In this instance, I don’t really anything untoward happened, but Trent Reznor was definitely thinking of straining a Tori Amos song through his NIN sensibilities.
Listen to this song by Halsey:
Then listen to this Tori Amos classic:
The only reason why this is even an issue for me for is when I hear the Halsey song, my mind finishes the song with the lyrics from Cornflake Girl and it causes some cognative dissidence.
Otherwise, lulz. I think it’s just a wink and a nod to Amos’ brillance.
But you would think that Reznor — who is no slouch himself — could be a little bit more creative.
Just screwing around. This is meant to be the same vibe as Phoebe Bridgers.
Gawker lyrics by Shelt Garner @sheltgarner Please give credit if you produce or perform
I’m just a gawker that’s right don’t do much in my own right but sit back and gawk as time walks on by don’t do much but gawk
I’m just a gawker I’m just a gawker I’m just a gawker
when you’re a gawker like me people don’t just stare they flee don’t know what to do or say with someone who stands and mopes at the fate that life has wrote
I’m just a gawker I’m just a gawker I’m just a gawker
(bridge) I wish action was my name wish I was involved in the world and yet that would be too much for my poor old heart to take so I just gawk
I’m just a gawker I’m just a gawker I’m just a gawker
I’m just screwing around with telling stories in the form of lyrics because I’m drunk enough not to care that these words will never, ever become a song anyone sings. I just need to vent. Enjoy. Sucker Lyrics by Shelt Garner @sheltgarner please give credit if you produce or perform
I’m so drunk that I need another look maybe I’m a sucker but I know you’re a looker you fill my sight with dreams of delight. you can just call me a sucker sucker sucker sucker
I try to tell you I love you but you won’t even hold me I look around with despair wondering if you’ll ever be near but I’m just a sucker the type that you think is a fool but we all know I rule I may be drunk but I’m no sucker sucker sucker sucker
(bridge) swallow what you can cause you know I’m your man just give me a op-or-tun-ity to show you my style it will drive you wild just don’t call me a
The Pretty Reckless is one producer and one culture inflection point away from huge success. In fact, I would even go so far as to say if rock ever comes back in a sudden, big way that The Pretty Reckless are prime candidates to have an unexpected breakout hit.
The Pretty Reckless — Potential Rock ‘n Roll Saviors
The only reason why I even suggest this is possible is as of the moment, there is something of a musical genre vacuum going on. Since about 2012 we’ve been living under the hegemony of adult contemporary. It makes sense that at some point, eventually, people are going to grow tired of this dreck and look for something different — possibly old fashion rock and roll, which is what The Pretty Reckless is.
Now, some context.
The thing about this band is they’re something of a diamond in the rough. I really like them — a lot — but they’re produced in a somewhat generic manner. They’re just a rock group. To take things to the next level, they need a producer with a definite vision — my go-to rock producer for such things is Butch Vig. He did Nirvana’s “In Utero” and is the brains behind one of my favorite groups — also female vocalist led — Garbage.
It’s easy to imagine a situation where out of the blue The Pretty Reckless have a huge hit, they get a new producer and ta-da, rock is back. Of course, some of this is just me daydreaming about good music coming back, but lulz.
As a side note, I would suggest The Pretty Reckless pander to rock fans and do a cover of an unexpected Beatles song. If they came out with a rocking version of The Beatles odd-ball song “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” I think a lot of rock fans would eat it up.
Anyway, like I said, I think we may be doomed to living in adult contemporary hell for the rest of my life. If not even a pandemic can shake up our culture expectations, then I don’t know what can.
The thing I notice about Ms. Cyrus is she loves to belt out songs. So, it would make a lot of sense for her to do at least one Meatloaf “Bat Out of Hell” type album where the songs are so over-the-top and theatrical that when she belts them out at the top of her lungs they’re really good.
Ms. Cyrus seems to be thrashing around a lot with different styles and genres of music. It’s like she wants to be a modern Joan Jett, but hasn’t quite figured out the right combination of songs and producers to do it.
Having said that, I think its inevitable that Ms. Cyrus is going to dabble in Amy Winehouse retro music at some point in the near future. It seems a rite of passage for your typical female pop singer that they do at least one throwback album where they get to dress like a woman in the 40s to early 60s.
I wish Ms. Cyrus would form a all-girl rock supergroup for at least one whole album. That would be cool.
I’ve written at length about this before, but Olivia Rodrigo’s release of her album “sour” has me thinking about it again — now that the United States is getting out of the pandemic, maybe it’s time for pop rock to return.
I call this neo-pop rock, “Rona Rock.”
Let me give you some context. There are millions of old farts like me who love rock that has a beat and you can dance to. Maybe a few dozen million. And, at the moment, they are forced to listen to “classic rock.” Not a lot of new pop rock is coming out and that which is coming out is almost exclusively Miley Cyrus doing covers of old pop rock songs.
Sour is so close to being a traditional pop rock album. It still, however, lacks the edge of a true pop rock album. It’s more a POP rock album. So it seems to me that of all the popular acts out there that Rodrigo is the most likely to come out with an album produced by someone like Butch Vig of Nirvana’s “Heart Shape Box” and the band Garbage.
In fact, I would go so far as to say if Rodrigo did go that route that a lot of GenZ people would experience a significant amount of musical future shock. They wouldn’t know what hit’em.
There is another, safer, direction that Rodrigo could go that would be almost just as good — the Nelly Furtado option of teaming up with someone like Timbaland. The album they did together is one of my favorites of the Before Times when some form of pop rock still existed.
And, yet, I doubt this will happen in any way. It’s too risky for an established act to make such an abrupt break with existing musical tastes. If my dream of “Rona Rock” is going to happen, it’s going to happen because a pop rock song becomes unexpectedly popular on Tik-Tok.
This is another ridiculous attempt at lyrics. But I’m just relaxing before I throw myself back into the novel tomorrow. It’s fun to try to tell a story with as few as words as possible using the conventions of a pop song. Canceled lyrics by Shelt Garner @sheltgarner please give credit if you produce or perform
where to begin when did you make my heart swim I know how it ended though it was when you canceled our love one night on the phone
don’t you sweat I’ll never forget the way I felt when you canceled the series in my mind of you and me so sublime it’s the culture I’m afraid for people me to get canceled canceled canceled
but you’ll renew our vows I know that for sure it might be queer for me to say aloud yet that’s just the way I am you’re going to be mine again no doubt about it I will no longer be canceled canceled canceled
(bridge) renew our love is all I ask bring it back from the past it will be a gas I have hope still that we’ll enjoy its thrill
I just don’t want to be canceled canceled canceled
The idea of me successfully writing lyrics to a pop song is totally absurd at the moment– to do it right would require me learning how to play (at least) guitar and also a lot of hard work studying the marketplace and how to set words to music. But, lulz, I just want to vent some creative energy writing lyrics that will never, ever be turned into a song. Read Your Mind lyrics by Shelt Garner @sheltgarner Please give credit if you produce or perform
don’t know if you’ll hear but here I am about to cry waiting for your sigh from afar I always used to say I could read your mind
maybe you can read mind maybe you can read mind maybe you can read mind
you came and went like a ship we crashed into each other and that was it that was it now I’m alone like before wish you could hear me roar
maybe you can read my mind maybe you can read my mind maybe you can read my mind
(bridge) if you were talking still you could lay your head on my chest we could talk about anything I guess
Or maybe you could read my mind maybe you could read my mind maybe you could read my mind
Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour” is probably the best pop album I’ve heard in 15 years. It isn’t as danceable as maybe it could be, but it definitely seems to be something of a deep echo of 80s pop.
Every once in a while listening to Sour, I feel as though she’s so close to producing a song that The Cure might have done. It’s a testament to how musical tastes have changed that all the great pop hits of the 80s are now very niche. Young people are so interested in listening to 30 second bites of songs that they are completely oblivious to all the great songs that have come before. I keep hoping for some sort of revival of pop rock but…I’m beginning to lose hope. It definitely sees as though pop rock doesn’t exist and will never come back.
But having said all that, I really like Rodrigo’s album. She’s just a baby at 17, so she potentially has a very long career ahead of her. She’s a great singer and obviously a really good writer. (I’m assuming she wrote her songs.)
It would be nice, however, if in the future she might produce songs that “have a beat and you can dance to” like I grew up listening to.
Phoebe Bridgers in “Kyoto” is sooooo close to what I think of as “Rona Rock.” In fact, all that would need to happen is Miley Cyrus and Phoebe Bridgers mix and match whatever it is they’re doing right now and you would have “Rona Rock.” You would have pop rock. You would have music with a beat that you can dance to. Sadly, this will never happen. Fuck. But, anyway, here’s a quick big of doggerel from me.
by Shelt Garner @sheltgarner Please give credit if you produce or perform
no one wants to read my shit anyway but here I am cooling my heels seeking cheap thrills waning days are afoot for my relvanance ’cause I’ve been
shadow banned shadow banned shadow banned
if you’re not careful you’ll be taken off the platform with no where to squeal people don’t believe it’s true but it is one day they’ll see when they’re
shadow banned shadow banned shadow banned
bridge let the sun in make things bright we’ll scale the hights to something out of sight we’re done in ’cause of our sin
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