"Walk A Thin Line"-Fleetwood Mac

Those that know me know that I like Fleetwood Mac even more than I like McDonald's, and sadly, I like McDonald's a lot.

My parents owned both Rumours and the 1975 self-titled album (the one with "Rhiannon" and "Landslide") and I completely devoured them. This was at a time (seven or eight years old) when I was basically only willing to listen to Paul Simon, The Beatles, and The Everly Brothers, so adding another band to my roster of gentle and melodically-inclined white people was a Big Deal. Since then I have loved them passionately and felt that I had to protect them from accusations of second-rateness, lame-itude, and generally only having a few good hits but being overall kind of milquetoast (I just learned this word and this is the perfect occasion to use it).

I didn't grow up with the album Tusk though, so when my friend Ian sent it to me, I was worried about getting my hopes up too much. I was afraid that if I didn't like it, I might be proved to be NOT A REAL FLEETWOOD MAC FAN which would be equivalent to not being a real Tarheel or not really needing glasses but just wearing them to look cool.

Luckily, the album is just fantastic. After more than fifteen years of loving those other two albums, I think I might (gasp) like this one the best. It cost something like a million dollars to make and includes the University of Southern California's marching band playing on the title track. What's amazing is that it still sounds like a Fleetwood Mac album (you can hear the voices of the songwriters coming straight through) but then there are also all of these interesting and even weird musical and stylistic choices that add so much to it.

Here's a story that I promise is related: Some friends and I once came up with a game/theory (game theory?) called "Indie Rock or Bonnie Raitt?" The idea is that all music can ultimately be put in either the "indie rock" or "Bonnie Raitt" category. I love Bonnie Raitt just as much as I love indie rock, so this is not a discussion about quality, it's a discussion about type. Obviously this can cause all kinds of heated arguments (that's kind of the point, I guess) because some bands or artists are really on the line between the two.

The point is that for my whole life I've been sure that Fleetwood Mac is Bonnie Raitt. But after listening to Tusk, I'm convinced that they're indie rock. Wikipedia tells me that Lindsey Buckingham tried with this album to "allow punk rock and New Wave influence into his work." I definitely hear it.

"Walk A Thin Line" is just an incredible song. It's slow but in this tightly-controlled, percussive, powerful way, landing heavily on each beat and chord with a quality that falls somewhere between the regal and the sexual. I'm also convinced that the "oh-wa-oh-wa-oh-wa-oh-wahhh" backing vocal line is the forerunner to the "oh-la-oh-la" backing vocals in The New Pornographers' song "Challengers."

Some people call R.E.M.'s Murmur the first indie rock album, but I say it happened four years earlier with Tusk. That's kind of a wild claim, I realize, but I am WILD about Fleetwood Mac.

"Black or White"-Michael Jackson

I'm sure everyone has heard by now that Michael Jackson is dead. I'm still working on wrapping my head around it. I can't really imagine a world in which he doesn't exist; then again, my friend Emily made a good point when she said that in some ways it's like he's been dead for a while.

"Black or White" has special significance for me. When I was six years old, I was in my first play. It was part of this summer program at the Carrboro ArtsCenter where they let a bunch of six-year olds write their own play and perform it (I don't know who decided this would be a good idea, but miraculously it was).

Our play was called "Dancers and Demons," and the idea was that a mad scientist had somehow trapped dancers from around the world inside of glaciers, and other dancers had to go rescue them. I was a dancer from Egypt and performed an impassioned improvisational dance to "Walk Like An Egyptian" by The Bangles. Then at the end, when everyone was rescued and safe, our counselors cranked up "Black or White" and we all ran around the stage in our multi-cultural dance costumes and shook it like crazy. We danced like we were being possessed by the holy spirit at an old-fashioned revival. It was one of the most ecstatically joyful single moments in my life to this point, and I think about it every time I hear that song.

Michael Jackson: even if you died of a broken heart, or even if you go to a scary zombie purgatory where sad child stars go, you should know that you brought some people a lot of happiness.

"One Last Breath"-Creed

I feel guilty now for saying that Creedence Clearwater Revival are cave people. Especially since they are an Important Band. I'm not very good at saying that music sucks. I would never be good at writing for Pitchfork.

This reminds me of the time my friend Andrew said he hated The Postal Service. Everyone was surprised because he doesn't usually complain about stuff. Then, two days later or something, out of nowhere he was like, "I feel bad about what I said about The Postal Service. A lot of people really like The Postal Service."

I realize that a lot of people really like Creedence Clearwater Revival. And Norah Jones (laundry-folding music). And Wyclef (just comes on other people's records and makes them more annoying). And Santana (Mr. Guitar W. Wankerson, middle initial stands for "Wanky").

I feel better for getting that out of my system. Now I'm going to make up for being a bitchy hater by telling everyone that I have always liked this one song by Creed.

Are we even?


my songwriting professor would call this "well-crafted"

"Where Everybody Knows Your Name"-Gary Portnoy

why is ted danson orange








i hope it's not on purpose

"Ooby Dooby"-Creedence Clearwater Revival

this song was originally written by some dudes named Wade Moore and Dick Penner.

that's right, it took TWO PEOPLE to write this crap. i know, i'm surprised, too. i thought it was written by adam sandler BACK BEFORE HE WAS BORN

roy orbison should have known better than to sing this song, but you can't really fault creedence clearwater revival because they are cave people. that's just my personal opinion.


ccr fans please explain to me

"The Hustle"-Van McCoy

my "business of songwriting" professor gave me a dollar for correctly naming the artist that did this song.

that's right, i am a huge suck-up. and i have ONE DOLLAR

"Break My Body"-The Pixies

If you listen to The Pixies enough, you always stay young and cool and subversive.  The Pixies listen to a lot of Pixies, and it worked for them.

listen here

"Konichiwa Bitches"-Robyn

Robyn came out with "Show Me Love" in 1993.  You might remember this song if you are a girl and you were alive at that point.  I guess she was probably doing stuff between then and 2005, but I didn't know about it.  Somehow though, in that span of time, she must have decided that it might be cool to be the Missy Elliott of Sweden.

Hard shoes to fill.  She does an admirable job.  Don't try to resist the feeling of indestructibility that creeps up on you as you listen to these lyrics:

You wanna rumble in space?

I put my laser on stun.

And on the North Pole,

I'll ice you, son.

Yeah!

you know when shit is gettin' heavy like it weighs a ton

"Mama Said Knock You Out"-LL Cool J

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK








blaaaaaw, how ya like me now