Beastie Boys "Bodhisattva Vow"

As I watched friend after friend post on Facebook about the passing of Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys, I had two thoughts in quick succession.

"What should I write for the blog?" followed by "Most mvy listeners don't care about The Beastie Boys, so why bother?"

While there are certainly many listeners who have a broad taste in music, with a scope that includes rap music, I can also tell you that the category of music most likely to be despised by an mvy listener, is hip-hop.

For whatever reason (and there is a whole post, nay, a whole University study that could be devoted to the question), many many listeners over the years have expressed zero tolerance for the genre.  So it plays very little role in what the station does.

And if you're one of those folks, I guess I'm writing to you today.

I think it's pretty easy to define and dismiss a genre, based on the worst aspects of its shallowest contributions.  An intense dislike of Top 40 is built on a vapid, autotuned, moronic beat.  Your intense dislike of country is based on hicky, jingoistic, yeehaw twang.

And unfortunately, what can make a rap song really great, even something a non-rap fan could fully embrace and enjoy, is often the most impenetrable part ---  the lyrics.

If you're not familiar with it, listen to the first 30 seconds of "Bodhisattva Vow" before reading the rest of the post:


Hear the song on Youtube.

Chances are, you have not idea what he's saying.  It's just a jumble of sound.

Fair enough.

But if you've been a bit surprised at the outpouring of sadness over the passing of someone you were never able to musically connect to, the lyrics are a large reason why.

If your dislike of rap music centers partly on your idea that much of Rap music's lyrics deal with things that don't appeal to you (conspicuous consumption, violence, misogyny), know that you're missing out.  Because many, many artists use the form to say things that I think you might find intelligent, appealing and even profound.

Check out the lyrics below, go back and listen to the song and maybe find out why this guy got into the hearts of so many.


There are many, many great obituaries out there for Adam Yauch.  I really appreciated the one at The AV Club, which (astutely) called him "The George Harrison of The Beastie Boys."  It gave a lot of attention to Yauch's non-music endeavors, including his very successful filmmaking forays and his passionate commitment to his charitable organizations.

"Bodhisattva Vow"

As I Develop The Awakening Mind I Praise The Buddha As They Shine
I Bow Before You As I Travel My Path To Join Your Ranks,
I Make My Full Time Task
For The Sake Of All Beings I Seek
The Enlighted Mind That I Know I'll Reap
Respect To Shantideva And All The Others
Who Brought Down The Darma For Sisters And Brothers
I Give Thanks For This World As A Place To Learn
And For This Human Body That I'm Glad To Have Earned
And My Deepest Thanks To All Sentient Beings
For Without Them There Would Be No Place To Learn What I'm Seeing
There's Nothing Here That's Not Been Said Before
But I Put It Down Now So I'll Be Sure
To Solidify My Own Views And I'll Be Glad If It Helps
Anyone Else Out Too
If Others Disrespect Me Or Give Me Flack
I'll Stop And Think Before I React =
Knowing That They're Going Through Insecure Stages
I'll Take The Opportunity To Exercise Patience
I'll See It As A Chance To Help The Other Person
Nip It In The Bud Before It Can Worsen
A Change For Me To Be Strong And Sure
As I Think On The Buddhas Who Have Come Before
As I Praise And Respect The Good They've Done
Knowing Only Love Can Conquer In Every Situation
We Need Other People In Order To Create
The Circumstances For The Learning That We're Here To Generate
Situations That Bring Up Our Deepest Fears
So We Can Work To Release Them Until They're Cleared
Therefore, It Only Makes Sense
To Thank Our Enemies Despite Their Intent
The Bodhisattva Path Is One Of Power And Strength
A Strength From Within To Go The Length
Seeing Others Are As Important As Myself
I Strive For A Happiness Of Mental Wealth
With The Interconnectedness That We Share As One
Every Action That We Take Affects Everyone
So In Deciding For What A Situation Calls
There Is A Path For The Good For All
I Try To Make My Every Action For That Highest Good
With The Altruistic Wish To Achive Buddhahood
So I Pledge Here Before Everyone Who's Listening
To Try To Make My Every Action For The Good Of All Beings
For The Rest Of My Lifetimes And Even Beyond
I Vow To Do My Best To Do No Harm
And In Times Of Doubt I Can Think On The Dharma
And The Enlightened Ones Who've Graduated Samsara 

Matthew Sweet "I've Been Waiting"

There's something inherently awkward about doing something for someone who is good at that thing you are doing.

(Go ahead, say it: "huh?")

It's kind of weird cooking dinner for your friend who is an awesome chef.

It's really hard to buy an article of clothing for your friend who is really fashionable.

Or buying flowers for your florist friend.

And it's also kind of awkward, if you are on the other side in this equation---you are the chef, the fashionista, the florist, etc.

Even if you are doing your best to be grateful, if it's something you are passionate about in your own life, it's hard not to see the flaws, the shortcomings, the plain inaccuracies, and have an awkwardness permeate your interaction.

Like when you're a DJ, and a girl gives you a song.

That's what I think about when I hear this Matthew Sweet tune.

I LOVED the "Girlfriend" album.  Was very passionate about it.  Invested in the songs.

So when I girl I had been seeing for a few weeks told me that "I've Been Waiting" expressed how she felt about me, it was . . . awkward.

It was awkward because I didn't feel the same way she did.

That is, I realized that she liked me more than I liked her.

But also, I think I understood the song in a way that was different from her.  I cared about it deeply.  And I wouldn't have said, "this song expresses how I feel about you" unless I felt equally as deeply, about the person I was sharing the song with.

For her, the chorus of "I've Been Waiting" simply expressed an excitement about really liking someone.  I don't know if she dug any deeper than that.

You can check out the neat video below, where Matthew Sweet talks about the genesis of the song, but even years before I saw this, or knew the actual story, I understood that this song was about a depth of feeling that I didn't share with the person sharing the song with me.

Awkward.


Hear the song on Youtube.


Matthew Sweet discusses and performs "I've Been Waiting"

Travis "Selfish Jean"

Here is a (partial) list of things that I enjoy, that my dear wife doesn't have any particular interest in, but still indulges my desire to discuss, listen to, search online for, obsess over, follow and otherwise geek out on:

Arrested Development
This American Life
Big Star
The Onion/AV Club
Battlestar Galactica
Tina Fey
pulled Pork Barbeque sandwiches
Flight Of The Conchords
Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
Dr. Demento
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The Wire
Cadbury Eggs
Parks & Recreation
Louie
Emmylou Harris
Watching American movies on Telemundo even though I don't speak Spanish

My wife is not immune to nerding-out, herself. But about things that interest her---for instance, graphic design elements. Like fonts (yes, I'm talking about a particular typeface). She's crazy about fonts. In fact, she once went gaga for one particular font.

And not just any font, but a font based on a video by the band Travis, featuring one of her favorite comedians, Demetri Martin, who designed the font on the t-shirts in the video below.

This is so graphic-geeky. But she is generally accepting of my foibles, so it would have been wrong of me to tease her about font-passion.

Well, I did tease her, of course, but that just makes me an annoying geek.


See the video on Youtube.

Beastie Boys "Z-Trip Presents: All-Access A Beastie Boys Megamix "

I have previously professed my love for both The AV Club and The Beastie Boys.

This week, they came together not once, but twice.

The AV Club posted a link for this amazing free download (though I was first tipped off to this by my friend and fellow blogger Ross Condit). It's a 23 minute, Beastie Boys sanctioned mega-mix, incorporating dozens of great tracks from the breadth of their carrier, into one rocking opus.

In short, it's awesome.

And half the fun of listening to the Beastie Boys (or any great rhymers) is to try to catch all the crazy metaphors and references that fly through the mix. Not sure what Chateauneuf du Pape is, or who Sadaharu Oh is? The article "170 Beastie Boys References Explained" can help.

Enjoy!

Paul Simon & Steve Martin "Silver Bells"

Instead of the usual Weekend Post, on weekends in December, I think I'll post some fun, weird holiday tunes.

I'll default to the wonderful folks at the AV Club, for the story behind this one:

The origin of this semi-legendary bootleg is a bit of a mystery. Most sources claim that it’s an outtake from an episode of Saturday Night Live, but Martin and Simon were never on the same show at the same time. Further complicating things, Billy Joel—in a magazine interview from 2001—claims that it’s him playing the piano, and that it wasn’t for television at all, but merely the three of them, lubricated on wine, goofing around in a recording studio. Whatever the case, it’s hands-down the funniest version ever made of this classic carol.

Soul Coughing “Unmarked Helicopters”

I had two little moments converge last Thursday, and a song popped into my head.

Funny how that happens. If just one, or the other, thing had happened, the jukebox in my mind might not have kicked out the song.

I was in the studio, and I had a long set of music on. Usually, at about 2:30 or so (I’ve been in since 9am), I get a little hungry. Pull out a snack and put on a longer set of music. And I turn my mind off for a few seconds, by reading something non-music/radio related.

I check out the site The AV Club pretty much every day. And I enjoy its TV Club page, which feature many, many blogs by the AVC staffers, devoted to TV shows. I kept up with Treme and Lost, by reading along. And they have TV Club Classic, where a reviewer goes back and watches an entire series on DVD.

So I was checking in with the X-Files blog, because they were writing about one of my favorite episodes, "Jose Chung’s From Outer Space." Just reading quietly.

Around the time I had decided I was hungry, unbeknownst to me, President Obama was boarding Marine One, the Presidential Helicopter, just across Vineyard Sound, in Falmouth at Otis Air National Guard Base.

As I was reading about Men In Black and government conspiracies and shadowy figures, above my head I heard Thwump Thwump Thwump Thwump of helicopters above the mvyradio studios.

We’re in the flight path of the Martha’s Vineyard Airport, just a mile or so from the runway. It’s not unusual to hear planes overhead.

But these were helicopters with sidewinders. They were flying in formation. The President was on one. The others were diversions, decoys and/or protection.

I was thinking about the weird world of Presidential security, and all the logistics of keeping our leader safe, while reading about The X-Files.

And I remembered this track from the X-Files soundtrack.

It’s hard to imagine that there is a perfect song to go along with reading an X-files blog while the President of the United States flies over your office in a heavily armed helicopter. And yet, there is.

Francis Dunnery “Good Life”

Call it the 3rd Act Problem.

I read The AV Club pretty regularly, and they had a pretty interesting piece, where they asked the writers on the site to name a movie that was great for the first two-thirds, but blew it in the final stretch.

Some of the films failed because they switched tone, or had an improbable or cloying plot twist. For whatever reason, the film, which had been on it’s way to becoming a fave, fell flat.

I don’t think “Good Life” falls flat. I think it’s a great song, through and through. But I can’t quite connect, because of a 3rd Act problem.

I’m with the song in the first verse. It’s a break-up song, and I really like the gentle, realistic scene it portrays. It’s not a “fuck you you fucking Fuck” break-up tune. He simply says “I’m not meant for you and you’re not meant for me.” And he wishes her happiness and good relationships going forward.

That’s me. I worked hard to burn few bridges in my life. And I have rarely heard that reflected in song.

So in the middle of "Good Life," he gets married to someone, but he tells his old girl that there’s someone for her, and she’ll be okay.

I’m still with him. I wish nothing but the best for the people of my past.

But here comes the 3rd Act.

Now she’s married with children, and suddenly he’s overcome with regret, and suddenly he’s calling her on the phone. He still wishes her a good life, but the strummy tone of the song, goes from sweet and wistful, to smelling a little to much like self-pity. He wants her back, but it's too late.

And while that's a real scene for many folks---wanting the girl back---I'm happy to say that I don't have any regrets. I'm married and have kids and have been happy to live in the universe of the second verse.

This is a song that could potentially remind me of a number of ex’s, but I can’t claim it. It belongs to Francis. He takes it back in the 3rd Act.