This Week's Obsessive Songs

"Paper Bag," Fiona Apple, from When the Pawn...

I was staring at the sky, just looking for a star
To pray on, or wish on, or something like that
I was having a sweet fix of a daydream of a boy
Whose reality I knew, was a hopeless to be had
But then the dove of hope began its downward slope
And I believed for a moment that my chances
Were approaching to be grabbed
But as it came down near, so did a weary tear
I thought it was a bird, but it was just a paper bag
Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills
'Cause I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up
I got to fold 'cause these hands are too shaky to hold
Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love
And I went crazy again today, looking for a strand to climb
Looking for a little hope
Baby said he couldn't stay, wouldn't put his lips to mine,
And a fail to kiss is a fail to cope
I said, "Honey, I don't feel so good, don't feel justified
Come on put a little love here in my void," he said
"It's all in your head," and I said, "So's everything"
But he didn't get it I thought he was a man
But he was just a little boy
Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills
'Cause I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up
I got to fold 'cause these hands are too shaky to hold
Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love
Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills
'Cause I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up
I got to fold 'cause these hands are too shaky to hold
Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love

"Call and Answer," Barenaked Ladies, from Stunt

I think it's getting to the point
Where I can be myself again
I think it's getting to the point
Where we have almost made amends
I think it's the getting to the point
That is the hardest part.

And if you call, I will answer
And if you fall, I'll pick you up
And if you court this disaster
I'll point you home

You think I only think about you
When were both in the same room
You think I'm only here to witness
The remains of love exhumed
You think we're here to play
A game of who loves more than whom

And if you call, I will answer
And if you fall, I'll pick you up
And if you court this disaster
I'll point you home

You think it's only fair to do whats
Best for you and you alone
You think it's only fair to do the same
To me when you're not home
I think it's time to make this something that is
More than only fair

So if you call, I will answer
And if you fall, I'll pick you up
And if you court this disaster
I'll point you home.

But I'm warning you, dont ever do
Those crazy, messed up things that you do
If you ever do
I promise you I'll be the first to crucity you
Now it's time to prove that youve come back
Here to rebuild.

Rebuild...

Rebuild...

Rebuild...

Rebuild...

Many Plays, 2

There's still plenty to do, but I have to take some time for myself. Which is funny since I'm at work and getting paid, sort of, maybe, that should be my focus, but I'm going a little crazy.

Anyway, like I wrote before, this last month I went to see a lot of plays and I thought it'd be fun (for me) to go over what I saw and what I liked and didn't like about each.

The Women:
At its most, it's the story of a bunch of women in New York and how they deal with men. Divorce, cheating, dating, and remarriage are all big parts of the story. Not that the play's a downer, because it's not. It's really funny. The only real problem with it is that the playwright didn't do a very good job of transitioning from comedy to the drama and them back. It's like laugh, laugh, laugh, and then get hit upside the head with melodrama and weeping; new scene: laugh, laugh, laugh, hit with melodrama. And it does this over and over again.

Still the good far out weighed the overwrought drama and most of the women were spectacular at the comedy and those that weren't were really only important to the drama aspects.

The Producers:
Only one of the most fun musicals ever written. People cheating old ladies out of lots money after having sex with them to put on the worst play ever and after it closes take the extra cash and run off to Rio, with flaming gay men, a Nazi, and songs, what's not to enjoy?

In fact, I enjoyed this version almost as much as I did the touring company Wings and I saw years ago in SF. I did wish that Ulla had a better blonde wig and that we could see the dancers in their swastika formations during "Springtime for Hitler," but an overhead mirror would have cost too much for this little theater.

The Crucible:
This power of this play, when it's performed, rest on the shoulders of one character: John Proctor. Which was the problem with this performance. The guy playing John was too young and he just wasn't that good of an actor. When he's having dinner with his wife, Elizabeth, and she's poking at him because he screwed around on her, John should be played with righteous fury, like he's about to blame his affair on Elizabeth because she got sick and he couldn't have sex with his wife; the actor played it more like a teenager whining to his girlfriend about how sick he is of her teasing. The lust between John and Abigail Williams should be hot and animalistic; she draws him in with her sex appeal and he simply can't resist, but, again, this actor played it more like a first time crush, all awkward and bumbling and clammy.

The rest of the cast was spectacular, though. They took the words of Arthur Miller and really turned them into a morality tale and saved me from being totally bored with the play.

Kiss Me, Kate:
With this play, Cole Porter was trying to move his writing from what Broadway used to be -- a show with songs that were good, but had little to do with the plot -- to what they were becoming -- shows with songs that were integral to the characters or plot -- but didn't quite succeed. There may not be a lot of songs that are useless to the story, but the very first one, "Another Op'nin', Another Show" sure is and so is one of Porter's best songs ever, "Too Darn Hot." And it really bugs me.

Yeah, I enjoyed the show and really all the songs are wonderful, and the actors were great, especially the women who played Lilly/Katherine and Lois/Bianca and the show are extremely strong. I guess that why the non important song, like "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," bother me so much, the play is nearly perfect and these songs, as fun as they are, just take me right out of the story.

A Chorus Line:
Talk about you musical for those who love musicals.

It's all about the casting of a chorus for a play. It's one act of like 17 characters standing on an empty stage dancing, and talking about themselves or their love of dance, and practicing. And the dancing is amazing. From the perfect solo dances, to the practice groups where people misstep, to the high kicking finale.

Spectacular.

Snoopy!!! The Musical:
This play so wanted to be You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, but it just couldn't be and doesn't ever come close.

Frankly, to me, Snoopy is the most boring character in Peanuts. Yes I like his imagination, but everything always works out for him, or, if it doesn't, he just says it did and then moves on to something else. He's just so boring.

So is the play. Between the songs are short sketch like things that are supposed to be like a daily strip brought to life. Some of them are funny, but none of them connect to each other except that they include Charlie Brown, Lucy, Sally, Linus, Peppermint Patty, and Snoopy, other than that, nothing.

Most of the songs are light and airy and useless. Snoopy almost always sings about how great his life is or how great he is and how everything should focus on him.

And then there are the two songs that Focus on Peppermint Patty that completely mischaracterize the Peppermint Patty I remember from the strips. She has a crush on Charlie Brown. We all know it. (And yes, I'm aware of the lesbian jokes with her and Marcie, and even if Peppermint Patty's gay she can have a crush on a boy that's kind to her. I'm sure it happens all the time out there in the real world.) In the strips she constantly denied it, but she also called him up or sat under a tree with him and talked about love to him, but he never got the hint and she'd get frustrated. She'd never admit to the crush, though. But in this play she first asks him about her looks and when he mentions her big nose and how she might grow into it she then sings a song about how she wants her face to catch-up to her nose and later she sings Charlie Brown a song where she calls him "poor, sweet baby." It was all just so overt. The strip tended to balance her crush by having Marcie mock Peppermint Patty by insisting the crush was there. The play just has Peppermint Patty throw the crush in the audience's faces.

The last song, "Just One Person," while having a nice message, wasn't earned. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown earned the sweetness of it's final song, "Happiness," by sort of tearing down Charlie Brown and showing him as a failure, so him and his friends finding happiness in little, everyday things was earned. This Snoopy!!! play shows some disappointment, but every time something happens to him, Snoopy turns it into a victory up to the point where he's actually proclaimed the Head Beagle. There is just too much winning to then delve into such a super sweet song.

The acting was decent. The guy who played Snoopy really hammed it up, but the woman who played Peppermint Patty was wonderful, I wish she'd had a bigger role in one of the other plays. It's too bad they had such a poor play to perform in.

---

And there we have it. All the plays I've seen in the last month, or so. It's pretty obvious which one I saw last, isn’t it? Here's hoping, if I'm still around then, next year is as enjoyable.

On the Steps of the Palace

I've been trying to figure out what I want. You know? I want to figure out something that I desire with all of my being. Like a married couple who can't have kids (or are having trouble getting pregnant) but more than anything want a little life to care for. That's the kind of desire I'd like to have.

Sure, there are things I'd like to have. I'd like to own a few acres of land of rolling hills, pines and oaks, and a creek or California river running through it. I'd like to own a house. so that every payment I make gets it closer to being mine, instead lining the pocket of some jackass with money while he won't even replace a screen that's been missing since before I moved in. I'd like... shit, I don't really know what else I'd like.

A long time ago, I wrote about how much I like Into the Woods. I didn't do a great job talking about the play. Hell, I left out my favorite lyric. There's this moment where Cinderella is sitting on the stairs with the Baker's Wife talking (really singing, but come on, it's a musical) and the Baker's Wife asks her about the prince and ends with, "Is he everything you've ever wanted?" and Cinderella answers, "Would I know? / ... / [H}ow can you know what you want / Till you get what you want / And you see if you like it?" The Baker's wife isn't sure and ponders it over while Cinderella says, "All I know is- / ... / What I want most of all- / ... / Is to know what I want." Which is something that I've been able to relate to for a long time.

Do you remember the last time you blew an eyelash off your finger, or saw a shooting star and made a wish? What did you wish for? The last time I made a wish, I wished to have a wish. It's the same wish I've made since I was eleven.

Erratic Thoughts, Again :-)

What time is it? 4:30, and I still haven't started a "real" post for the day.

There's been something weird about today. Every time I've looked up at the calendar above my desk to figure out the date, I've been surprised that it's Wednesday and not Friday. My body and my brain are pretty well convinced that today is Friday and that tomorrow I should be able to "sleep in" until eight. It's unfortunate that I can't do that, though. I still have to get up and get to work by eight.

I realized this morning that maybe I shouldn't bother trying to leave comments on any blogs anymore. I came to this realization when it occurred to me that on every blog I read that had a new post when I got to work this morning and allows comments, I wrote a comment, typed in the obnoxious security letters, and promptly left the page without posting. I've been doing this sort of a thing, well, for years, but this is the first time I didn't post any of them. I wonder why this is.

Is it okay that I used an emoticon in the title? I don't really like the things, but for some reason it seems to make the title of this post a bit more whimsical. Or maybe it's all the Pep-O-Mint Lifesavers I've eaten this afternoon.

You know that song "Witchy Woman"? I think The Eagles sing it. Yeah? I hate it. I didn't always hate it, but I do now. The guy who sits across from me plays it at least three times a day. Not loudly, but it just loud enough that that I can hear the chorus. And I can't stand it. It sucks. It should be destroyed before it had a chance to be created. It may ruin a good Seinfeld gag, but I can live with that. There were plenty of good episodes before that one.

"I can't stand it!" I like it!
It's like a guarantee.
My new philosophy.
And things are sure to be a whole lot brighter
"Oh, yeah? That's what you think!"
"Why are you telling me?"

And now it's time to go.

I am Not Eton, Mai. = .i aM ,not EtoN maI

Sometimes I'm surprised at the madness that is me. While a friend was away, I used his blog just to be weird. Did it work? I don't know what everyone else thinks, but two months after the fact, I think so.

My bed is covered in stuff. Not just the usual pillows and blankets, but a stack of comics, a couple of books, the bookstore bag that I used to carry my summer school supplies, rented movies, a bag with large rolls for the polish sausages I bought for tomorrow, an empty over-sized envelope addressed to me, the shirts that were in the over-sized envelope, the not from my mom that came with the shirts (which I forgot to thank her for when I e-mailed this afternoon, better get on it), and my glasses. I know that to sleep in the bed, which is where I prefer to sleep, I need to clean the stuff off, but I don't want to. If the other comforter wasn't winter heavy, I think I'd just curl up on the floor and sleep, if I push the shorts away, there's plenty of room. I'm just lazy that way. Like women and the damn toilet seat!

That's right, I wrote it. Women think that men are lazy because we (well, most of us) like to leave the toilet seat up. And you know what? They're right, we are lazy when it come to the toilet seat. Most of us use that toilet seat about once a day, but we gotta pee way more than that. So it makes sense to leave the seat up, it's convenient. Women want the seat down because they want to be lazy too. I understand the argument that it's not fun to stumble into the bathroom in the middle of the night and sit on cold porcelain because she forgot to check that the seat was down. If that's the case, then women shouldn't get upset if, on occasion, in the middle of the night, the guy pisses on the seat on accident because he forgot to check to see if the seat was down. Men want to be lazy and never have to lift the seat. Women want to be lazy and never put the seat down. Me? I put the fucking lid down because I don't want to have the bowl staring at me while I'm brushing my teeth or drying off or something. And that makes me, in the toilet wars, the least lazy of all, so eat it all of you.

I've been trying to learn all the words to two songs, recently. The first is Adam Sandler's "Lunch Lady Land" because it makes me laugh. Unfortunately, when ever I sing it to myself I always skip to the "hoagies and grinders" part. I don't know why. The other song is "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) from The Beatles. One of my favorites that I don't think enough people pay attention to. It's not one that we have been told is great, so most people ignore it.

Okay, it's time to clean off the bed for the finishing of the book and then the sleeping.

Light Up My Room

Barenaked Ladies

A Hydro-field cuts through my neighborhood
Somehow that always just made me feel good
I can put a spare bulb in my hand
And light up my yard

Late at night when the wire in the walls
Sing in tune with the din of the falls
I'm conducting it all while I sleep
To light this whole town

If you question what I would do
To get over and be with you
Lift you up over everything
To light up my room, my room

There's a shopping cart in the ravine
The foam on the creek is like pop and ice cream
A field full of tires that is always on fire
To light my way home

There are luxuries we can't afford
But in our house we never get bored
We can dance to the radio station
That plays in our teeth

If you question what I would do
To get over and be with you
Lift you up over everything
To light up my room, my room

Sometimes, this song feel like the anthem for my life.

Sigh.

Christmas Songs

Because imitation is the simplest form of flattery, I'm stealing Lore Fitzgerald Sjöberg's form for writing his Ratings to write about a few songs that are heard at Christmas time, so here I go:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Well, I wonder what this song's gonna be about? A snowman? Santa? Maybe Nancy the Christmas Cow? No, the title tells us all we need to know, doesn't it. And what do we find out? The little guy is made fun of by the popular deer because his nose glows, because he's different. But when the guy in charge of the populars needs a glowing nose he makes the weird one popular and suddenly Rudolph's a hero, isn't that what life's really about? So, this song teaches people that the guy in charge of the populars can change the group structure on a whim. However, the song did have a decent special made with Burl Ives singing so I can forgive the message, somewhat. C+

Winter Wonderland

There's something magical about snow, isn't there? Okay, not really, but for some reason it's always associated with Christmas. This song has no mention about Christmas, but you don't hear it being sung after the New Year, do you? Winter lasts until March 21st people and snow can last a lot longer, depending on where you live, but still this is a Christmas song. It's a fun song, thought. We have a snowman marrying kids and then one being a clown which is destroyed by kids, good winter fun. We also have people conspiring by the fire, which helps feed my paranoia, although for years I used to think they were perspiring by the fire, which makes sense. My only real problem with this song is that the opening lines get cut out of almost every version I've heard. If the opening's missing B+ If it's there A-

Santa Baby

Christmas time sluts! Now there's fun for the whole family. Okay, so there's now lyrics that suggest that the girl wants to screw Santa for better gifts, but every version I heard is sung in that coy voice that sure implies that sex for better gifts may happen. And then there are the gifts she wants, talk about greed. I want a sable, a convertible, a yacht, a diamond mine. Come on, the only way she's getting those is if Santa's gettin' a little sumpin' sumpin', ya know? B-

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Oh... My... God. This... song... is... so... boring. So... slow. I... can't... take... it. Five... or... six... verses... that... just... go... on... forever... and... ever. Does... this... song... have... an... end? The... religious... theme... of... the... song... doesn't... bother... me..., in... fact... I... enjoy... most... of... the... overly... religious... songs..., especially... when... sung... by... Simon... and... Garfunkle... (two guys doing a three part harmony, amazing), but... I... kinda... like... those... songs. I... know... when... it... came. I... know... what... the... night... was... like. I... want... the... rest... of... the... story..., but... I... don't... want... it... to... take... thirty... minutes. D

The Night Santa Went Crazy

Ah, Weird Al knows how to work the spirit of the season to his advantage. This song, for those who haven't heard it, tells the story of Santa's madness for handing out gifts turned to rage and hatred and he takes it out on his crew at The North Pole. Almost every reindeer has a grisly death. Mrs. Claus is gonna make millions. The elves now work for the post office. And Virginia knows the real truth about Santa. Ah, the wonders of Christmas never cease to amaze me. A-

Into the Woods

Right now, as I write, my favorite musical is Into the Woods. I thought it was Caberet but as much as I love The MC and Sally, I have to say that, at least for now, Little Red Ridinghood and The Baker are just right for me at the moment.

For those of you who don't know, or hate musicals all together, Into the Woods is a story about our favorite fairytale people. These characters aren't taken from Disney, they're straight from their Grimm beginnings. Cinderella's sisters cut their feet and lose their eyes. Rapunzel's Prince is blinded by thorns. And one of the main characters is killed. It was written and originally directed by James Lapine (I meantion his direction because I have the soundtrack and this is what I'm working off of) and the lyrics and music are by Stephen Sondheim (who did the lyrics to West Side Story).

There are two things that make this play so wonderful: 1. The fact that this play is willing to take, what most like to think of as, kids stories and make them much more adult. And 2. the music.

The music was not what I expected, not traditional, harmonic, simple tunes, but hard, somtimes dissonant tunes. If you want to learn the songs, you really have to listen because the music and lyrics don't alway follow the same track, but are beautiful togeter. At first, I thought it was just the strength of the performers, but the more I listen, the more I think that the performers are using the strenght of the songs to make their performances even better.

As for the play being more adult, the song that really stands out to me is Little Red Ridinghood's "I Know Things Now." When I first heard it, it struck me as an innocent song about Red facing her fears and learning not to stray from her path, but the more I hear it, the more I think it's about her first sexual experience. First, the title. What sort of things does she know? That a wolf is dangerous? She already knew that. Then there are lines like "And he showed me things, / Many beautiful things / That I hadn't thought to explore." Take a guess at what she hadn't explored and the things he showed her. These lines "Once his teeth were bared, / Though, I really got scared-- / Well, excited and scared" who wasn't "excited and scared" the first time they had sex? I know that I was. Sometimes when I listen, I think the sex is consentaul, other times rape becuase the guy is a wolf, a predator, and rape seems more likely. Hell, when she meets the wolf in "Hello Little Girl" (a couple of songs before Red's) he as he "devours her with his eyes, mutters to himself":
Grandmother first,
Then Miss Plump...
What a delectable couple
Utter perfection--
One Brittle, one supple...
And then he ends the song with "Goodbye, little girl, / And hello..." These songs aren't just about eating her in the food sense, as much as some may insist they are. Red even sums up the lesson her tale is supposed to embody when she sings:
Do not put your faith
In a cape and a hood
They will not protect you
The way that they should
Toatally two of my favorite songs because they mean so much more than what's just on the surface.

Other songs that are, what I consider, the bes, but not very sexual, except one, are these: "Prologue: Into the Woods," "Giants in the Sky," "On the Steps of the Palace," "Agony" (the second one), and "No More." I can't say what I thinks so amazing about these, they just give me chills every time I listen to them.

Oh, and my favorite line in the enter play is "Once upon a time-- / later"