[Yeah, yeah, I know. But I like my way better. Besides, what the hell is an ides? That just ain't no good English, if'n you ask me.]
Thanks to Arlee Bird of the blog 'WROTE BY ROTE' for making me aware of this musical challenge. It looked like fun so I thought I'd join in. (You know how I am about having fun!) I borrowed and edited Arlee's intro to suit my own needs here.
Debbie at DOGLADY'S DEN had the following meme at her site recently. The premise is to use song titles of a favorite band or artist to answer a series of questions.
I'm a big fan of the pre-1983 TOM WAITS.
 |
| TOM WAITS UP A TREE. FOR WHAT, I DON'T KNOW. |
After his fabulous soundtrack for the movie 'ONE FROM THE HEART' he began doing weird(er) things with music just for the sake of being weird(er). You know, when your percussion becomes dry cat bones drummed against an empty Budweiser can, you begin to lose me. Sorry!
But in my opinion, the pre-'83 Tom Waits was perhaps the finest lyricist in music history. It was my good friend General Poohregard (Pooh!!!) who introduced me to the music of Waits circa 1981. We used to like drinking at his pad while listening to Randy Newman's 'TROUBLE IN PARADISE' album and the 1976 Tom Waits album 'SMALL CHANGE'. Later, I got so into the early Waits recordings that I acquired them all on compact disc.
In this musical challenge each song title is a link to the recording at YouTube - click and dig those crazy lyrics!
Here is my life according to Tom Waits:
 |
| DOGLADY'S DEN |
Q and A
***********
Describe where you currently live:
Wrong Side Of The Road
If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
Your best friend is:
A Sight For Sore Eyes
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?
Up Shit Creek Again
Your fear:
I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You
What is the best advice you have to give?
Lie To Me, Baby  |
| 'THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT' |
Not only is Tom's second release, 'THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT' (1974) my favorite of Waits' albums, but it's also one of my Top Ten favorite music albums of all time! As you can see by clicking HERE, the cover illustration was inspired by another album cover from a very famous singer.
Give this music challenge a try! It's great fun. Pick one of your own favorites and get creative wid it.
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
POSTSCRIPT NOTE TO GIRL WONDER:
Be sure to pay attention to 'On A Foggy Night'. I don't want you to miss your offramp.
POSTSCRIPT NOTE TO GIRL WONDER:
Be sure to pay attention to 'On A Foggy Night'. I don't want you to miss your offramp.
Interesting meme/hop/post idea! I'm slowly trying to acclimate more of this sort of thing into my blog, but TIME! I never have it :(
ReplyDeleteHopefully someday I can get all caught up and even start posting stuff besides music!
Kim (ReInVintaged)
KIM ~
DeleteYeah, I always feel behind the 8 ball, too. Never enough time. What I need is some rich woman to take care of me for a couple years so I can get all caught up.
~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'
Try having three kids. Nothing says, "hey dummy you ain't gots no time for blogging," like having three kids. I enjoy yours though.
DeleteOh, I'm quite certain of that. Just trying to take care of the one big child I have (me!) is time-consuming and aggravating enough!
DeleteBy the way, did I mention to you that I have "reopened" my Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends blog? So far I only have one new blog bit there, but I intend to begin posting semi-regularly on it again soon. That always was my favorite of the blogs, and still is.
~ D-FensDogG
I'm assuming my offramp is La Cienega. Funny how that street keeps coming back to flaunt itself in my face:) Thank you for pointing me in the right direction! After all, it's a foggy night!
ReplyDeleteThe one that made me laugh (not unkindly, I assure you) was WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD. Ah, Stephen, I hate to tell you this but the grass isn't greener on the other side. It just looks like it...
GIRL WONDER ~
DeleteYeah, 'LA CIENEGA' for sure. I thought you'd get a kick out of that.
What's interesting about that Tom Waits bit is that he says you're on the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) headed in an Easterly direction, just past the La Cienega exit.
But if you listen carefully, you'll hear he kind of stumbles on the direction for half-a-second. He was going to say "Westerly direction" but shifted it to "Easterly" in mid-thought. You know why? Because there was NO offramp at La Cienega if you were going West on I-10. There was only an offramp for Eastbound traffic.
In January of '94 there was a big earthquake that destroyed that section of the freeway. When they rebuilt it, they reconfigured that stretch and I seem to recall that now there IS a La Cienega offramp for Westbound traffic. But there definitely wasn't one when Waits recorded 'ON A FOGGY NIGHT' and he almost blew that little detail in his song intro.
Yeah, I've given up looking for the right place to move. I guess I just gotta work on making ME the right place to be. ...That's gonna take a lotta work.
~ D-FensDogG
Well, we wish you'd come home. You gave it a shot, while so many others just talk about it. Now come home we'll go to "The Main Ingredient" and take another shot.
Delete"Have you seen this one?"...
DeletePHOENIX - 2016, March 1-5:
89 - 90 - 91 - 88 - 80
RENO - 2016, March 1-5:
68 - 72 - 67 - 63 - 63
~ D-FensDogG
Come to think of it, I think I will have that beer.
DeleteI'm not going to get into a temps battle with you boys. I got you both beat with the weather in Jacksonville...
DeleteSo, I'm moving straight on to the meat in that comment. Yes, you have to work on making YOU the right place to be. I've been doing that the last several years, and I can say in all honesty that it was much more fulfilling than any of my "relationships" with others (Jesus excluded).
Carry on...
>>-----> NAPPY <-----<<
DeleteMail one to me, also. It should be cooled down by the time it arrives here.
>>-----> GIRL WONDER <-----<<
Good relationship with Jesus, eh?
He and I haven't gotten along ever since his lawn mower chewed up my sprinkler heads and he claimed he didn't do it.
OK, OK. That was a bridge too far.
~ D-FensDogG
What a fun blog challenge! I've done this before, StMcC - it's been years ago - but I'm gonna toss in my OWN answers in your comment section, uninvited. I'm not a blogger, or I'd jump in uninvited that way!
ReplyDeleteAnd this list is only for you and the two or three others of you who know me. So, my apologies to the rest o' the bloggers.
As you know, my favorite band is The Who. So here are the answers, according to The Who:
THE WHO
Q and A
***********
Are you a male or female?
"I'm A Boy"
Describe yourself:
"Had Enough"
How do you feel?:
"Happy Jack"
Describe where you currently live:
"Cooks County"
If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
"Sea and Sand"
Your favorite form of transportation:
"Going Mobile"
Your best friend is:
"Baba O'Reilly"
Your favorite color is:
"Blue, Red and Gray"
What’s the weather like?
"Eminence Front"
Favorite time of day:
"5:15"
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?
"The Punk and the Godfather"
What is life to you?
"Amazing Journey"
Your relationships:
"A Quick One, While He's Away"
Your fear:
"Boris the Spider"
What is the best advice you have to give?
"We're Not Gonna Take It"
If you could change your name, you would change it to:
"Tommy"
Thought for the day:
"Love Ain't For Keeping"
How you would like to die:
"Drowned"
Your soul’s present condition:
"A Legal Matter"
Your motto:
"We Won't Get Fooled Again"
SHEBOYGANBROTHER SIX ~
DeleteMan, good job! I'm glad you participated! And for whatever reason, WHO songs seem to work really, really well for this game.
Those titles might fit better as answers than any others I've seen so far.
When you said your best friend was "Baba O'Reilly" I was thinking: But what's he going to use now for "What would you change your name to?" I'd forgotten about TOMMY. Ha!
I think my favorite answer - the one that made me literally laugh out loud - was for "Your Relationships:"
Bravo, buddy! Very nicely done!
~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'
POSTSCRIPT: I thought the "Soul's Present Condition" was A+ also!
Thanks for the nice words! The two you mentioned had ME chuckling, too. I thought you would like "A Legal Matter!"
DeleteI was so jolly at slamming that together that I forgot to say what a great job YOU did with your Tom Waits numbers. They suit you really well, and are clever and funny too.
It might be a fun challenge to get ASSIGNED someone to work with and see what you can come up with. Like AC/DC, or Pat Metheny, or Blink 182. HA! I'm gonna go now and see about working up one for Blink 182. You hate those guys but I love them, and a list might be pretty funny. If I do it, I'll email it rather than post, though.
Glad you liked it. I thought it was fun but also very easy. My answers fell into place so quickly. In fact, my biggest problem wasn't in finding answers but in having to narrow them down to one, because for a few questions I had multiple answers that I liked.
DeleteYeah, you can Email another one OR post it here if it comes out well and you like it.
The other two artists I briefly thought of using, that I believe have titles that'd be fun to work with, were Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys. If I find time, maybe I'll also experiment with those two.
~ D-FensDogG
This was really interesting how you took your favourite band/artist and created a story line with the song titles. It's actually quite cool. I like a lot of your answers:)
ReplyDeleteThanks, BIRGIT.
DeleteI wish I could take credit for the idea but apparently it originated with Facebook and was brought to us here by Debbie ("Doglady's" blog).
It was a lot of fun though.
You should try it. Or maybe you could do the same thing but with movie titles instead.
~ Stephen
Very cool post, Stephen! Thanks for playing along. ☺ I got a chuckle out of "Bad liver and a broken heart" and a few other titles. I'll give the tunes a listen tomorrow. Tom Waits sure has some interesting material.
ReplyDeleteDEBBIE ~
DeleteThanks! Waits is a weirdo but he definitely wrote some great stuffs that I could/can relate to.
~ D-FensDogG
I'll give this challenge some thought. Right now I'm working on the 'Music & Words Award" post. Almost ready!
ReplyDelete'Closing Time,' I love the art work.
Waits certainly loved the blues.
DIXIE ~
DeleteBy all means, you should do this one if you have time.
Yep, 'Closing Time', with nothing but paintings by Edward Hopper, who happens to be my all-time favorite artist (aside from you, of course;-)
Yeah, TOM's earlier recordings were very Bluesy and Jazzy. Later he just got into such weird stuff that it's hard to describe. Almost like discordant carnival music with that fake, put-on voice of his. And that's when he totally lost me. But the early stuffs I dig big time.
~ D-FensDogG
Tom Waits was an appropriate artist for you--those song titles fit you and your circumstance quite well.
ReplyDeleteA rather strange friend (now dead) introduced me to Tom Waits in the latter 70's. I was a bit put off by the artist, but it was probably more due to the nature of that friend who liked Waits so much. I don't guess I bought a Waits album until sometime in the 90's.
I still need to see One from the Heart. Now that I've got Amazon streaming I'll need to see if they have that one. I'm sure they would.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
LEE, when I saw the concept, the first person I thought of was Tom Waits, because I knew without looking that he had a lot of titles that would work well.
DeleteA few seconds later I thought of Bob Dylan, who I also could have used in this very well, but I went with my first instinct, knowing that it would play into my twisted sense of humor.
~ D-FensDogG
Unfamiliar as I am with Tom Waits, your interesting song choices are nearly a story on their own - how clever!:-)
ReplyDeleteDIEDRE ~
DeleteThank you. A big fan of Carole King, James Taylor and Carly Simon probably wouldn't like much of Waits' music, but one never knows for sure.
I thought this was a lot of fun. I think my own favorite answer was for the question "Your Soul's Present Condition?"
There were several other titles I could have used to answer it with which would have been more direct, but I just couldn't resist going with that more humorous and abstract "$29.00" bargain basement answer. (Hopefully it's really worth closer to fifty bucks.)
~ D-FensDogG
Just think how bad my liver would be today if I hadn't quit when I did. Fond memories of those drinkin' days and just listening to music. Simpler times. Good times my friend, good times indeed.
ReplyDeleteJW,
Pooh
Man, I was just gettin' warmed up when you quit on me! (Ha!)
DeleteI remember how much I liked that Randy Newman song... "I'm different and don't care who knows it; something about me's just not the same." Funny, funny song!
~ D-FensDogG
Hours spent in the room above my parent's garage or in the back rooooooom. Saw the reference of the SM Pier Incident where that punk rich kid was begging, man it just wasn't right. Ouch! I just fell in a hole.
DeleteJW,
Pooh
What a fun and interesting idea. I wish I had more time, I'd work on one. But I'm behind in blog posts as it is. I need to get to my AZ prep work.
ReplyDeleteAww, forget about A To Z. DRINK WITH US!!
Delete~ D-FensDogG
I found time to do this one too. LOL
DeleteOn me way...
Delete~ D-FensDogG
Dammit, this was just too fun to pass up. Ten guesses who I picked for mine.
ReplyDeleteQ and A
***********
Are you a male or female?
I Am A Rock
Describe yourself:
The Only Living Boy In New York
How do you feel?:
Still Crazy After All These Years
Describe where you currently live:
Under African Skies
If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints
Your favorite form of transportation:
Train In The Distance
Your best friend is:
Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard
Your favorite color is:
Kodachrome
What’s the weather like?
Slip Sliding Away
Favorite time of day:
The Afterlife
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?
50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
What is life to you?
When Numbers Get Serious
Your relationships:
That Was Your Mother
Your fear:
The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine
What is the best advice you have to give?
One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor
If you could change your name, you would change it to:
The Late Great Johnny Ace
Thought for the day:
How Can You Live In The Northeast?
How you would like to die:
Gettin' Ready For Christmas Day
Your soul’s present condition:
Homeless
Your motto:
You Can Call Me Al
Good answers, AL.
DeleteI ALso still feel crazy after all these years.
Kodachrome... that's the color of my tinfoil hat!
50 is when the numbers start getting serious.
What'd you say about my mother?
And that answer for how you "would like to die" was a flat-out "R". Best grade possible!
~D-FensDogG
POSTSCRIPT: I asked you... WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY MOTHER?!?!?!
WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY MOTHER?!?!?!
DeleteShe Loves Me Like A Rock
Maybe so, but I'm the only one who can look forward to that Mother And Child Reunion.
Delete~ D-FensDogG
I guess you could say you were Born At The Right Time. You always were The Obvious Child.
DeleteDog-damn-it!
DeleteAre you EMILY?
If so, where may I find you? Even if we have the same parents, what is that to me, EMILY? Heck, it's in The Bible!
~ Stephen
POSTSCRIPT:
DeleteI had to decide whether to reply with THAT, or with a simple "Well, let's see YOU climb up the balcony!"
That's what you say when you really have no response.
Fun Fact: My Brother said that to our Ma one night when he got caught sneaking into the house, drunk as a skunk, at about the age of 14. Ha-ha-halarious! One of Nappy's greatest hits, still crazy enough to be used after all these years.
When I'm at a loss for words (which isn't often), I'll drag that one out again: "Well, let's see YOU climb up the balcony!"
~ D-FensDogG
More dots connected. Ha, ha, ha! AND, you even included two of my very favorite Waits songs.
ReplyDeleteYes, and...? Those two songs are?...
Delete~ D-FensDogG
'I Don't Want to Fall in Love with You Tonight' and 'Ole '55' Although this second one is a new favorite, first introduced to me on your BOTB.
DeleteAhh, and both from the debut album 'CLOSING TIME'.
Delete~ D-FensDogG
I'd started a take on this that I was going to post as a comment, but rna out of ideas. Doing my take on the questions you gave to Robin was much easier.
ReplyDeleteBut I like your take. And you know I likes me some Waits.
last call for drinks, I'll have another Stout...
LC
LC ~
DeleteI've missed you on my blog lately. (Yes, believe it or not, when you're gone, you're missed.)
You doing a 'MY LIFE ACCORDING TO TODD RUNDGREN' post should be a damn-phukin'-dunk!! I mean, even 1,000 times easier than me doing it according to TOM WAITS (which was super-easy for me!)
C'mon, man, get yer shit together and get in the groove! DON'T MAKE ME HAVE TO COME BACK THERE IN THE 115-DEGREE HEAT AND KICK YER PHILLY AZZ!
~ D-FensDogG
Now I won't post it just so you have to come back to the 115 degree heat....
DeleteHere is the life according to TR...although most songs won't be familiar...
DeleteAre you a male or female?
Real Man
Describe yourself:
Hello It’s Me
How do you feel?:
Broke Down & Busted
Describe where you currently live:
Temporary Sanity
If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
Mountaintop
Your favorite form of transportation:
Drive
Your best friend is:
Blue Orpheus
Your favorite color is:
Black And White
What’s the weather like?
Lost Horizon
Favorite time of day:
Cold Morning Light
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?
Don’t Hurt Yourself
What is life to you?
Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel
Your relationships:
Parallel Lines
Your fear:
Fade Away
What is the best advice you have to give?
We Gotta Get You A Woman
If you could change your name, you would change it to:
Sir Reality
Thought for the day:
Compassion
How you would like to die:
The Death Of Rock And Roll
Your soul’s present condition:
I Saw The Light
Your motto:
Love Is The Answer
Oh, good answers (as they said on 'Family Feud'). And I actually knew several of those songs (half of the ones I knew because I know you).
DeleteI was sure you'd have to find a way to slip 'PARALLEL LINES' in there.
One of your answers that I especially enjoyed was "Don’t Hurt Yourself". It made me think of my friend POOH, whom I woke up thinking about just 30 minutes ago.
I literally woke up laughing, thinking about something Pooh did circa 1984. He exploded a cigarette off some guy's chest at the Santa Monica Pier. In a million tries he couldn't have made that happen a second time, but we were living in some Twilight Zone back then and magic was an everyday occurrence. We could have done literally ANYTHING and gotten away with it. The best 4 or 5 years of my life.
But, also, Pooh was the guy who always hurt himself. If there was a pond to fall in, Pooh would find it. If there was a pothole to break your ankle in, Pooh would find it. If there was a face to be slapped on Super Bowl Sunday, Pooh would have it. We should have nicknamed him "Black Comedy" instead of "Pooh".
~ D-FensDogG
Don't know no Iris, don't know no Iris.
DeleteThinkin' maybe you don't?
Delete~ D-FensDogG
I just read on Robin's blog you've got Spotify-while I still buy more CD's than I need, that has curbed my spending a bit (figure if I buy one less per month it pays for itself).
DeleteKind of like Netflix for music! Although I still want a good way to stream the sound to my stereo system...
LC ~
DeleteOr maybe you could find a way to hook up Spotify through your Bose player?
Of course YOU WOULD have the "Gold" Spotify account (or whatever it's called) that costs money.
The FREE account is all I need. And I don't really use it often (although it's a great service). I mostly listen to the 250+ CDs I have, which is really almost everything I feel I MUST have on disc.
But Spotify is great for listening to albums that I might not necessarily want to buy on CD but have some interest in regardless. Great for discovering artists without shelling out money for them.
Man! Remember the Ancient Days when you had to buy a $5.00 LP just to hear more than one or two hits by a particular artist? I wasted a lot of money that way, but it paid off BIG TIME sometimes, too.
OK, go to Spotify and listen to the album 'IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD' by Doctor John. I have that in my account. I also owned it on LP once upon a time, and I may need to get that one on CD one of these days. (I used the duet with Rickie Lee Jones - 'MAKIN' WHOOPEE' - in a BOTB once, and they won, rightfully so!)
~ D-FensDogG
If one is gonna pay for streaming music they should look at Apple too. I don't pay for streaming service but I hear they have a good one.
DeleteBR'ER ~
DeleteI'm one of the most technologically backwards folks I know. (Only the Flyin' Aardvark is further back in the Dark Ages than I am.) I'm still using a Cricket flip-phone (which I only upgraded to about 15 months ago!)
I know my Brother recently got some newfangled phone and I don't think he pays extra for any music apps but he's got Spotify on it, and Pandora, and iHeart radio (is that what it's called) and he loves it. He's always adding new albums to his "virtual" collection.
~ D-FensDogG
I'm not familiar with Tom Waits so I'll have to check him out. I'm sure I'd appreciate the pre-weird Tom. The idea of using dried cat bones as an instrument just creeps me out!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the titles and your answers to the question. I haven't had time to do this challenge yet but it's on my bucket list... :)
Michele at Angels Bark
MICHELE ~
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
For the record, Tom Waits was always pretty weird, but he never really used cat bones as drumsticks (that I know of).
I made that up years ago as a way to describe the post-1982 Tom Waits. It seems very much like something the weirder Waits would do. And he'd probably tell us that different cat bones have different sounds. You know, like, a Persian has a deeper tone than a Siamese.
This will sound totally sexist but "women weaken legs". (Thank you, "Mickey" Meredith.) They also weaken men's minds. (Thank you, God, in the Book of Genesis.) And I, for one, don't think it's a coincidence that the music of Tom Waits went straight down the drainpipe (with a few rare exceptions) right after he met Kathleen, his wife-to-be, while working on the soundtrack for the movie 'ONE FROM THE HEAR'. In my opinion, that was the last great album Tom Waits ever recorded.
After 'ONE FROM THE HEART' it was all "cat bones on empty beer cans", and he's never come back to us. I guess he's lost forever now.
~ D-FensDogG
Meow.
DeleteHa! The "meow" Catsmas Past?
DeleteWoof!
:o)
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen, great, great answers! I always get Tom Waits and John Hiatt mixed up for some reason. Silly me! Although I know Waits by name, I can't say I'm familiar with his music. So, I'm glad you provided links for my listening discovery. His gruff vocals remind me a bit of Louie Armstrong at times, how about you? Thanks for sharing your life according to Tom Waits! See ya tomorrow for BoTB, my friend!
ReplyDeleteCATHY ~
DeleteThanks! Really glad you liked this one. I had a lot of fun putting it together. So much so that I even toyed with the idea of doing two more - one with Bob Dylan songs, and one with The Beach Boys.
Yeah, definitely, Tom Waits HAS been described by others as "a White Louis Armstrong". Unfortunately for me, even though he did always have a pretty gravelly voice, I feel that beginning with his 3rd album, he started "putting it on" - that voice - artificially exaggerating it, and he only got worse and worse with it as the years went on.
For that reason (and a couple others), my favorite Tom Waits albums have always been the first two, even though there's really great stuffs on all of them up through '82. After that, despite a few fun songs here and there, he just became some sort of synthetic freak-show freak and wasted the greatest songwriting talent that God ever gave to anyone.
See ya at BOTB, Cathy!
~ D-FensDogG
Thanks for dropping by my post. I enjoyed this challenge. Loved your answers even though I don't know the singer.
ReplyDeleteThanks, SUZY. Your answers were good, too.
DeleteThis little meme really took off and became a kind of blogfest that it seems EVERYONE really enjoyed.
~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'