"I Don't Like Mondays" by Tori Amos

SONG TITLE: "I Don't Like Mondays"
ARTIST: Tori Amos covering Boomtown Rats
ALBUM: Strange Little Girls
YEAR OF RELEASE: 2001
WORDS: hereinmyhead.com
DOWNLOAD: right-click here

I wanted to like Strange Little Girls much more than I was actually able to. Tori has done some great covers in her time, and the premise of this album - examining how men's pop songs portray women, especially women and violence - sounds right up my alley. I just couldn't get into it, though. Her cover of Eminem's "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" is brilliant, but not exactly something I could listen to for fun. She covers Depeche Mode well, but isn't very inspired. The exception: Boomtown Rats' "I Don't Like Mondays".

The song was inspired by a 16-year old San Diego girl who shot up an elementary school in 1979 as the kids were arriving for the day. When asked why she did it, her response was "I don't like Mondays". She said a number of interesting things that day to explain her actions (see snopes for more details), but the Mondays comment struck a nerve.

This song is the best-known single by Boomtown Rats, a band I always wanted to like because of Bob Geldof in The Wall and Live Aid, but could never quite get there. Their original is a jaunty peppy pop tune, which is completely at odds with the subject matter. Tori's cover is, in a word, brilliant. Her voice brings a certain sympathy for the shooter while the music simultaneously underscores the tragedy with a schoolyard / carosel lilt.

Apparently my definition of "great song" includes "makes me cry like an asshole", because this one slays me every time.

"I Need You" / "Brand New Day" by Eurythmics

SONG TITLE: "I Need You" / "Brand New Day"
ARTIST: Eurythmics
ALBUM: Savage
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1987
WORDS: "I Need You" / "Brand New Day"
DOWNLOAD: right-click here and here

This week is a two-fer, because although these two are separate songs I always think of them as a single unit. They're buried at the tail end of the least-appreciated Eurythmics release of all time, Savage. Savage is as close as the duo ever get to a concept album. It's all Annie-written, and it follows a single arc from fucked-up relationship to cutting loose and feeling okay. Neither of these songs is the best Eurythmics has to offer by any stretch, but they are interesting and enjoyable simply because they are so un-Eurythmics.

"I Need You" is acoustic, for goodness sake. It is raw and unpolished both musically and vocally, which means it really pushes the envelope for them. The false start and the inappropriate background noise and conversation provide an unambiguous setting, the mundanity of which juxtaposes nicely with the pain and intimacy of the lyrics. It's one of those songs that hurts to listen to.

"Brand New Day" is a very disjointed song. The lyrics are extremely repetitive, and the music and tone shift from a capella to gospel overtones to synth pop all in a matter of a minute or so. But Annie's great on it, and if there's one thing better than Annie a capella, it's Annie singing alongside Annie. This song reminds me that I am uniquely lucky in my lack of religious baggage. I will always thank my parents for my total lack of religious indoctrination, which enables me to enjoy gospel sounds for their unique beauty without getting all conflicted about an oppressed youth.

"As Is" by Ani DiFranco

SONG TITLE: "As Is"
ARTIST: Ani DiFranco
ALBUM: Little Plastic Castle
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1998
WORDS: danah.org
DOWNLOAD: right-click here

This is an unusual choice for me, in that I don't know the artist well. Yes, I'm going to have to turn in my feminista card, I don't listen to Ani DiFranco much. I don't have any problem with her, she just never came to me at the right time to really grab hold. I've found that I need to be going through some particular brand of hell for an artist to take control and make me her bitch, and Ani's day just hasn't yet come.

The exception is this song, which I discovered when Keewick used it for an Justin/Brian vid (a *perfect* song for them, by the way). It really struck me and went immediately into endless-repeat mode.

With a few notable exceptions, I don't usually go for love songs that are filled with sunshine and happiness and shiny forest creatures that frolick. Love is complicated, and portrayals of it as simple and straightforward and filled with divine light are really boring. They miss the mark, and on some level I hesitate to even call that feeling love. Love is hard and messy and not always pretty.

All of which is why I adore this song so much. I can't think of a more powerful declaration of love than to say, "I have no illusions about you. I went into this with my eyes open and I still picked you. I wish you'd get your shit together, but I'm with you anyway because that's who we are." Call it a bulletproof kink if you must. Complicated love: get some today.

"The Weakness in Me" by Melissa Etheridge

SONG TITLE: "The Weakness in Me"
ARTIST: Melissa Etheridge covering Joan Armatrading
ALBUM: Ain't Nuthin' But A She Thing
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1995
WORDS: joanarmatrading.org
DOWNLOAD: right-click here

I've been betrayed by people who were supposed to love me. I started dating nearly twenty years ago; of course I have. Despite long stretches of serious relationships, it's almost impossible to imagine being romantically active all that time without stacking up a few betrayals. I've betrayed lovers too, but never by cheating. Sadly, the reverse is not true.

The betrayals that involved infidelity were the worst; it's not enough to know that your lover is dissatisfied, you get the extra fun of knowing there's someone they aren't unhappy with. Someone specific. Someone better. It's a terrible, terrible feeling.

Which is why it surprises me how compelling I find this song. Around the same time I was listening to this song on repeat, I also saw the Adrian Lyne film "Unfaithful", which is a second piece of entertainment that offers a sympathetic look at the one who cheats. Both of these got me remembering back to social psychology research I read in college.

The research says that it's as hard to be the dumper as to be the dumped, maybe harder. There are feelings of loss at the end of most relationships, even when you are the one choosing to end it. But if you're dumped, you know what to do. There are thousands upon thousands of hours of music, movies, and books in which to wallow. Friends and family are sympathetic. The dumper has no such social cues. No one weeps for the dumper, who has to navigate the ending alone, plus gets the extra fun of knowing they're causing pain and grief to someone who once meant so much.

This song brings it all into focus. Her pain is so exquisite. The singer is pleading, begging the new lover to leave; she knows she isn't strong enough to resist even though giving in goes against everything she believes. She knows its wrong. There's a half-hearted attempt, from the very start, to blame the lust object for being such a temptation, but it's clear that she's not really dodging responsibility.

Most images of the betrayer are entirely one-dimensional. She cheated. She's bad. The end. One has the sense that all cheaters are bad people who care only for themselves. As such they offer only self-serving, unsatisfying attempts to justify their bad actions: my lover is inattentive, doesn't love me any more, has it coming, deserves it. This one is incredibly brave to say that my lover doesn't deserve any of the pain I'm causing, and I know it's not right but I can't make myself stop, and what does that say about me as a person? New lover, please save me from my betrayal. Be merciful and leave me as I was.

It's quite possible that this song is responsible for any feelings of grace I have towards those ex-lovers I've been resenting for half my lifetime.

"Concerto, Op.35, In D Major: Allegro Moderato" by Tchaikovsky through Heifetz

SONG TITLE: "Concerto, Op.35, In D Major: Allegro Moderato" (first movement)
ARTIST: Music by Tchaikovsky, Performance by Jascha Heifetz
ALBUM: Tchaikovsky & Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos
YEAR OF RELEASE: recorded in 1957
WORDS: N/A
DOWNLOAD: right-click here

I really struggled with the decision to offer this selection as a SotW. Not because it's not extraordinary - it is. Only because it is 15+ minutes long, and therefore the file size is huge: 15MB. That's a lot of bandwidth, for me and for you. But in the end I had to, because this is a piece that's relatively unknown outside of classical music fans, and because it's my absolute all-time favorite.

After taking just under a month to compose his Violin Concerto in 1878, Tchaikovsky promptly offered the dedication (and first performance rights) to his longtime friend, violinist and teacher Leopold Auer. After spending some time studying the piece, Auer refused, dismissing it as "unplayable". It was finally produced a few years later, but with many modifications and a different soloist. The "unplayable" critique remains true today for nearly all violinists - they play a simplified version, and they maintain a slower pace. The most notable exception: virtuoso and Auer student Jascha Heifetz.

Heifetz recorded the piece three times, in 1937, 1950, and this one in 1957. There's a lot of debate about his role as an artist: his technical perfection is unparalleled, and some view it as emotionally cold. As one would-be biographer stated, "Whether or not we like what he does with his violin, there can be no denying that he elevated performance standards to a new level of exactitude. After Heifetz, a slurred phrase was no longer accepted as a soulful indulgence; it was only a slurred phrase."

I'm neither a musician nor a classical music freak, so my ability to articulate what makes this piece special is limited. Basically, it's incredibly complex throughout, but the real fun for me is in this first movement. At many points throughout the piece, it sounds like there are two violins playing a duet. There aren't: it's one violinist playing two separate parts simultaneously.

I first encountered this piece on a cassette tape my mother checked out from the local library about twenty years ago. She told me some of its background, and played this first movement for me. From that day to this, despite knowing it inside and out and listening regularly, I have never once failed to be moved to tears.

It's not really the beauty of the piece itself that I find so moving, though I'm a sucker for bombastic Russian composers. For me, it's about knowing that I am hearing one of the top performers in all history at the pinnacle of his career playing the most challening piece written, calling out like a message in a bottle to me from beyond the grave and through half a century of mist. I think about all the variables that came into play to create this single artistic achievement, about the fragility and ephemeral nature of that achievement, and the lifetime of dedication and sacrifice to bring it to life, and I cannot help but be swept away.