I came across this tweet from none other than Snoop Dogg.

I had to laugh.  Suddenly Snoop is a champion of women?  Let’s take a look at some of his past song titles (asterisks are mine)

For All My N***** & B****es (1993)

“Hoes, Money & Clout” (1998)

B****’s Treat (2002)

A B**** I Knew (2006)

Yep.  That’s right.  Snoop Dogg is a champion of women’s rights.  Let’s call it like I see it.  Snoop is a thug.  Too many young people are buying into the lies that he’s selling….including the 841 people who retweeted this and the 2.4k people who like the tweet in support of him.

Because of my interest in geography and travel I’m drawn to songs that mention place names in rapid succession.  Here are some of my favorites.

Elvis Presley – The Promised Land

Huey Lewis the Heart of Rock & Roll

Johnny Cash – I’ve Been Everywhere

The Black Keys – Gotta Get Away

Somehow YouTube has become my new addiction these days. Here’s a list of my favorite music finds on YouTube lately.

• Mat Wedder – “Hey Ya” – It’s a cover of Outkast’s “Hey Ya.” Better than the original. Reminds me how sad the song can be. “We know we aren’t happy here…”
• Death Cab for Cutie -“I Will Follow You into the Dark” – The ever expanding hole coupled with the haunting line “If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied…illuminate the “No’s” on their vacancies signs…”
• Coldplay – “The Scientist” – Somehow I missed this when it first came out. (Thanks MTV) A video filmed entirely backwards…and the lead singer had to mouth the words backwards. Wanna watch it backwards?
• U2 – “Window to the Skies” This video shows old footage of bands and artists somehow lipsynced to U2’s lyrics. See how many you can identify. Members of U2 appear in the audience showing that they, are not only music makers, but also fans of the great ones.
• White Stripes – Denial Twist – Chronicling their appearance on the Conan O’Brien Show

There remains a few gems on the top 40 radio stations these days. You have to look past those fickle pop songs to find it. One reason I still have 107 The River on my car radio preset is due to the Fray.
The Fray’s latest single “How to Save a Life,” decribe an intervention between the singer and an estranged friend. The words show a friend’s regret at not being able to save their friend from a life of trouble. The song begins with “Step one: You say we need to talk…” Then the lyrics describe what would happen next in the intervention, either he will hear you or decide to go his own way.
The lead singer of the Fray, Isaac Slade, stated in past interviews that the song was a result of him working at a camp for trouble teens.
From a personal experience I liken the song to those late night spiritual discussion one has at summer camps or mission trips. A personal interpretation of it is similar to trying to bring someone to Christ and saving them from their sinful ways. I have had many a late night discussion with wandering souls, or people who just want to grow spiritually. And in some ways saving a life could mean being there for them with a listening ear.
And this is the best version of the song.

I arrived a little late on the music scene this year to hear “Doesn’t Remind Me,” by Audioslave. It was nominated for “Best Hard Rock Performance” at this year’s Grammy Awards.
The song can be best characterized by the singer’s answer to depression. Chris Cornell vocalizes his need to do things that don’t remind him of past regrets, whatever they might be…
The list is seemingly random…from the religious (speaking in tongues and gospel music), to downright dangerous (driving backwards in the fog), to obvious (breaking guitars).
Cornell suffered from depression in his teenage years, possibly brought on by his parents divorce. He stated before in past interviews that for an entire year he didn’t leave the house.
The song’s video shows a boy training to be a boxer. In between the boxing scenes we see (apparently) his father’s plane being shot down in war. So in a sense, the boy uses boxing to overcome the difficulties of dealing with his father’s death.
From boxing to a young boy, to gospel music to a grunge rocker…these combinations don’t go together. Hence they must help those trying to overcome loss or regret to forget about the past and move on with their lives.

I’ll admit I’m a causal fan of Oasis. I haven’t bought any of their CD’s. All of their music I’ve downloaded. I first became aware of them via VH1’s Behind the Music. So many good songs. Not just Wonderwall, a song known by just the less than casual fan. Practically every song they sing is good.
So when tickets went on sale for their March 26th show at the Ryman, I took it upon myself to get tickets…even if they did have an obstructed view.
So my group and I arrived a few minutes after the opening act opened. They were good for an opening act, but I’ve since forgotten their name.
In the lobby area of the Ryman you could hear mostly British accents. Lots of soccer football shirts. This phenomenon was to be expected, after all Oasis is the quentesential British band of the ’90s. Now their status as the #1 Britpop band has somewhat been eclipsed by Coldplay.
What one needs to know about the Ryman is that it is the mother church of country music. Pews. Stained glass windows. I’m not sure the majority of the crowd relized this since they seemed to be climbing all of these pews, which would seem halfway sacreligous to this Nashville native. One very drunk audience member in front of me must have thought he was at some sort of soccer match rather than an Oasis concert. He was told multiple times by female ushers to stop standing on the pews. He only stopped when some very big security guards came up to overlook the situation.
Still the concert was excellent. The only negative thing I could say is that the band was a bit too loud and distorted at times. They are more of an arena band rather than an small venue band, such as the Ryman. I guess it might be a testamony of how their popularity has dropped since the mid 1990s.
I couldn’t understand the Gallagher brothers’ commentary in between the songs, due their thick British accent. It was sorta funny to watch the subtitles on “Behind the Music,” but with the Gallagher brothers, it is definitely needed.
The played a variety of songs, many from their latest album. That being the case, I wasn’t able to identify the name of the song, nor sing along with them. The old songs I knew.
Here is a partial playlist:
1. Turn Up the Sun
2. Lyla
3. —
4. What’s the Story Morning Glory?
5. Cigarretes & Alcohol
6. The Importance Of Being Idle
7. Masterplan
8. —-
9. A Bell Will Ring
10. Acquiescene
11. Live Forever
12. —
13. Wonderwall
14. Champagne Supernova
15. Rock n Roll Star
Encore
16. Guess God Thinks I’m Abel
17. Mucky Fingers
18. Don’t Look Back in Anger
19. My Generation (The Who cover)
There was times which lead singer Liam would sing the verse and just stand back and let the audience sing the chorus. He had no emotion, but just stood stoic with his hands in his sport jacket’s front pockets. Other times Liam would completely leave the stage and let his brother Noel, the creative force behind Oasis, sing.
2 British flags and a beach ball were being held up in the crowd. Noel and Liam both threw out the tamborines which were used in the show. One tamborine landed a few yards from me and was held up by the receiver as somewhat of a trophy of the concert.
Excellent concert. A historic venue. I really expected Oasis to try to cover some country music song, perhaps even the late Buck Owen’s “Act Naturally,” which was made famous by Ringo Starr (who’s son is the current drummer for Oasis). But, alas, they only played Oasis songs, except for a cover of The Who’s “My Generation.”
Maybe I’ll end up buying an Oasis album sometime. There is rumor of a greatest hits album, which in that case I’ll hang out until that one comes along…

During the past few weeks Nashville has had some major changes in formats and DJ’s over the radio dial. Here’s a summary.

• I like Jack. Oldies 96.3 is no more. The Jack FM concept has come to Nashville. Mostly its a mix of 70s, 80s, and 90s music with alot of variety and no DJs, news, weather, or traffic. Where else could you find Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus playing back to back with Jewell’s You Were Meant for Me…? I am guessing Jack FM is radio’s answer to XM.
• With Oldies 96.3 gone, 97.1 which played a mix of 80s and 90s music, is now Oldies 97.1. They brought Coyote McCloud and Cathy Martindale, who were DJs on 96.3. Coyote and Cathy needed to have a home here in Nashville. They are locals (in lieu of bland syndication), and they’re good at what they do.
• With Coyote and Cathy filling the morning DJ position, Rick and Bubba have no home in Nashville. Rick and Bubba are syndicated DJs based in Birmingham. They usually are Alabama-centric, telling us in-jokes about Alabama sports teams and the like. What do you do when your favorite DJs are off the air? Well you start up a blog for support. And the comments on the blog are funny and sad at the same time. Some gems:
  • ” I am almost in a state of depression since Rick and Bubba have been taken off the air.”
  • “One of the major reasons I retired at Pensacola was that I could listen to Rick and Bubba in the morning.”
  • ” My mornings are completely wrecked now!”
  • “The commute to work is horrible now.”

What has happened is basically Star 97 and Oldies 96.3 traded formats, with the 70s, 80s, and 90s format getting a bit better without DJs and traffic reports. The other positive thing is that it got Rick and Bubba off the air. As one discussion board poster said “Nashville is way too sophisticated for Rick and Bubba.” This is probably why Rick and Bubba never made it to Atlanta. Atlanta doesn’t want them and neither does Nashville.

I got the new John Lennon acoustic album. I’m still digesting it. I really like “Working Class Hero” and (of course) “Imagine.”
On the back of it I noticed the FBI Anti-Piracy Warning stamp on it. (Apparently this stamp is on all new albums now). I thought to myself how ironic it is that the FBI is trying to protect John Lennon now, when they were keeping a file on him. But, in a sense they’re not protecting John Lennon, they’re just protecting the large corporation known as Capital Records from loosing money on music pirates.
Here is a quote from John Lennon:

“Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it.”

I’m guessing John Lennon would not been opposed to file sharing, or tape trading.

Each day we drive to work and we listen to our radios. Some of us choose to listen to our IPods, while others like me bounce around from morning show to morning show. Some thoughts on the morning shows.

• Rick and Bubba – Star97. I am convinced that if Rick was suddenly incompacitated, Bubba would be unable to continue to do the show long term. Bubba is not trained as a radio DJ and it shows. He seems completely lost when Rick isn’t there.
  Unfortunately someone should tell Rick and Bubba that they’re just not funny, but unfortunately they probably won’t believe you. They’re too busy laughing at themselves and reading praise letters (with not very much substance) from their fans.
  I remember Rick and Bubba’s debut on 103 KDF a few years back. I was hoping for them to be true DJ’s, playing music in between funny bits. Unfortunately I got no music, and even worse, no funny bits.
  Show some integrity and don’t do lame commericals acting as though it’s really part of your show. I frequently hear Rick and Bubba doing a commerical for Foot Effects. Not once do they say they’ve actually tried Foot Effect’s products. Actually all we hear is how their “feet feel better already.” Sell outs.
• Woody and Jim – 107.5 The River. From the radio station that you can’t listen to for more than 20 minutes without hearing the same song again….brings you DJ’s that seemlingly have no clue as to how Nashville works. Truly outsiders…from Buffalo, no less.
  Gender Wars is unexciting and shows how stupid Nashville radio listeners are.
• Coyote McCloud – Oldies 96.3. Coyote has come a long way since his Zoo Crew years (Y107). Matured would be the word. Coyote does some good stuff, especially bringing some good music trivia along. Most of his listeners have heard it all, and he doesn’t try to impress them. He doesn’t have to.
  Many listen to it for the traffic reports every 10 minutes (which is easy to do when most of the songs on your playlist are around 2 minutes long).
• The Big Show – 105.9 the Rock. – Somewhere in North Carolina John Boy and Billy broadcast their radio show. Their show can be good at times, and they do play a good song occassionally. Their show is what Rick and Bubba are trying to immitate (and failing miserably at). I’ve laughed at Ike Turner’s commentary. However I can do without Robert D. Raiford’s “Grumpy Old Man” commentaries. And from what John Boy and Billy’s reaction (complete silence at times), I think the rest of the crew could do without it too. Obviously Raiford has some friends in the production crew.
• Bob and Tom 102.9 The Buzz – This show is just to raunchy to listen to. What a bunch of pervs.

Only two of the above shows are produced in Nashville. The rest are in syndication, which shows how fickle radio can become. Give us homegrown DJs reading relavent stories and commentary on our fair town. After all, we are Music City USA. Don’t we deserve a good homegrown morning show?

I saw U2’s performance of “Until the End of the World” in their Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame induction. It dawned on me (as it has for many others), that this song is an allegory of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. The song is told from a first person viewpoint of Judas.
Some examples.
Song Lyrics:

Haven’t seen you in quite a while
I was down the hold just passing time
Last time we met was a low-lit room
We were as close together as a bride and groom
We ate the food, we drank the wine
Everybody having a good time
Except you
You were talking about the end of the world

20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, �I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.�
…
25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, �Surely not I, Rabbi?�
Jesus answered, �Yes, it is you.�
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, �Take and eat; this is my body.�
27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, �Drink from it, all of you.
Matthew 26:20-27 NIV
Song Lyrics:

I took the money
I spiked your drink
You miss too much these days if you stop to think

14 Then one of the Twelve�the one called Judas Iscariot�went to the chief priests
15 and asked, �What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?� So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.
16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Matthew 26:14-16 NIV
Song Lyrics:

You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
You
You were acting like it was the end of the world
Love…

47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people.
48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: �The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.�
49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, �Greetings, Rabbi!� and kissed him.
Matthew 26:47-49 NIV
Song Lyrics

Waves of regret and waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy

3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders.
4 �I have sinned,� he said, �for I have betrayed innocent blood.�
�What is that to us?� they replied. �That’s your responsibility.�
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
Matthew 27:3-5 NIV