(The rough draft of this post was written in 2014 or thereabouts... I've updated it for 2024 because it's one of the posts I've always wanted to finish and post, so be prepared for some back-and-forth time travel between 2014 and the current day :-D)
Ah, music... That gentle breeze that softens the heart, soothes the soul, and inspires all sorts of belabored caterwauling ^_^ This is kind of a related post to the one about music at high school dances... While that post focused on a conversation I had with one of my daughter's friends about the current state of pop music, this post is inspired by a conversation my daughter had with a different friend of hers. This friend has an unruly habit of bursting into random songs at nearly random times for no apparent reason (and for those of you who knew my daughter in high school, you probably also know exactly who I'm talking about here... but I'm not naming names, so y'all be quiet there :-P )
As the story goes, my daughter and her friend are sitting in Biology class when, for no reason explicable to anyone but himself, he randomly starts singing "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by those studly icons of early eighties fashion Wham! (In case you're one of those poor misfortunate souls who missed the 1980s, here's a little audio-visual reminder of the glory of Wham!... and hot pants, evidently o.O )
Now, my ex-husband and I both grew up in the 80s (him as a teen and myself as an elementary-schooler), and as punishment over the years, we've both forced our children to watch selected MTV footage from our own youth. ("Oh, yeah? So THAT'S what YOUR friends are listening to??? Well, let me show YOU something, Buttercup...") So my daughter is well familiar with not only the song itself, but also with the actual lyrics of the song and the story it tells; for those who don't remember (or who can only tolerate about 34 seconds of the above video o.O ), here are the words:
You put the boom-boom into my heart
You send my soul sky high when your lovin' starts
Jitterbug into my brain
Goes a bang-bang-bang 'til my feet do the same
But something's bugging me
Something ain't right
My best friend told me what you did last night
Left me sleepin' in my bed
I was dreaming, but I should have been with you instead.
Wake me up before you go-go
Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo
Wake me up before you go-go
I don't want to miss it when you hit that high
Wake me up before you go-go
'Cause I'm not plannin' on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go
Take me dancing tonight
I wanna hit that high (yeah, yeah)
You take the grey skies out of my way
You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day
Turned a bright spark into a flame
My beats per minute never been the same
'Cause you're my lady, I'm your fool
It makes me crazy when you act so cruel
Come on, baby, let's not fight
We'll go dancing, everything will be all right
Wake me up before you go-go
Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo
Wake me up before you go-go
I don't want to miss it when you hit that high
Wake me up before you go-go
'Cause I'm not plannin'' on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go
Take me dancing tonight
I wanna hit that high (yeah, yeah, baby)
(Jitterbug)
(Jitterbug)
Cuddle up, baby, move in tight
We'll go dancing tomorrow night
It's cold out there, but it's warm in bed
They can dance, we'll stay home instead
(Jitterbug)
Wake me up before you go-go
Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo
Wake me up before you go-go
I don't want to miss it when you hit that high
Wake me up before you go-go
'Cause I'm not plannin' on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go
Take me dancing tonight
Wake me up before you go-go, don't you dare to leave me hanging on like a
yo-yo
Take me dancing
(Boom-boom-boom-boom)
(source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/)
Which is what got me thinking... How many other songs are there out there that sound happy and cute and bouncy but are really dark and depraved and depressing?
Well, here are a couple that come to mind...
1. Gin Blossoms, "Hold Me Down"
Basically, a song about getting wasted, hating it, but doing it anyway... Actually, I do love this song, not because I think it's bouncy (though it is) and happy (it's most definitely not), but because it reminds me why I chose not to drink for 30 years and why, after 30 years of fear of becoming my mother, I started drinking again to see if I could actually handle it or not, or if I was letting my fear control me too much. To my inherent relief, I've discovered that I am stubborn enough after forty-mrrphhfff years of sometimes-hard living to limit myself to 2 glasses of wine at the end of the day, when I'm not planning on going out again for the night, and to not ever go beyond that. So I have hope that I'm able to conquer and subdue this particular childhood demon, with God's help :-) But anyway, here's the song...
Lyrics:
So I guess I must have just been dreaming
When I thought I heard myself say no
Anyway it looks like no one heard me so here I go
'Cause when you're in the company of strangers
Or just the strangers you call friends
You know before you start just how it's going to end
When the doors swing open and all the drinks are passed around
Anytime the pickin's look too easy
Hold me down
I can't remember why I like this feeling
When it only seems to let me down
Soon I find I'm searching for the exit from the ground
If I think the room is turning faster
Then I think the music is too loud
By then I've lived another broken story to let me down
When those doors swing open and all the drinks are passed around
When half the party moves into the bathroom
Hold me down
Or if you're at the tail end of the evening
And Dr. Feelgood comes around
Anytime the pickin's look too easy
Hold me down
Down if I want that part
Down if I've gone too far
Well I guess I must have just been reeling
When I felt myself begin to fall
I realize I'm bounding down the hallways and off the walls
If my bed was standing in the corner
I could just fall into it right now
And know that I'd just be staring at the ceiling going round
So remember, when those doors swing open and all the drinks are passed around
Anytime the pickin's look too easy
Hold me down
2. Toad the Wet Sprocket, "Fall Down"
Another song from my early teens, this one's about watching a friend self-destruct and feeling helpless to do anything about it. Once again, I actually like this song because I've been both the self-destructor and the friend watching from the sidelines, and this song reminds me not to stand by and do nothing anymore. Still, not a happy song...
Lyrics:
She said "I'm fine, I'm okay"
Cover up your trembling hands
It's indecision when you know you ain't got nothing left
When the good times never stay
And the cheap thrills always seem to fade away
When will we fall down?
Jump back, got to get out of here
Been too, too long this time
Jump back, got to get out of here
When will we fall down?
She hates her life she hates her skin she even hates her friends
Tries to hold on to all the reputations she can't mend
And there's some chance we could fail
But the last time someone was always there for bail
When will we fall down?
Jump back, got to get out of here
Been too, too long this time
Jump back, got to get out of here
When will we fall down?
She said "I'm fine, I'm okay"
Cover up your trembling hands
It's indecision when you know you ain't got nothing left
For the last time conscience calls
For a good friend I was never there at all
When will we fall down?
3. Sleeperstar, "Bullseye Trigger"
Unlike a lot of what I listen to, here is a song that's actually from this century (funny how that sounds really cool until you actually think about it... o.O ) I like this song because it's got a story to it... It makes me actually want to write the rest of the novel around it ^_^
Lyrics:
"Don't bring a gun," couldn't say it enough
"Just the money and a smile
Don't try to be tough"
Shoes and jeans and a cardigan sweater
You would say I'd never looked better
I meet her in the corner of a high-class bar
She says, "Boy, you don't know where you are"
She moves quicker, bullseye trigger
Somehow the cops still manage to miss her
"Don't try to talk to the EMT"
The officer is trying to question me
"The lady left the scene on a Japanese bike
With a bottle of Port, and some Menthol lights"
I feel the respirator going off and on
They assure me that it really won't take that long
But the burning
The burning is burning
The burning is burning
The burning is burning
She don't feel the pain she's causin'
You thought that you were automatic
The only one that's gonna survive
I've got evidence on her
A bullet in the shoulder
You can have it if you want it
If she can't finish what she started
Not a threat no it's a promise
I'll make you wish you never left me alive
Can you feel the heat that's comin'?
It's sure to be traumatic
When I finally get my hands on you
I meet her in the corner of a high-class bar
She says, "Boy, you don't know where you are"
She moves quicker, bullseye trigger
Somehow the cops still manage to miss her
She don't feel the pain she's causin'
You thought that you were automatic
The only one that's gonna survive
I've got evidence on her
A bullet in the shoulder
You can have it if you want it
If she can't finish what she started
Not a threat no it's a promise
I'll make you wish you never left me alive
Can you feel the heat that's comin'?
It's sure to be traumatic
When I finally get my hands on you
She don't feel the pain she's causin'
You thought that you were automatic
The only one that's gonna survive
I've got evidence on her
A bullet in the shoulder
You can have it if you want it
If she can't finish what she started
Not a threat no it's a promise
I'll make you wish you never left me alive
Can you feel the heat that's comin'?
It's sure to be traumatic
When I finally get my hands on you
4. The Eagles, "Heartache Tonight"
This will forever be known to me as "The Middle-School-Dance Song", because it literally sounds like the after-the-fact summary of every single middle school dance that my daughter went to and/or every single high school dance that I chaperoned 😆 I have loved the bass line of this song and its inescapable singalongability (yes, Google, I KNOW that's not a real word, but by God it should be...) since I was a small child listening to my mom's record collection, but the lyrics didn't really take on a 3-dimensional aspect until I was a parent chaperone at school dances 😂
Before the night is through
Somebody's gonna come undone
There's nothin' we can do
Everybody wants to touch somebody
If it takes all night
Everybody wants to take a little chance
Make it come out right
A heartache tonight, I know
There's gonna be a heartache tonight
A heartache tonight, I know
Lord, I know
Some folks can't hold out that long
But nobody wants to go home now
There's too much goin' on
This night is gonna last forever
Last all, last all summer long
Sometime before the sun comes up
The radio is gonna play that song
A heartache tonight, I know
There's gonna be a heartache tonight
A heartache tonight, I know
Lord, I know
There's gonna be a heartache tonight
The moon shinin' bright
So turn out the light and we'll get it right
There's gonna be a heartache tonight
A heartache tonight, I know
Heartache, baby
Somebody's gonna hurt someone (somebody)
Before the night is through
Somebody's gonna come undone
There's nothing we can do
everybody wants to touch somebody
If it takes all night (mmm)
Everybody wants to take a little chance
And make it come out right
A heartache tonight, I know
There's gonna be a heartache tonight
A heartache tonight, I know
Let's go
We can get down to the bone
We can leave it in the parking lot
But either way there's gonna be a heartache tonight
A heartache tonight, I know
Oh, I know there'll be a heartache tonight
A heartache tonight I know
Woo-woo
Break my heart
5. "Trigger Happy", by Weird Al Yankovic
This is seriously one of the most bizarrely peppy songs I have EVER heard... And I LOVE it way more than I probably should 😂 Only Weird Al Yankovic can take the subject matter of the NRA, Second Amendment rights, and accidental shootings and turn it into a peppy surf-pop ditty that DOESN'T get him culturally-cancelled... And he does a masterful job here of poking holes in the argument that the 2nd Amendment guarantees the unlimited right to bear whatever arms we can imagine under any possible circumstances we can imagine, no matter what. So it's a rare combination of relevant social commentary, clever lyricism, and high-energy pop candy music, and as I've said before, I LOVE it 😍. I think this is actually my second-favorite Weird Al song of all time... I will address my all-time favorite song of his in a future blog post about breakup songs, but for now, here's "Trigger Happy", in all its glory:
Lyrics:
Got an AK-47, well you know it makes me feel alright
Got an Uzi by my pillow, helps me sleep a little better at night
There's no feeling any greater
Than to shoot first and ask questions later
Now I'm trigger happy, trigger happy every day
Well, you can't take my guns away, I got a constitutional right
Yeah, I gotta be ready if the Commies attack us tonight
I'll blow their brains out with my Smith and Wesson
That ought to teach them all a darn good lesson
Now I'm trigger happy, trigger happy every day
trigger, trigger happy
Yes I'm trigger, trigger happy
(Oh baby, I'm) trigger, trigger happy
Yes I'm trigger, trigger happy
(Oh I'm so) trigger, trigger happy
Yes I'm trigger, trigger happy
Better watch out, punk, or I'm gonna have to blow you away
Oh, I accidently shot daddy last night in the den
I mistook him in the dark for a drug-crazed Nazi again
Now why'd you have to get so mad?
It was just a lousy flesh wound, Dad
You know, I'm trigger happy, trigger happy every day
Oh, I still haven't figured out the safety on my rifle yet
Little Fluffy took a round, better take him to the vet
I filled that kitty cat so full of lead
We'll have to use him for a pencil instead
Well, I'm so trigger happy, trigger happy every day
trigger, trigger happy
Yes I'm trigger, trigger happy
(Oh baby, I'm) trigger, trigger happy
Yes I'm trigger, trigger happy
(Oh I'm so) trigger, trigger happy
Yes I'm trigger, trigger happy
Better watch out, punk, or I'm gonna have to blow you away
Come on and grab your ammo
What have you got to lose?
We'll get all liquored up
And shoot at anything that moves
Got a brand new semi-automatic weapon with a laser sight
Oh, I'm prayin' somebody tries to break in here tonight
I always keep a Magnum in my trunk
You better ask yourself, do you feel lucky, punk?
Because I'm trigger happy, trigger happy every day
trigger, trigger happy
Yes I'm trigger, trigger happy
(Oh baby, I'm) trigger, trigger happy
Yes I'm trigger, trigger happy
(Oh I'm so) trigger, trigger happy
Yes I'm trigger, trigger happy
Better watch out, punk, or I'm gonna have to blow you away
Better watch out, punk, or I'm gonna have to blow you away
Better watch out, punk, or I'm gonna have to blow you away
Better watch out, punk, or I'm gonna have to blow you away
(For the record, before anyone accuses me of being a whore to either side of the gun rights debate, I'd just like to point out that I think BOTH sides can agree that Yankovic's description is something we'd ALL like to avoid, and that somewhere in the middle, we can all find an agreeable compromise between safety and security.)
OK, now it's your turn... What are YOUR favorite bouncy songs about really dark stuff? 😀
