"Me and Bobby McGee" by Melissa Etheridge

SONG TITLE: "Me and Bobby McGee"
ARTIST: Melissa Etheridge covering Janis Joplin
ALBUM: N/A
YEAR OF RELEASE: N/A
WORDS: text
DOWNLOAD: right-click here

This week's selection honors the incredibly brave performance of the divine Ms. Etheridge and the 2005 Grammys this month. I admire Melissa for a million reasons, only one of which is her constant, unending bravery and willingness to go where others won't. Appearing on stage totally bald from chemo treatments for breast cancer, Melissa brought it to a new level. There are plenty of places to find video of her performance: here and here, for example.

I am highlighting a different Janis tribute Melissa did, however, as song of the week. It's the visuals that make the Grammy performance amazing. For pure musical goodness, her "Me and Bobby McGee" is a better choice. Enjoy.

"Save the Last Dance" by The Drifters

SONG TITLE: "Save the Last Dance"
ARTIST: The Drifters
ALBUM: Save the Last Dance for Me
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1962
WORDS: love song lyrics
DOWNLOAD: right-click here

I think pretty much every Queer as Folk US fan in the world saves a special place in their hearts for "Save the Last Dance". I am no exception, though my love for this song also pre-dates my love for the show. As has probably become clear to readers over time, unconventional love songs are the ones that get me going, and this one snuck up on me even as a kid.

Desperation and longing and lust have their places, sure, but so does quiet confidence. That's the part that always seemed the most out of reach to me, and therefore the most attractive. I always aspired to be the person who could enjoy their lover being the center of attention, flirting, goofing off, without having to establish territory and betray my own insecurity every minute. It's songs like this, that say as much about the singer as they do the object of their affection, that I love the most.

"Road to Nowhere" by Talking Heads

SONG TITLE: "Road to Nowhere"
ARTIST: Talking Heads
ALBUM: Little Creatures
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1985
WORDS: text
DOWNLOAD: right-click here

This song continues with my ongoing theme of The Futility That Is My Professional Life. Not to be too literal here, but something about hearing this one during the commute isn't too bad either. I don't have too much to say about this one, I guess. I just loves me those Talking Heads.

"You Don't Treat Me No Good" by Sonia Dada

SONG TITLE:"You Don't Treat Me No Good"
ARTIST: Sonia Dada
ALBUM: Sonia Dada
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1992
WORDS: soniadada.com
DOWNLOAD: right-click here

I have a special, lifelong love for the kiss-off song. It doesn't matter if I'm happy or sad, coupled or alone, there's nothing that makes my heart swell like one party telling another to get bent. It's not enough just to quietly leave, it has to involve standing up and saying "fuck this, I can do better". Getting a little something off your chest. It's all about the fear, and overcoming it, and using that moment to say the things you've held back.

For obvious reasons, the most frequent targets for this message are lovers and bosses, but not always. These moments are equally great when they appear outside of music too - there's the Buffy finale when all the potentials were activated, and the elevator scene in Living Out Loud where Holly Hunter goes apeshit on her ex and screams out "god, what was I so afraid of that YOU were a better choice!?"

For the past 13 years, "You Don't Treat Me No Good" has been my shining example of the most perfect kiss-off song of all time. It's plaintive and empowered and peppy and I love it so. I can sing along at the top of my lungs and feel good doing it. There are other great songs on the same album, filled with self-torture and angst and bearing hilariously consistent titles like "We Treat Each Other Cruel", "You Ain't Thinking (About Me)", "Never See Me Again", "Deliver Me", and "I Live Alone". Sona Dada are an unusual band. For one thing, they're huge - seven regulars, plus sit-ins and specials. For another, they're incredibly stable, surviving about 15 years with almost no changes in line-up. I hear they're quite good live, but I've never had the pleasure.

As I was listening to this song this week on the way to work, I was conscious of how desperately I need to kiss-off my job. I started running down the kiss-off songs I keep in my head, and juxtaposing the job songs with the lover ones, and vice versa, and realizing they were all coming from similar emotional places. And while thinking of this song in relation to the nutty co-dependent goodness that is my professional life, things morphed until I was starting to envisioning it as a Mulder-centric X-Files vid. I shit you not. I was never a big Mulderfan, but somehow the thought of him finally saying "I'm gonna quit. I can't stand it. I'm gonna give it up and quit and ain't never coming back." filled me with the happy. Because if Mulder could do it, maybe I could too.