Show Me the Man - The Fighting Men From Crossmaglen

Show Me the Man - The Fighting Men From Crossmaglen

2:50

single, 1997?

Written by Kathleen Largey

This song, about which there is very little information on the internet, is also known as "I love Old Ireland."  It's usually grouped with Irish rebel songs, a genre I grew up absorbing, but it's really more of an Irish patriotic anthem (it lacks both accounts of desperate rebel bravado and vituperation for the English).  The narrator boldly proclaims that he stands with country, even if friends and foes mock him for it.  Then comes the boast, "There's not an Irishman today would ever wish to roam / Into a foreign land to live, if he could live at home."  Maybe, but around 1900-1930 there were more than a few takers for ould Amerikay.

Engine Joe - Slobberbone

Engine Joe - Slobberbone

2:26

Barrel Chested, 1997

Written by Brent Best

This is a story song, somewhat in the vein of Chuck Berry, about a guy who runs a barbecue stand, but he used to be a mechanic until he hurt his hand somehow.  "Why ya gotta talk about Engine Joe / Like he's some guy in a fairy tale book? / Everybody knows that he just cooks / Baked beans and brisket in a BBQ stand."  He meets a funny little lady who is also a rodeo clown, and they settle down together.  Best's terrific acoustic guitar work gives his tossed-off growling vocal a nice platform.  The band's name, by the way, is ostensibly from a dog toy, but every woman I have ever mentioned this band to reacted with disgust, immediately assuming the more vulgar meaning.  

All Outta Angst - NOFX

All Outta Angst - NOFX

1:52

So Long And Thanks For All the Shoes, 1997

Written by Fat Mike

This album's title comes, of course, from the Douglas Adams book, but the band notes on their website that "We tend to get hit with a lot of shoes when we play so we thought it was a good title."  It's unclear if the shoe-throwing is a tribute or an attack, but either way is probably exaggerated.  Over El Hefe's punchy horn stabs, Fat Mike nasally vocals insist that "I'm not insane, I'm not bummed out," despite feeling bored and burned out enough to move to Pakistan or Mongolia.  It is the voice, and sexual frustration, of the teenager.

Quality - Paul Simon

Quality - Paul Simon

4:19

Songs From the Capeman, 1997

Written by Paul Simon and Derek Walcott

This song is from Simon's much-maligned Broadway show, The Capeman, about a Puerto Rican youth who killed two teenagers.  Taken out of its original context, it presents as a delightful doo-wop-infused '50s style pop song about teen love, a duet punctuated by buzzing brass lines.  "I need to know / Will you be my sorrow and my joy? / And maybe one day soon / Will I be your wife?" the girl asks the strutting young man who knows how fine he is.  The only hint of the tragedy hanging over this picture comes near the end, in Spanish: "Quiero saber / Nadie nunca sabe / En la vida."

Miss America - David Byrne

Miss America - David Byrne

4:20

Feelings, 1997

Written by David Byrne and Joe Galdo

Yesterday's entry left such a bad taste in my mouth that I had to try an American-themed song again.  This time, Byrne delivers a song from the point of view of an immigrant.  Over a Latin-tinged beat and steel drums, he presents an America that is both a "super girl" with a reputation and a conqueror and manipulator.  "And I kissed America / When she was fleecing me."  Pointedly slipping into Spanish, he later says, "I've always trusted you / I love America / Why do you treat me so?"  Altogether a much more nuanced and accurate view of America, warts and all.  Byrne's song even has the "I miss America" pun that the Castellows' does.  Whew, that's better.

Bulldog Skin - Guided By Voices

Bulldog Skin - Guided By Voices

3:00

Mag Earwhig!, 1997

Written by Robert Pollard

A song abut being tough on the outside, not letting the bastards grind you down.  "I crashed my nerve / I made it swerve / I made it back, was no big deal."  There's an off-key swagger to this rousing rocker, a sort of Guided by Stones going on.  Like a lot of GvB, it's abstruse and abrupt, in a way that in the hands of other bands might seem like a toss-off, but it has an infectious, lurching energy.

Play It Cool - Super Furry Animals

Play It Cool - Super Furry Animals

3:17

Radiator, 1997

Written by  Gruff Rhys, Huw Bunford, Guto Pryce, Cian Ciaran, and Dafydd Ieuan

How much more Welsh can the band members' names be?  None.  None more Welsh.  "Play It Cool" is a tightly packed burst of pop-rock charm built from irresistible riffs and hooks. From the opening three-chord punch with reverb-drenched vocals to an ascending keyboard line and cascading guitar bends, it assembles a warm, ear-pleasing intro in under twenty seconds. Gruff Rhys's vocals mirror the instrumentation, gliding easily into the track's melodic framework.  The lyrics have are vague, evoking both futuristic dystopia and easygoing carpe diem philosophy. The message in the chorus is act now, deal with the consequences another time: "Whatever you want to do, do it now and pay later / Whatever you want to say, say it now and pay later."  But the verses, conversely, have a dark tone that seem to imply that this isn't such a great idea.

Indianapolis - The Bottle Rockets

Indianapolis - The Bottle Rockets

3:32

24 Hours a Day, 1997

Written by the Bottle Rockets

A solid alt-country lament about being stuck in the titular city due to a busted van.  The lyrics are amusingly quotidian ("If I get that van back, man, the road I′m gonna burn / Right now my future's in the hands of the boys down at Firestone"), but there's a real sense of loss behind the banal.  His girlfriend doesn't want to hear from him, he's forced to depend on the kindness of an ex-con, the jukebox won't even play anything good.  It's the kind of down to earth wit found in an Old 97's song (indeed, it shares a similar attitude toward the Midwest with "Champaign, Illinois"), but making it less of a self-deprecating joke than Rhett Miller might, more grit behind a blue collar and a touch more acerbity. 

Hocken's Hey - Micheal Head & the Strands

Hocken's Hey - Micheal Head & the Strands

3:23

The Magical World Of the Strands, 1997

Written by Michael Head?

The album this song is on, I come to find out, is a critically acclaimed but largely unknown one.  This song is a lush, orchestrated pop song accentuated with strings.  It's chamber pop, with the understated vocals of Nick Drake, if he were backed by the Byrds and Fairport Convention.  I don't know exactly what the song is about, but "Hocken's Hey" seems to evoke a very British homeland, bringing to mind a verdant countryside where a tiny hamlet nestles.  Head's vocal evokes a sort of dark, expressionistic melancholy, but meshed with breezy, jangly, layered pop.  

Under 21 - Save Ferris

Under 21 - Save Ferris

2:37

It Means Everything, 1997

Written by Brian Mashburn

Power pop ska swing!  Musically, No Doubt has nothing on these guys.  Lyrically, on the other hand, it's the work of a teenager, and not a particularly self-reflective one at that.  "He said, No one under 21 allowed! / But he must've been stupid 'cause I saw my friends in the crowd."  Don't overlook the erudite chorus, "It sucks to be under 21."  John Keats this is not, but the powerhouse vocals help you forget.  As long as you're not paying much attention, this isn't a bad song to have bopping along in the background.