Hope I Never Lose My Wallet - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Hope I Never Lose My Wallet - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

2:06

Devils Night Out, 1989

Written by Dicky Barrett and Joe Gittleman

On their debut album, the Bosstones smash ska and punk together with a reckless enthusiasm they would later trade for greater precision. The playing is loose, fast, and infectiously joyful, driven by one of the band's most memorable horn riffs.  Barrett spits out the lyrics with a delighted frenzy, listing all the things he'd be sad to lose (his hair, his youth, his girl), but circling back to the titular wallet, jokingly given the same gravity.  I wonder if the song is a winking nod to the punk fashion of having wallets on chains?

Good Thing - Fine Young Cannibals

Good Thing - Fine Young Cannibals

3:22

The Raw & the Cooked, 1989

Written by Roland Gift and David Steele

I was a senior in high school when this album came out, but I only ever heard the huge singles; I didn't seek it out.  Now, hundreds of years later, I'm finally ready to accept the popular music of my youth.  A bouncing piano line by Jools Holland gives this funky song a nice groove.  It's got a fairly sparse sound, and Gift sings it in a sort of yearning yelp.  The song is retro-soul, but layered onto the production of the time — the programmed, high percussive backbeat is very '80s — and the fusion works.

About a Girl - Nirvana

About a Girl - Nirvana

2:46

Bleach, 1989

Written by Kurt Cobain

I read that Cobain considered this song a jangly, "R.E.M.-type" pop song, which I suppose it is compared to most of their output, but to me it's a fuzzy grunge song, with a small kernel of Beatles-inspired melody hidden under the sludge.  The lyric is about his then-girlfriend and their rocky relationship caused in part by Cobain's lack of a job and apparent refusal to help with housework: "I'll take advantage while / You hang me out to dry."

I'm Tired Joey Boy - Van Morrison

I'm Tired Joey Boy - Van Morrison

2:33

Avalon Sunset, 1989

Written by Van Morrison

On this Celtic-tinged brief air, Morrison growls about being world-weary over a simple and traditional-sounding melody: "Oh I'm tired Joey Boy of the makings of men / I would like to be cheerful again."  The titular Joey is in some idyllic pasture with sheep, while the narrator fumes on dark streets, "not greener but meaner."  It may be an illusory sort of eden and a false dichotomy, but the song connects with its yearning for a serene, more natural world.

Satyagraha - 7 Seconds

Satyagraha - 7 Seconds
3:09

Soulforce Revolution, 1989

Written by Kevin Seconds

With powerful drumming and layered guitars, this is still a powerful punk track, but Seconds' smooth anthem-ready vocals and a sing-along chorus of "na na na hey" make this a more accessible, melodic punk.  So what's that title?  Well, Satyagraha is a philosophy of determined but nonviolent resistance developed by Mahatma Gandhi, meaning "insistence on truth."  The song is a cry of despair at the state of the world and calling for divergence from the destruction.  "I wash my hands of this hate / I won't embrace this thing so blind."

Finnegan's Wake - The Irish Rovers

Finnegan's Wake - The Irish Rovers

3:32

Hardstuff, 1989

traditional

I've heard this great song from the usual Celtic folk groups, of course.  The Rovers (with George Millar still leading the group like he did in 1963!) give this an uptempo, singalong arrangement, with less of the dour faux-funereal stuff of the Dubliners.  With bazouki, flute, banjo, and a rattling percussion, and some subtle party sound effects in the back, the Rovers make it a fine ould Irish wake indeed.

Shi'ite Punk - The Vandals

Shi'ite Punk - The Vandals

3:19

Slippery When Ill, 1989

Written by Dave Quackenbush and Jan Nils Ackermann

This is a riotous punk song depicting a Muslim looking for a fight, just trying to live the punk life and be free: "Religious dedication rushing through his veins / 'Cause the Shi'ite punk don't feel no pain."  He doesn't believe in his government's dogma.  He wants to go to shows, to have a cool car, some girls, and some bullets.  "Want a freedom for my people, no religious persecution / Give me this and there'll be no revolution."  The music is the Vandal's rockabilly punk, with some country riffs and the addition of scratch box noises (although to me, a lot of the scratches sound like they some from a human beatbox).  

Careless - Paul Kelly and the Messengers

Careless - Paul Kelly and the Messengers

2:57

So Much Water So Close to Home, 1989

Written by Paul Kelly

This is jangly guitar pop of the kind that was popular with the cool kids in the late '80s and early '90s.  But the upbeat tempo belies the sadness of the lyrics.  This song takes a leaf from Screamin' Jay Hawkins' song "Strange," with its unanswerable questions: "How many wrinkles in a pickle? / How many hairs in a head? / How many waves in the ocean? How many crumbs in bread?"  Kelly's song opens with: "How many cabs in New York City? / How many angels on a pin? / How many notes in a saxophone? How many tears in a bottle of gin?"  The narrator was careless, wrapped up in himself, and lost his love, his rock.  "How many stars in the milky way?  How many ways can you lose a friend?"

The Valley Road - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The Valley Road - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

4:12

Will the Circle Be Unbroken Volume 2, 1989

Written by Bruce Hornsby

This song appeared on a Hornby record the previous year, and his lead vocals are featured here, accompanied by a frenzy of bluegrass-style fingerpickin' and fiddlin'.  The lyrics are not explicit, but they hint at a tale as old as time.  Hired hand goes off with his boss's daughter, gets her pregnant, the family quietly sends her away to have it aborted, and he can't see her anymore.  Hornsby's biggest hit is also a progressive, anti-prejudice message.  It's funny how many songs of social justice by mainstream artists are listened to on repeat by the masses who happily ignore their meaning.

Poison - Alice Cooper

Poison - Alice Cooper

4:30

Trash, 1989

Written by Alice Cooper, Desmond Child, & John McCurry

In this song, the narrator is torn between his urges for his paramour and his knowledge that she is no good for him ("I wanna kiss you, but I want it too much / I wanna taste you, but your lips are venomous poison").  It's an extended metaphor for true addiction, to a dangerous drug that is as toxic as poison.  Alice Cooper has never been my cup of tea, but this song isn't too bad.  It's catchy, generic '80s hair metal, sung at an intense falsetto, with wailing guitars.  A bit repetitive, relying, as so many mainstream pop songs do, on endless iterations of the chorus.  Four very short lines, a six-word chorus, four more lines, chorus, two lines, chorus, chorus, repeat to fadeout.  It's too much for me, but it's a winning formula for a lot of hits, so, you go, Alice.