pseydtonne: Behold the Operator, speaking into a 1930s headset with its large mouthpiece. (Default)
[personal profile] pseydtonne
Most of you know this meme already (I got it from [livejournal.com profile] chaiya, who totally stumped me):

Step 1: Get your playlist together, put it on random, and play!
Step 2: Pick your favorite lines from the first 25 songs that play!
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song the lines come from!
Step 4: Cross out the songs when someone guesses correctly! No cheating and pasting the lyrics into a search engine!

I have about 5000 songs on my iPod. It kept getting stuck with tunes with, like, four lines. I had to carve a lot. Still, let's start where the Winchester read-head started its hover... err, where the needle dropped:

1) Soul Coughing - "Suzy Snowflake"
If you wanna build a snowman, I'll help you make one 1-2-3.

2) Simon & Garfunkel - "Blessed"
Blessed are the sat upon, spat upon, ratted on.

3) The Who - "Pictures of Lilly"
I used to wake up in the morning, I used to feel so bad.
I got so sick of having sleepless nights. I went and told my dad.


4) Where pelagra makes you scrawny

5) All I wanna do is to tune in, radio L.A. New York.

Then I hit a bunch more songs I don't like. Screw the rules.

6)
Well you were the one that made me feel so natural
Right between your teeth just like a piece of toast.
And you treated me as more than just an animal
Cuz you knew that I could only be your ghost.
And you were the one that understood the tennis ball
And you were the one that came to me in flames
Cuz you wanted to be stuffed with something magical
And the cucumber was growing in my frame.

(Same song, amazing line): A police car with its tongue out in the dark.

7) Wilco - "I am trying to break your heart."
I am an American aquarium drinker
I assassin down the avenue.
I'm hidin' out in the big city blinkin'.
What was I thinkin' when I let go of you?



8)
We will import a token jock and we will kick his token ass
and there will never ever be a physical education class.
Think about it. You'll agree: it's the biddly-biddly-bomb.

9) Squirrel Nut Zippers - "Hell"
I used to think the idea was obsolete until I heard the old man tapping his feet.

Then I hit a track that was so obscure that the person that gave it to me procured it illegally. No fair for that. Great song, though.

10) Aerosmith - "Walk This Way"
Said "y'ain't seen nuthin' till you're down on a muffin". (Hey, they can't all be hard.)

11) Joni Mitchell - "California"
Reading the news and it sure looks bad.
They won't give peace a chance.
It was just a dream some of us had.


12) Ben Folds Five - "Alice Childress"
I think about my friends
Sometimes I wish they lived out here
But they wouldn't dig this town.


13) Ren & Stimpy - "It's Log!"
It's big, it's heavy, it's wood.

Next came "Dueling Banjos". Make up your own words, eh?

14)
I'm the king without a crown.
I get loose in a big town.

15) They Might Be Giants - "Alienation's For The Rich"
I got to get a job, I got to get some pay.
My son's gotta go to art school. He's leavin' in three days.
And the TV is in Esperanto. You know that that's a bitch.


Then came some Squarepusher. Amazing background music but no lyrics.

16) Moxy Fruvous - "The Lazy Boy"
I put my feet on the Ottoman Empire.

17) AC/DC - "Big Balls"
Well I'm ever upper class, high society
God's gift to ballroom notoriety.

([livejournal.com profile] medievalsweetie, you'd better get that one)

18)
The world is trying to make us go against our will.
There's too many mountains grown up from a hill.
Just take nothing less than the something best.
Do not obey rumors people say cuz you can pass the test.

19)
One day you'll know how nice it is
To get laid while you're gettin' paid.

20) Liz Phair - "Stratford-on-Guy"
In 27D I was behind the wing
Watching landscape roll out like credits on a screen.
The earth looked like it was lighted from within
Like a poorly assembled electrical ball
As we moved out of the farmlands, into the grid.
The plan of a city was all that you saw.


21)
If a woman tells you she's 20 and looks 16, she's twelve.
If she tells you she's 26 and looks 26, she's damn near forty.
Take off that silly-ass hat.

Next came [livejournal.com profile] terrulen reading from the D section of the Canonical List of Band Names. Imagine a British man Reading such lines as "The Dancing French Liberals of 1840" and "Dick Delicious and the Tasty Testicles". In fact, more than 100 tracks from various seasons of the Mad Trivia Party (one the great radio shows I worked on during college) popped in. It wouldn't be fair to make you guess "Must've been a hell of a vacuum" (a panelist's reply to "What world leader died of a nose bleed on his wedding night?").

22) Barenaked Ladies - "Helicopters"
A world that loves its irony must hate the protest singer.

23) Sarah McLachlan - "Possession"
Into a sea of waking dreams I follow without pride
Cuz nothing stands between us here and I won't be denied.


24)
Caught with an Amway salesman in a broken elevator
Baby back ribs on a cheese bun served up at a ceder

Next was a Double-Dee Steinski cut. He samples obscure stuff and does it so well that you want to dance. Then Came XTC's "Generals & Majors", which has the title almost every other line so it was impossible to get a good line.

25)
It's crazy but I'm frightened by the sound of telephone.
I'm worried that the caller might have awful news.

(Damn, one of my favorites would be after the stack.)

26) Dismemberment Plan - "What do you want me to say?"
I lost my membership card to the human race
So don't forget the face
Cuz I know that I do belong here.

--------

I was going to skip this meme but I'm glad I didn't. This was fun!

-anyone know the world leader?

Date: 2004-12-14 07:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chaiya.livejournal.com
13 is "Log," which I think is by They Might Be Giants or Monty Python.

26 sounds really familiar, but I can't place it.

I guess you and I just listen to pretty different music, eh? Or our randomizers are randomly not synching. Which I guess means that they're working. Or something.

Date: 2004-12-14 12:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moominmolly.livejournal.com
I never do these, because I tend to not get enough of the songs, but #2 caught my eye, so:

#2: Blessed, Simon and Garfunkel
#7: I am Trying to Break Your Heart, Wilco
#11: California, Joni Mitchell
#13: "Log"?! Ren and Stimpy.
#20: Stratford-on-Guy, Liz Phair. I always always think of this song when flying into Chicago, because it is perfect.

Dammit, I know I know #12 and #23 but I can't think of them... so I'll leave them for someone else.

Date: 2004-12-14 02:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hakamadare.livejournal.com
#22 is Barenaked Ladies, "Helicopter", from Maroon.

#15 is TMBG, "Alienation's For The Rich", from They Might Be Giants.

and #16 is Moxy Früvous, "The Lazy Boy", from Bargainville.

and finally, #9 is "Hell" by Squirrel Nut Zippers, from Hot.

-steve

Date: 2004-12-14 03:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pseydtonne.livejournal.com
Extra credit for having the albums, too! You rawk.

Date: 2004-12-14 03:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moominmolly.livejournal.com
Loreena McKennit? I don't have the album and don't know the song, though, but I think her voice just popped into my head singing #23. #12 still stumps me.

Date: 2004-12-14 03:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pseydtonne.livejournal.com
ou got Wilco and Liz Phair. You rule! By the way, Stratford-on-Guy has the luck of always coming on my car stereo when I'm megastuck in traffic. I wind up playing it over and over because the chord progression and the words combine to describe this epic feeling of being at the end of a ride with no control.

If you weren't taken, I'll fall in love with you. I'll have to accept noble respect and admiration, which works fine for me considering my relationship skills.

Date: 2004-12-14 03:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pseydtonne.livejournal.com
It's not McKennit. You're in the neighborhood. I'll give you a hint that I think this was a hit.

Date: 2004-12-14 03:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moominmolly.livejournal.com
"In the neighborhood" -- Sarah MacLachlan? You're right, the voice in my head sounds more like her. :)

Date: 2004-12-14 03:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pseydtonne.livejournal.com
Only half-marks for "Log" (wrong artist). You broke the logjam, though. Good!

Oh gah, half-marks? I've been listening to BBC's "My Word" too long.

I'd like to see someone get #26 (especially you, since you allowed for spreading beyond 25 items) so I'll give you a hint: this band is named for a perk from a good job.

Date: 2004-12-14 03:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pseydtonne.livejournal.com
You've got the artist. Now, you can "own" the song rather easily.

Date: 2004-12-14 03:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moominmolly.livejournal.com
Hah! Even with your clue, I had to ask Google. :)

Date: 2004-12-14 03:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pseydtonne.livejournal.com
I'm going to give it to you anyway. I've been enjoying this semi-live banter too much.

Date: 2004-12-14 03:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moominmolly.livejournal.com
I love using LJ in a semi-live way.

Date: 2004-12-14 04:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] benndragon.livejournal.com
10. Walk This Way, by Aerosmith

17. ACDC, Big Balls (I think? I don't think I've ever heard it called by its name)

Date: 2004-12-14 05:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moominmolly.livejournal.com
#17: OHHHHHHHHHHH! Yes!

Date: 2004-12-14 06:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hakamadare.livejournal.com
OMG how did i not get #17???

Date: 2004-12-14 10:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] metahacker.livejournal.com
Dude, pick up "I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue", on BBC7. It's like My Word, but without the plot. Err. Or something. And if you want more Frank Muir, they've got classic clips of him for streaming...

Date: 2004-12-15 04:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ltbloodrose.livejournal.com
Correct. It's "Big Balls".

And yes, I can recite the whole thing from memory.

Sorry D, wasn't fast enough.

Date: 2004-12-15 07:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pseydtonne.livejournal.com
The picture compared to the reply? Priceless. You still rawk.

Date: 2004-12-15 08:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] grace-of-gemini.livejournal.com
#3 is Pictures of Lilly by The Who.

Date: 2004-12-18 01:57 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Number one Suzy Snowflake, Soul Coughing. Got one, and that satisfies me, I'm going back to studying.

Geillan

Date: 2004-12-21 04:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fuzzplugjones.livejournal.com
Cute idea. #26 is "What Do You Want Me To Say" by the Dismemberment Plan. One of the greatest records I almost didn't get into because it was weird enough for me to really like it, but I was around a lot of jerks at the time who liked it, and thus was a little soured on it. Funny how much music reminds you of people, places and things.

#12 is Ben Folds Five: "Alice Childress." Always loved Ben Folds but almost couldn't listen to him for awhile because of the same people I metioned above.

I've come to the conclusion, for better or for worse, that the next group of songs I write will have to be mostly responses to other lyrics I've heard that bothered me, that I don't think should stand without a proper rebuttal. Is that wrong? Even if the answer is "yes" I may still have to do it. After all, Ben Folds' "The Ascent of Stan" is in sort of the same vein, and it could very well be the song that defines the 90s. Or at least describes it.

Date: 2005-02-11 09:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ookpik.livejournal.com
#6 is Robyn Hitchcock, isn't it? Can't remember the song title, though.

(Hi; I wandered over to your journal after reading a comment somewhere else. I don't think we've met, though I was at Arisia.)

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