Spotify (23,755,910 streams):
spoti.fi/2yT4HX5 YouTube (18,933,707 views):
bit.ly/2Kv2bb3 "Don't get me wrong, it's pretty cool to be on TV
So all the folks back home can see me"
Podcast or music?
I was hiking in the mountains listening to my library, all the tracks I ripped and stole at the turn of the century. Funny how our collections are becoming superseded. But every once in a while I want to listen to the oldies to be comforted, to be wrapped up in a warm blanket, especially when they're on shuffle, when I don't know what will come next.
And then came the above issue, podcast or music?
Podcasts deliver, music rarely does.
Funny music scene we live in, insiders will pooh-pooh your taste, tell you how good today's music is and what an idiot you are, but it's hard to find an entry point, there's just so much stuff.
Whereas you discover a podcast you like and you can go deep. Kinda like being a fan of a musical artist in the old days.
But there's nothing like that hit of adrenaline when you discover new music. I remember hearing those Justin Bieber cuts on that Spotify playlist two years back... Now you're mocking my taste, but you're wrong, those tracks are GENIUS!
Which proves the point it's almost worthless to write about music anymore. Everybody's deep into their own niche. But listening to the country station on Sirius I was reminded that country has melody and tells stories, so I decided to pull up Spotify's Hot Country playlist. And it depressed me. Everybody's playing within a narrow stricture. It's retread pabulum. As Tom Petty said, it's the rock music of the seventies, only in this case with a twang.
And then I heard "Famous."
Yes, you read the above lyrics. All about having the spotlight upon you.
"And that I'm livin' it out
All the things I used to dream about
Yeah, it's pretty great, singin' on a stage
Proud 'cause there ain't an empty seat in the place"
I get it. The music is melodic, but the lyric is too self-satisfied, until...
"If I'm gonna be famous for somethin'
I wanna be famous for lovin' you"
THERE'S A TWIST! The bit about TV and live shows is just a setup, for the punch line, which resonates. This is the country of yore, a cut that would make Tom Petty chuckle.
"Yeah, I hope the first question people ask me
Is 'How's your girl and how's your family'
I could go on and on and on
Talkin' 'bout you for days"
You can just picture it!
"You can bet when I hear 'Congratulations'
Want it to be because we made it
Another five years
Best thing I got is right here"
And I'm thinking how this is a great song. A cut above. But why is this twangy girl getting to sing it? I'm thinking if someone else sang it, with less of a country inflection, it would be a monster.
And then I'm further confused, all this talk about being in love with a girl, is this an out lesbian track? If so, great!
But then I pull out my phone and look at the pic.
IT'S A LITTLE BOY!
Now funny how the biz is in the backwater. The standard on the phone is vertical, not horizontal, that's what you should make your artwork for, no one is listening to Spotify and turning their handset sideways. Which means the artwork is cut off. Then again, it's great to see the artwork the size of the phone and then...
I can't stop playing the song. You can sing it. The message resonates. The opposite of so much popular music, which is I'm a star, adore me, I'm better than you. The truth is most life moments are private, and this song captures that, love supersedes any fame.
And today I researched and found out this was the Coachella yodeling boy. Funny how the hype didn't reach me, I'm hyped all day, but the song...
It's always about the song.
That's how the Beatles hit.
Aretha failed on Columbia, but when she went to Atlantic and was matched with hit material...
And my new buddy Sarah Buxton, of "Stupid Girl" ("Stupid Boy" by Keith Urban) fame is a cowriter. And Keith Urban's song on this playlist, "Parallel Line," is crap, because ever since he failed by going his own way he's been playing by the rules, and that's not interesting.
"Famous" is.
And I don't know why I'm writing about it. My inbox will be full of the words of self-satisfied rockers in black hurling daggers, and the hip-hoppers will say it's junk and I'll say...
We're all just people on the planet.
Your hip tattoo, your outsider statement, ain't gonna look so good when you're sixty.
And you might be smoking as rebellion today, but when you're old you'll be dying to live, regretting your choice.
That's right, there's nothing more laughable than an oldster trying to look hip.
None of us are hip. All of us are human.
All of us care about relationships and love first and foremost.
As for Mason Ramsey being eleven, maybe that's better than the barely teenagers acting adult trying to have a hit. The truth is he's doing Taylor Swift's act. Sincerity. Innocence. From the perspective of someone acting their age. I think Mason is old enough to have a girlfriend, I had my first at eleven.
I'm a sucker for truth and justice, that's the American Way.
So I'm writing this so everybody involved will know they're on the right path, so they won't give up, MORE OF THIS PLEASE!
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