favorite Lyric: You got no time for the messenger
Got no regard for the thing that you don’t understand
You got no fear of the underdog
That’s why you will not survive
Significance: I heard this song in the movie Cloverfield. I liked it enough at the time to download it. It found its way back into my playlist this year and in heavy rotation. And it seemed like a fitting end for the year. Happy new year, everyone!
Video:
My DSP 4: The Last Mall
Song: The Last Mall
Artist: Steely Dan
Year: 2003
Favorite Lyric: Roll your cart back up the aisle, kiss the checkout girls goodbye
Ride the ramp to the freeway beneath the blood orange sky
It’s last call to do your shopping
At the Last Mall
Significance: I think this song is both a prescient commentary on the soon-to-be-anachronistic shopping mall, as well as a veiled way for Steely Dan to say, “that’s all, folks.” Since we haven’t heard from anything new from then since the album on which this song appeared, it could be true. I’m posting it here, today, now, because this may be the “last mall” of the December Song Project.
Video:
My DSP 4: Yeh Yeh
Song: Yeh Yeh
Artist: They Might Be Giants
Year: 2001
Favorite Lyric: And then she asks me why don’t I come to her flat
And have some supper and let the evening pass by
Playing records, the sounds of groovy hi-fi
I say yeah yeah, that’s what I say, I say yeah yeah
Significance: They Might Be Giants was a very influential band to me when I was a teenager. So influential I almost never listen to them anymore. This cover of a 1965 hit by Georgie Fame is an exception. Incidentally, a while back I heard an episode of Slate’s “Working” podcast in which John Flansburgh, half of the main TMBG duo, was interviewed. It was enlightening.
Video:
My DSP 4: Put Your Records On
Song: Put Your Records On
Artist: Corinne Bailey Rae
Year: 2006
Favorite Lyric: Summer came like cinnamon, so sweet,
Little girls double-dutch on the concrete
Significance: This was a bit of a one-hit wonder that I heard on The Late Late Show when it still belonged to Craig Ferguson. Great find.
Video:
My DSP 4: Why Don’t You Get a Job?
Song: Why Don’t You Get a Job?
Artist: The Offspring
Year: 1998
Favorite Lyric: I guess all his money, well it isn’t enough
’cause that girl’s got expensive taste
Significance: By all accounts, I should not like this song. I do not like songs by people who scream lyrics. But I do like it, I can’t help it. Thanks to my spouse, and not my offspring, for introducing me to this one in an anime video eons ago.
Video:
Please click through to Vimeo for the HQ version.
Low Quality is here:
My DSP 4: I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Song: I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Artist: Norah Jones
Year: 2008
Favorite Lyric: That big, fat moon is gonna shine like a spoon
But we’re gonna let it, you won’t regret it
Significance: This is a Bob Dylan cover, and one that I think outdoes the original, specifically in terms of tone. It should be a love song. It doesn’t sound like it when Dylan sings it.
Video:
My DSP 4: Good People
Song: Good People
Artist: Jack Johnson
Year: 2005
Favorite Lyric: Wrong and resolute but in the mood to obey
Station to station desensitizing the nation
Significance: The song that introduced me to Jack Johnson. I think he’s a little one note, but he can be impressive, especially the recordings and mixes.
Video:
My DSP 4: Sleigh Ride
Song: Sleigh Ride
Artist: The Ronettes
Year: 1963
Favorite Lyric: Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy cozy are we
We’re snuggled close together like two birds of a feather would be
Significance: My favorite Christmas song in almost any incarnation. Merry Christmas!
Video:
My DSP 4: Nobody Told Me
Song: Nobody Told Me
Artist: John Lennon
Year: 1984
Favorite Lyric: Always something happening and nothing going on
There’s always something cooking and nothing in the pot
Significance: This is off John Lennon’s posthumous album Milk and Honey. I’m noticing a theme within my selections of juxtapositions. This versus that, is versus isn’t. This is a great example of that. Yesterday I called McCartney’s lyrics inconsequential, and John Lennon’s lyrics are never so. Even within this tune, which is pretty light, the wordplay is intriguing.
Video:
Suite Story Productions 