Your friday night jukebox and a brief announcement about League Beer Week

Will

Will writes from Washington, D.C. (well, Arlington, Virginia). You can reach him at willblogcorrespondence at gmail dot com.

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8 Responses

  1. Rufus says:

    With the Crystals, doesn’t that mean Phil Spector was rationalizing an abusive relationship? And is that really much of a surprise?

    Also, I’d like to note that Beer Week was my suggestion, and also nominate myself as the League Beer Czar, if there are no objections.Report

  2. Will H. says:

    A beer post:
    http://ramblingcousin.blogspot.com/2010/05/vienna.html

    Gives a bit spotty history on the German amber lagers.Report

  3. trizzlor says:

    BTW, the band Grizzly Bear has a terrific cover of The Crystal’s which is even more haunting than the original (I think):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjrxcDNNk_AReport

  4. Boegiboe says:

    On topic, I’m surprised at the absence of Pink from Carter’s article, but then I guess the point is to claim that there is a “pro-abuse” movement out there devoid of artistic value. I don’t buy it.

    Pink’s “Please Don’t Leave Me” is an unequivocal damnation of abusive relationships, and it’s the only song dealing with abuse that I hear on the radio with any frequency, even in 2010. It’s from a 2008 album that has several hits about how self-hatred looks good when you’re in the middle of it.

    “Please Don’t Leave Me” is hard-hitting because it starts out with a plausibly balanced relationship of abuse. Then, having hopefully hooked the abusive lover, it flays that balance with “You’re my perfect little punching bag,” mixed in with the nursery-rhythm of “Da da da, da da da…”.

    I don’t know much about the things Carter wrote about, but the Crystals piece is really interesting. It does seem interested in apologizing for any guy out there who hit(s) his girl. At the same time, it has a slightly uncanny feel compared to their other songs. The tempo is off, the beginning is sparse and almost harsh. I’d be interested in knowing why the Crystals themselves felt good about recording the song.

    It occurs to me that parody of violence is always dangerous. Parody is effective only inasmuch as is required a bit of effort to decode. Anyone failing to make that effort will read the parody straight. In the huge markets Eminem and others have to address, are they pretending to parody so they can cash in on a wider audience–both those who like the parody to feel superior, and those to take it straight to feel vindicated?Report