"About a Girl" [Home Recording] - Nirvana

This was recorded originally in 1987 or 1988 on a 4-track machine by Kurt Cobain and can be found on the un-fucking-believeable With the Lights Out three-album (plus bonus DVD) set. The set is a must-have for any rock fan--not just grunge or Nirvana fans--as it captures candid, essential aspects of the band years before Nevermind blew rock music out of its late-eighties coma. Some of the tracks were originally recorded on a boombox!

The voice of the face of a generation of souls, some of whom are still trying to figure out what the fuck we are doing with our lives.

25 Songs in 25 Days

"Soma" - Smashing Pumpkins

There were so many choices for today's selection. With over 10,000 songs, things invariably get overlooked or forgotten from time to time. And some songs are kept in the recesses intentionally. This one is a little bit of both.

First, How fucking good is Siamese Dream? My youngest brother is a bit of a Pumpkins/Corgan expert, and I cannot speak with the same level of authority as he could, but I consider this to be their best album. While certainly reflecting particular elements of the genre, this was such a refreshing change from the grunge doldrums which had overtaken the airwaves by Spring 1993. And say what you want about Corgan's monomaniacal micomanagement methods, but the guy knows how to make a fucking album from start to finish. So I am always pleasantly surprised each time I "rediscover" the album on days such as today ("Cherub Rock" was playing on Lithium on the drive home).

Most people seem to pick "Today" or "Rocket" or "Disarm" as their favorite song on this album--solid songs, all of them. But for me it has been "Soma" since my first listen of the album in late summer 1993. Now, perhaps this was predestined. Brave New World is one of my favorite books. Spring of 1993 was the start of my intermittent friends-with-benefits relationship with opiates. 1992-1993 was not the best year of all time for me in the personal relationship arena. So I guess I identified with this song rather readily. But I do not necessarily want to remember all of those associations all of the time. 

On top of that, I am always a sucker for songs that constantly crescendo, whether gradually or abruptly. The crashing guitars at about 3:33 still give me goose bumps, especially when contrasted with the placid musical beginning. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this one with me before it goes back into moth balls for a while.

It is rare for me to repost lyrics in full, but these are just about perfect.

Nothing left to say
And all I''ve left to do
Is run away
From you
And she led me on, down
With secrets I can't keep

Close your eyes and sleep
Don't wait up for me
Hush now don't you speak
To me

Wrapped my hurt in you
And took my shelter in that pain
The opiate of blame
Is your broken heart, heart, your heart

Soma, I'm all by myself
As I've always felt
I'll betray my tears
To anyone caught in our ruse of fools

One lat kiss for me...yeah
One last kiss good night

Didn't want to lose you once again
Didn't want to be your friend
Fulfilled a promise made of tin
And crawled back to you

I'm all by myself
As I've always felt
I'll betray myself
To anyone, lost, anyone but you 

So let the sadness come again
On that you can depend on me, yeah
Until the bitter, bitter end of the world, yeah 
When god sleeps in bliss

And I'm all by myself
As I've always felt
And I'll betray myself
To anyone 

25 Songs in 25 Days

"Call Any Vegetable" - Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention

Here's to many nights spent bouncing about on the first floor of the TKE house to this number. My favorite was to perch atop the stair rail and come flying, crashing down over the couches in sync with the opening guitar chord. Or doing a chorus line with Tim and Doug to the dialogue. 

If there's anybody here who doesn't believe that it is fucking GREAT to be alive I wish they would go now because this show would bring them down so much.

25 Songs in 25 Days

I have no idea who BBMac is, but I think she could make Debbie Boone songs sound fabulous. I could listen to her sing all day.