Friday, November 03, 2006

A Few Notes On The Top 25 Songs For October

So, I lacked the time to write comments about 25 songs and still meet my first of the month deadline but there are still a few things I’d like to say about the Top 25 Song For October.

  • This was the first time that I truly struggled to pick the top song. I’m still not sure that I made the right decision.
  • “Cotton Crush” was the hot riser on the list. There no telling how high that song might have ranked if the list had been written a week later. I found myself grinning in pure ecstasy today when, for the first time, I discovered the lyrics “When a girl walks along. / She's humming your song, / with your t-shirt on. / That's when you're done, / Oh, that's when you're done.” Kevin Devine’s lyrics constantly amaze me. He would otherwise be an average lyricist but he has a fearlessness that allows him to address topics (such as being desperately lonely and then watching a girl walk by humming your song and wearing your t-shirt without even recognizing you) that others would never touch due to the risk of being clichéd, controversial, or awkward.
  • Sam’s Town is the most enjoyably flawed album I’ve ever heard. The music is generally incredible but at times Brandon Flower’s Springsteen impression and lyrics are just laughably awful. I have never heard lyrics this stupid in my entire life: “When everybody else refrained / my Uncle Johnny did cocaine. / He convinced himself right in his brain / that it helps to take away the pain”; “I see London. / I see Sam’s Town”; and best of all “Now Adam’s taking bombs / and he’s stuck on his mom / because that bitch keeps trying to make him pray. / He’s with the hippy in the park / combing over the dark / just trying to get some of that little girl play.”
  • I agree with Kevin that Out Of The Angeles is somewhat disappointing but that’s how sophomore releases often go. Everything I love about Amusement Parks On Fire was more or less displayed on their first album and it’s hard to imagine that band putting out an album that is drastically different from their debut and yet equally great. I still think Out Of The Angeles is a very good album and there’s a chance it will land on my Top Ten Albums Of The 2006 list in a couple months time.

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