Monday Melody: Pretty Pimpin’ (Kurt Vile)

Posted on April 11, 2016 by luckyotter

monday_melody

The Monday Melodies are intended to pay homage to songs I like from the past, but I’d like to make an exception this week and include a new song. Lately I’ve been hearing some good and interesting indie rock and pop on a local radio station that doesn’t play the usual Top 40 hits.

Kurt Vile‘s “Pretty Pimpin'” is musical crack. His style is like a cross between Tom Petty (who he names as one of his influences) and ’90’s alternative such as Beck. The video features Kurt, appearing disheveled and either confused, high, or severely dissociated, possibly in a fugue state. The lyrics describe what sounds like a very unpleasant dissociative experience, in which the protagonist looks in the mirror and doesn’t recognize himself. Yet Kurt’s delivery is oddly unemotional and disconnected, as if he’s describing the experience of someone else, which is exactly what dissociation feels like.

I’d like to include this comment from the lyrics page, which I think nails the meaning of the song:

The song’s narrator likely suffers from Depersonalization Disorder, a dissociative mental disorder in which one feels disconnected or estranged from one’s body, thoughts and emotion.

The song uses subtle changes in its repeating verses, progressing through different manifestations of this disorder. As the narrator interacts with himself in the mirror, he begins with the first person pronoun “I” and later moving toward more uses of the third-person “he.”

The upbeat song ends with a gradual fade-out, which you don’t hear much anymore in modern music.

I woke up this morning
Didn’t recognize the man in the mirror
Then I laughed and I said, “Oh silly me, that’s just me”
Then I proceeded to brush some stranger’s teeth
But they were my teeth, and I was weightless
Just quivering like some leaf come in the window of a restroom

I couldn’t tell you what the hell it was supposed to mean
But it was a Monday, no a Tuesday, no Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Then Saturday came around and I said “Who’s this stupid clown blocking the bathroom sink?”

All he ever wanted was to be someone in life that was just like
All I want is to just have fun
Live my life like a son of a gun
I could be one thousand miles away but still mean what I say

Then I woke up one morning
Didn’t recognize the man in the mirror
Then I laughed and I said, “Oh silly me, that’s just me”
Then I proceeded to not comb some stranger’s hair
Never was my style

But I couldn’t tell you what the hell it was supposed to mean
Because it was a Monday, no a Tuesday, no Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Then Saturday came around and I said “Who’s this stupid clown blocking the bathroom sink?”
But he was sporting all my clothes
I gotta say I’m pretty pimpin

All he ever wanted was to be a man
But he was always a little too cute to be admitted under “marbles lost”
He was always a thousand miles away while still standing in front of your face

Then he woke up this morning
Didn’t recognize the boy in the mirror
Then laughed and said, “Oh silly me, that’s just me”
Then I proceeded to brush some stranger’s teeth
But they were my teeth, and I was weightless
Just quivering like some leaf come in the window of a restroom

And I couldn’t tell you what the hell it was supposed to mean
Cause it was a Monday, no a Tuesday, no Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Then Saturday came around and I said, “Who’s this stupid clown blocking the bathroom sink?”
But he was sporting all my clothes
I gotta say pretty pimpin

I woke up this morning, didn’t recognize the boy in the mirror [x6]

Monday Melody: Society’s Child (Janis Ian)

Posted on February 29, 2016 by luckyotter

monday_melody

Janis Ian, a singer-songwriter whose most well known song was 1975’s hit “At Seventeen,” recorded a much lesser known hit when she was just 16 years old, called “Society’s Child.” Sadly, this song has mostly been forgotten. The last time I heard it played on any radio station was probably in the late 1970s. Classic rock stations don’t play it because it doesn’t really qualify as rock. But the song is a masterpiece, both musically and lyrically. Fortunately, someone was able to get this technologically impressive (for its time) video of Janis singing the song live in 1967 on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

“Society’s Child” has an interesting background. Janis actually wrote the song at the age of 15, imagining a white high school girl dating a black boy and having to deal with her parents’ and teachers’ disapproval of anyone “not of our own kind.” In the song, the girl is forced to end her relationship with her boyfriend because of the prejudice so common at the time (and that unfortunately never really went away).

Janis Ian said she received death threats due to the controversial lyrics, and many radio stations refused to play the song. But she continued to perform it live throughout the years and still does to this day, at the age of 64.

I think Janis looks absolutely stunning in this video, and she really gets lost in the emotion of the song. Maybe it’s only because of the superior quality of the video but it’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact this was taped almost 50 years ago. But there’s a definite innocence there you just don’t see in modern singers.

This Father Wrote His Bullied Daughter a Song to Let Her Know how Special She is

Posted on October 1, 2015 by luckyotter

This warmed my heart. Pass it on.

Kindness Blog

Bullying is a huge problem in schools around the world, which leaves thousands of kids a year feeling insecure and abused.

This foul treatment can cause both physical and emotional distress. The reality is that almost every kid experiences bullying in some way, so if you haven’t, you’re very lucky.

When this little girl told her dad that she was being bullied, he decided that he needed to tell her how special she really is.

He sat down and wrote a poem, which he then put to music, and created a song meant to inspire not only his own kids, but kids across the country who are dealing with bullying and harassment.

This dad is no stranger to viral fame. He once wrote a song to his wife about how he wished she loved herself more, which you can check out here.

We hope Khari Touré continues to make…

View original post 19 more words

“Fragile Heart”

Posted on September 13, 2015 by luckyotter

A friend sent me this video. Have the tissues ready. 😥

Lyrics:

There’s no place for a sensitive soul
In a space where your ego freely roams
And you’re a little bit narcissistic
And I’m a little too understanding, sadly
So you held me like your rose
Only to watch me whither slowly

But there’s no hope for the weaker minds
This, I know

You can’t take me down
For my fragile heart
I’ll start over now
With my fragile heart

“This is the Real Me” (music video)

Posted on August 18, 2015 by luckyotter

My son starred in and created this video while he was attending Megaplex 2015 in Orlando a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

“Glycerine”– new music video my son made.

Posted on June 3, 2015 by luckyotter

Here’s my son’s latest music video–“Glycerine” by Bush (he was only three when this song was released in 1994). I love this song and this is an interesting interpretation.

You can view his other music videos in this post:
https://luckyottershaven.com/2015/02/07/2-music-videos-my-son-made/

4 music videos my son made

Posted on February 7, 2015 by luckyotter

Time for a little shameless bragging.

My 23 year old son is an aspiring filmmaker (he also has a music review channel, Radio Recall) and has quite a few music videos on his channel, iBolt07 at Youtube.com. I meant to post these earlier, but never got around to it.

In the first one (his most recent, made in December) there’s footage of his 2nd place (novice) performance in the fursuit dance competition at Midwest Furfest in Chicago, Illinois. (Here is my post about that). He says it’s much easier to dance without a fursuit. I wonder why that doesn’t surprise me. Since his second place finish, he’s been asked to join a dance troupe that travels in the Florida area, and they dance out of costume.

There was also a gas leak at the Hyatt where they were staying outside Chicago that forced attendees to evacuate for hours and 17 people were hospitalized. It may have been a hate crime. Fortunately there were no casualties.

I don’t have any problems with my son being a furry. I’ve done a lot of research on this, and there are a lot of unfortunate misunderstandings surrounding the fur fandom. It’s really more akin to someone who attends Star Trek conventions than a sexual perversion and there are more geeks at these things than at a science fair. A lot of furries seem to have professions in one of the sciences or are computer nerds. There are also lots of female furries, which surprised me. I wrote an article back in September (which is still one of my most popular) about why it doesn’t bother me that my son is a furry.

I just Googled “my son is furry,” and that article is so popular it’s now at the top of Page 1 on Google! That wasn’t always the case. When I wrote it it was on page 8 or 9, and a month ago it was at the top of the 3rd page or bottom of the second. It’s continuing to get a lot of views so it’s moved to the top. (For some reason my Merrimints article is picking up some momentum too. I think a food site found it. It’s also getting a lot of shares on Pinterest.)

Here are two of his fur convention music videos.

He can be seen dancing out of costume at 2:20 and part of his performance is at about 2:40.

He also makes non-furry music videos. Here are two of them:

He acts in this video too, and does the lipsynching. This is a few years old, from 2010 or 2011.

I love this!

12 more songs about narcissism

Posted on January 5, 2015 by luckyotter

Narcissism is a hot topic, and popular music is no exception, especially since so many songs are about relationships gone bad and breakups with narcissistic lovers. Whenever possible, I tried to include lyric videos.

1. Christina Aguilera: Vanity

Speaks for itself.

2. Sara Bareilles: King of Anything

Fairly recent, nice indie pop song about a not so nice malignant narcissist.

3. Queen: I Want it All

I couldn’t find a lyric video, but here’s the lyrics:

Adventure seeker on an empty street,
Just an alley creeper, light on his feet
A young fighter screaming, with no time for doubt
With the pain and anger can’t see a way out,
It ain’t much I’m asking, I heard him say,
Gotta find me a future move out of my way,
I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now,
I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now,

Listen all you people, come gather round
I gotta get me a game plan, gotta shake you to the ground
Just give me what I know is mine,
People do you hear me, just give me the sign,
It ain’t much I’m asking, if you want the truth
Here’s to the future for the dreams of youth,
I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now,
I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now,

I’m a man with a one track mind,
So much to do in one life time (people do you hear me)
Not a man for compromise and where’s and why’s and living lies
So I’m living it all, yes I’m living it all,
And I’m giving it all, and I’m giving it all,
It ain’t much I’m asking, if you want the truth,
Here’s to the future, hear the cry of youth,
I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now,
I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now…

4. Madonna: Material Girl

Madonna purportedly suffers from NPD herself. I don’t doubt it. Still a great 1980s classic though.

5. Rush: Malignant Narcissism (instrumental)

No words, but the title says it all so it belongs here anyway. Good hard rock jam.

6. The Police: Every Breath You Take

The dude in this 1986 megahit definitely seems psychopathic to me.

7. Michelle Branch: Are You Happy Now

Angry pop rock from 2003 about a girl left by her narcissisict lover.

8. Three Days Grace: Just Like You

Don’t want to get infected by her evil!

9. Shawn Colvin: Get Out of this House

The lyrics are oblique and this song may not be about a narcissistic relationship, it could be just a bad breakup but it’s still a great song so I’m posting it anyway. I could not find a lyric video for this.

10. Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive

I have looked, but there seem to be very, very few songs about narcissism prior to the 1980s (isn’t that an interesting statement about how our society has changed?), but here’s a disco song with a victorious message about escaping from what appears to have been an abusive relationship with a narcissist. This has become a sort of female empowerment anthem but I don’t see why it couldn’t apply to guys escaping from narcissistic women too.

11. Imagine Dragons: Demons

Sounds like an insightful malignant narcissist to me, warning his prey! Sam, did you actually write this?

12. Carrie Underwood: Cowboy Casanova

Catchy country-pop take on a narcissistic relationship.

See also these two posts for even more songs about narcissism!
1. 20 songs about narcissists #1-10
2. 20 songs about narcissists #11-20

20 songs about narcissists (#11 – 20)

Posted on December 12, 2014 by luckyotter

Here are the final ten songs in this series about narcissism and psychopathy in popular music. The first ten are in this post: https://otterlover58.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/ten-songs-about-narcissists-part-one/

11. “Every Me and Every You” by Placebo

A commenter named Sinderella suggested this one to me. I never heard it before, but it’s a great rock song and it also comes from the point of view of the narcissist, instead of the victim, which makes it a bit different. Thank you, Sinderella.

12. “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails

Disturbing look inside the psyche of a malignant narcissist by the well known ’90s rock band.

13. “Live to Tell” by Madonna

One of Madonna’s best and most haunting songs ever. The lyrics are a bit oblique but I read somewhere this was a song about her abusive, psychopathic father. It could be about a love relationship with a narcissist too. (Madonna herself allegedly has NPD–since it’s a family disease, many ACONS also have the disorder).

14. “Farmer’s Daughter” by Crystal Bowersox

Catchy but angry and emotionally cathartic autobiographical folk-pop song about the singer’s abusive, drunk, psychopathic mother, who badly damaged both her children. There wasn’t a lyric video for this because the song was never a big hit, but I think you can understand all the words and the video tells the story.

15. “Don’t You Want Me’ by the Human League

The synth-pop hit from 1981 tells the story of a woman whose narcissistic, manipulative manager/lover is no longer of any use to her because he’s made her a big celebrity and now she wants to move on. It’s hard to tell who’s the real narcissist here. This may be one of those rare relationships with two narcissists using each other for their own gain. Such a relationship cannot last.

16. “Foolish Games” by Jewel

Hauntingly beautiful song by the folk-turned-country singer about being dumped by a narcissistic man who only used her as long as he needed her.

17. “Sweet Nothing” by Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch

Fairly new dance-pop hit about a woman dealing with a narcissistic lover.

18. “The Chauffeur” by The Deftones

The lyrics are very poetic and somewhat oblique but this seems to be about a relationship with a malignantly narcissistic woman.

19. “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye featuring Kimbra

I never really thought of this as a song about narcissism, but if you listen to the short verse by Kimbra (really the most telling lyric in the song), she is calling her lover out for his narcissistic, manipulative behavior, while Gotye appears to be experiencing a narcissistic crisis/loss of narcissistic supply and blaming his lover for leaving him.

And to close this post…

20. “My Way” by Frank Sinatra

Classic song by the blue eyed crooner paints a picture of a narcissist from his own point of view.

If you liked this post, also see 12 More Songs About Narcissism.

Here’s another ten songs about narcissism I just added to this series: https://luckyottershaven.com/2015/04/22/10-more-songs-about-narcissists/

20 songs about narcissists (#1 – 10)

Posted on December 12, 2014 by luckyotter

Because so many relationships are unequal, predatory, and abusive, and songs about relationships are so common in popular music, narcissism comes up in them often. I have posted songs about narcissism before, but I wanted to put them all in one post. I will be posting 20 songs, 10 in each post.

These songs are not ranked (because ranking them is impossible and isn’t my focus here anyway), so the songs are posted in totally random order.

Almost every genre of popular music is represented here. I have tried to include lyric videos whenever possible, so you can read the words.

1. “Narcissist” by The420Four:

Indie stoner garage rock that hits the nail on the head (but is nearly unlistenable). It still belongs on the list.

2. “Mean” by Taylor Swift

The pop country princess seems like someone who’s been in more than her fair share of abusive relationships with narcissistic, selfish men. From what I’ve heard, fame has never gone to her head–she’s super nice and falls in love easily, so she probably attracts narcissistic men who want to use her. But in this song, Taylor finally shows a little badass attitude and calls out her latest narcissist for what he really is in her ridiculously catchy 2012 pop-country hit “Mean.”

3. “Narcissus” by Alanis Morissette

Tribute to a narcissistic lover by the popular ’90s singer. This is one of her more current, less well known songs, but it’s still great.

4. “Building a Mystery” by Sarah McLachlan

The video is so well done in this hauntingly beautiful 1997 hit that I didn’t search for a lyric video. If you want to read the lyrics, I posted them here. This has remained one of my favorite songs ever.

5. “Voices Carry” by ‘Til Tuesday

The turquoise on hot pink typeface is a little hard on the eyes, but this was the only lyric video I could find for this enormously popular 1985 electropop hit about a relationship with a narcissist who wanted to keep their relationship a secret.

6. “Father of Mine” by Everclear

Here’s a hit from the early 2000’s from a man’s perspective–this song was written by the lead singer about his abusive and uncaring father (who was most likely a malignant narcissist) and how it’s still having repercussions on his life as an adult.

7. “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon

This was a huge radio hit in 1972. Simon wrote this song about the narcissistic actor Warren Beatty, who she had had a stormy one-sided relationship with. I couldn’t find a decent lyric video, but you can read the words here.
Speaking of vanity, I thought this video was extremely advanced for 1972 technology, so I looked into it further and found out this was a remix video of the original song made in 2010! Carly still looks terrific!

8. “Liar” by Henry Rollins

This song from the late 1990s absolutely nails the evil mindset of the psychopathic malignant narcissist. This video is incredibly well done and powerful, so I didn’t include a lyric video. You probably won’t need one because Rollins’ enunciation is clear as a bell. The singer/actor/activist is not actually narcissistic in the slightest, but he plays the part here incredibly well

9. “Me Myself and I” by de la soul.

A narcissistic r&b/hip hop anthem for the self absorbed. Hip hop in particular seems to be an especially narcissistic music genre. Some of the N attitude in hip hop may not be genuine but a type of posing for effect, but one still wonders.