my careless contagion

ABBA! Did you know the name ABBA came from the first letters of the band members' names? Now you know. I saw their names and figured as much. Holy crap, those names. They are definitely Swedish. We are back to writing about things without consequence. Whee. Pardon me, but I have a docket full of things to write about and no one is going to do it for me. Sometimes you have to write for the sheer enjoyment of it. Hopefully, someone reads it and likes it, but whatever. If not, they're missing out. C'mon, let's leave the squares at home. We're going on a trip to Sweden!  My first recollection of ABBA was when I was a boy and we lived in Broken Bow. One of my coworkers listened to ABBA. I didn’t know anything about them except they weren’t exactly cool at the time. But, what is this song? I guess it’s a love song. Not really, though. Most love songs are misnomers. They describe not love but lost love, broken love, lust, or something like that. Those aren’t love. Those ar...

Van Halen's Jump. What images does this bring to mind? David Lee Roth doing the splits in spandex? Lots of jumping? Eddie Van Halen (who is no longer with us) rocking on his guitar? Big hair? Yeah, it was the 80s. Here is another song that has a deeper meaning when you actually look at the lyrics. When I was a kid I thought it was just a fun song about jumping around. Hey, I wasn't too bright. The synthesizer, though. That’s a big sound.  David Lee Roth is the only singer of Van Halen I will consider, but they had some really epic songs over the years. I read David Lee Roth's autobiography many years ago. He had quite a life. A lot of what he dealt with was how to maintain balance and stability during all the rock and roll fame. He would go to an island somewhere and get lost. I get that.  This song was released in late 1983. (By contrast, Bad Religion released their first album in 1982. The band formed in 1979.) I was six years old. This was Van Halen's most popular si...

Rocket Man by Elton John. At this point you're really wondering what's up with dear, old Joshua. Why this particular song? What, you don't like piano ballads from the 70s (1972 to be exact)? Let me frame this song for you. It's not what it appears to be, unless you can see through the veneer. In 1972, probably not many could. Here's a little song about an astronaut. How cute. Actually, this song is whatever you want it to be. This is just my take. This song was covered a million times over the five decades since its release. A notable one I'm familiar with is by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes . I like punk or ska versions of songs because they really tighten up the slack and make more compact songs. When a song has a lot of covers, it shows the strength of the original. A good song can withstand a lot of reinterpretation. Elton John somehow remains relevant, also, probably because of his gay lifestyle (very much promoted these days) and legendary rock/disco past ...

Happy Now by Zedd and Elley Duhe seems a pertinent song right now. Today was the day the woman I'm in love in told me she does not, indeed, read my blog and has not for a while. This was my singular connection to her. I guess it's just as well. The theme of this new year seems to be "back to reality." I had hoped she would read my words and they would touch her heart. While this blog has been filled with all sorts of pain and all sorts of questions and all sorts of strivings, the posts about her kept me coming back to sit in this chair and look out this window and imagine a day no matter how far off that was happier. And I loved to think about her and write about her. As all men in love with their muse are wont to do.   Today that reality I thought I was living turned into a joke. An unreality. A fantasy. The words of this song, especially when she says, "There's nothing left to say. So I shut my mouth," seem literally written for me at this momen...

*** Spoiler alert. ***  Netflix's series You is a journey into the mind of a self-proclaimed "good guy," as in the last good guy in New York, who happens to be a serial killer. He's not just a serial killer, though; he's a guy who has convinced himself he's killing to protect those he loves. He never wants to kill. But he has to. Because he's really just a good guy who is forced into some bad situations, right?  It's hard not to see this as another brick in the wall of the narrative that there are no good guys, a theme that has been running in popular media for a few years now, highlighted most recently by the MeToo and TimesUp movements, movements I wholeheartedly agree are past due. Without getting into the irony that MeToo's great push came out of heathen Hollywood, a town long given over to vices such as giving sex for work (prostitution), let's take a look at how You fits into things.   Let me say first that I agree with the MeTo...

*If there's a band that sums up the way I feel about my 20+ year relationship that ended this year, that band is The Handsome Family. I don't know that I've ever heard a collection of songs that can trigger so much unhappiness in me.  You could describe this band as alternative country, gothic country, or a number of other sub-genres. I remember the night I found this band. I was perusing music on the internet because we'd had a fight and she went to her mom's house for the night. It was like my heart went and found the soundtrack for how I was feeling.  I could have picked a hundred different songs for this post, but this one was one of her favorites. I can't even describe how I feel about this failed relationship. It is one of the most disappointing things I've ever tried and failed at, endured, pumped life into, whatever you want to say. The Handsome Family is a husband and wife core (Brett and Rennie Sparks) with other musicians coming...

*I must have listened to this song a dozen times over the last couple of weeks. Every time I think I have it figured out, I realize I don't. The lyrics don't help. The imagery is Carnival-esque, with the dancers and the giant devil skull, the throwing of the whatever to the empty desert night. My favorite part may be when Brandon Flowers "plays" the drums with the puppies at the end. I guess if you can't figure out what a song or video is about, you can just say it's about drugs. And it may be just that. Maybe I think too much. Or maybe I just like puzzles. Either way, I like this song. If the spaceman says we're going to be alright, that this is all in our minds, then I will at least take that with me. We all need to hear that from time to time. When you've lost seemingly everything and you're drifting through the cold night of space, you really need to hear that.* It started with a low light, Next thing I knew they ripped me fro...

*It's one of those questions that I've thought about for so many years. The last five years have led me to this moment when I'm finding out the answer. For all of my words, so many lines of them, that I've written. For all of my prayers, all of my thoughts. I still don't have the answer. All I see, as the song says, is oblivion. Just a different kind of oblivion.* I'm only pretty sure that I can't take anymore Before you take a swing I wonder what are we fighting for When I say out loud I want to get out of this I wonder  is  there anything I'm going to miss I wonder how it's going to be When you don't know me How's it going to be When you're sure I'm not there How's it going to be When there's no one there to talk to Between you and me Cause I don't care How's it going to be, How's it going to be Where we used to laugh There's a shouting match Sharp a...