Sometimes I like songs but then hate them within a week, and then of course I regret spending the $1.29 to buy them on iTtunes.
Luckily I didn't do that with Stressed Out, because I was done it about two seconds after I wrote about it back in January… so obviously it's still on every two minutes when I'm in the car.
But anyway.
I've been out and about quite a lot this week, taking the T to work on Wednesday (2 hrs 10 minutes ONE WAY thank you very much) and then going on a nice little jaunt down to Baltimore for a conference on Thursday and Friday. With all of that bonus alone time presenting me with an opportunity to not talk to strangers and instead listen to tinny music in my standard Apple-edition ear buds, I downloaded three songs that have been on my mind and have been going down the rabbit hole with them for few days. Which ones? Well I’m glad you asked.
Song #1
I Took A Pill In Ibiza (SeeB remix), Mike Posner
This one came on in the car around last weekend and I looked over at my resident is-this-cool-or-not-cool music arbiter (otherwise known as my seventh grader) and asked if he'd ever heard it, because I hadn't. The answer was not, so I turned it way up and now I can't stop listening to it. Call it ElectroEuroHouseGroove or something, but I love the hook and the remix, probably because it reminds me of the music from MTV Europe during my year in Israel, and the fact that it's telling quite a weird story adds to its likability. And yes, I will now share with you the best songs from that year RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW.
But back to the matter at hand (briefly). I suggest to you that any song that begins with "I took a pill in Ibiza/To show Avicii I was cool/And when I finally got sober/Felt ten years older/But f$&@ it it was something to do" definitely warrants further investigation. So I encourage you to investigate further.
For an a-ca-awkward juxtaposition of the Norwegian remix that everyone knows and the acoustic real version, listen to the original song here and then flip back to the dance version. I’ll bet you like the dance version better, for not only do I feel that way, but plenty of other folks do as well. The song hit #1 in Norway and the Netherlands, and #7 in Sweden and Finland, #4 in Denmark…and now I’m starting to feel like Cliff Poncier and Citizen Dick from Singles, who, of course, are huge in Belgium. (BTW it is definitely time for a turn-back-the-clock look at that movie and its singularly awesome soundtrack. It might take about 3000 words… hmmm).
Song #2
Cake By The Ocean, DNCE
Disclaimer: The video isn’t super-awesome and it’s a little NSFW
There's a lot going on in this song, the latest from Joe Jonas, even before we start talking about the lyrics, including a fake-out Uptown Funk opening and I swear to you a straight-up Mashiach/Nachman ay-yay-yay-yay-yay-ha in the chorus. Amirite? I listen to that and want to go dance with the folks at 777 in Brooklyn, or with some side-curled, euphoric, knitted kippah-wearing folk blasting religious dance music in the middle of Jerusalem or at a party. With all that, though, I get the feeling this song won't have legs and I'll be turning it off in about a week. There's also a little UK flavor in this song, and to me it feels like this song belongs on the Bend It Like Beckham soundtrack along with this song and this one. If you've seen that movie let me know if you agree. I just can't shake it.
With all that being said, the bizarro title has something to do with the Swedish producers of the song confusing the expression "sex on the beach" with "cake on the ocean floor," so maybe that gives you extra incentive to tap along.
Song #3
One Call Away, Charlie Puth
This song is definitely not new, but it's finally catching my attention, and it's so far the only song that my aforementioned seventh grader old has ever sung along to in the car with me loudly and audibly, so he definitely likes it. And so do I. It's certainly more PG than Marvin Gaye, so that's a plus, but it's also quite beautiful and tells a worthwhile story. And in a week when I felt like I was never at home, and FaceTime snuggles replaced real ones, this message felt pretty real. (Sniff.)
And the winner is…
Song #1. Because Ibiza wins. Because Ibiza must be cool. Too bad I'm too old to ever find out for sure.
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