Mid-Life Crisis Songs #110: The End of Enthusiasm

The Wedding Present - Larry's

This isn’t a post about TV, it’s another post about the passing of time and all its sickening crimes… perhaps the one lyric I come back to more than any other on this blog, with the possible exception of “Someday we’ll look back in this and it will all seem funny”. Or “Irk the purists”. 

I watched the final episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm last week. You may or may not be familiar with the show in which Seinfeld co-creator Larry David plays himself as a miserable old misanthrope constantly butting heads with societal niggles. Like most comedy shows, you’ll either connect with it immediately or wonder what all the fuss is about. Being a miserable old misanthrope myself, I have found Larry a wonderful companion for the show’s duration, and while I don’t always agree with his grievances, I do understand why he gets so worked up about them. 

Dean Friedman - Hey, Larry

But this isn’t a post about Curb Your Enthusiasm. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who said the show was long past its best and wasn’t as funny or as incisive as it once was. After 12 seasons, Curb had definitely become comfortable, but there’s a lot to be said for comfort TV, and I did so enjoy being invited to share in the ups and downs of Larry’s life… especially when you never knew which celebrity guest star was going to pop up to be offended by him next. Bruce Springsteen appeared three times in the final series… that in itself made my day.

Del Shannon - Hats Off To Larry

12 series though… I’ve watched this show for quite some time. And I knew that wasn’t a series a year, because Larry took regular breaks, especially during the pandemic.  Still, I was shocked when I looked back and discovered the first series ran 24 years ago! Hang on a minute… I’ve been watching this show for 24 years? 

Buffalo Tom - Larry

And suddenly, I was taken back to the year 2000. Where I was. Who I was. A completely different person. There’s a popular misconception that all the cells in the human body renew themselves every 7 years, and while that’s not 100% true, there is something in it. I was 28 years old when I started watching Curb. I lived in a different house, worked in a different job, had an entirely different social circle. Liked slightly different records, felt different emotions, saw the future… and the past… in an entirely different way. Somewhat ironically, when the show launched in 2000, Larry David was 52. The same age I am now. I’m not sure why I related to him so much as a 28 year old. In the final episode, he proudly announced that he was 76 year olds… and had never learned a lesson in his life. It made me wonder how many I’ve learned… and how 76 year old me will feel in another 24 years. 2000 doesn’t seem that long ago, and time gets faster every year. 2048 is just around the corner… 

And the days went by like paper in the wind

Everything changed, then changed again

It's hard to find a friend

It's hard to find a friend

Snapshots #323: A Top Twelve Small Town Songs

This is Karen Fairchild, from Alabama country group Little Big Town. I don't just throw this thing together, you know. I spend at least five minutes thinking about it.

Anyway, here are a bunch of small town songs... with very big tunes.

12. Chatty boss gets too close to the fire.

The chatty boss is a Talking Head. He's also a Byrne victim.

David Byrne - Tiny Town

11. Self-confessed bitch.

Hey, I'm only quoting Meredith herself.

Meredith Brooks - My Little Town

10. Kept in an ample jar.

Anagram!

Pearl Jam - Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town

9. Cheering on the dregs of society.

Hurray For The Riff Raff - Small Town Heroes

8. Sounds like a bucket that needs more sun.

A pail that's too pale...

The Pale - Small Town

7. The king goes Bare.

King Charles meets Bobby Bare...

Bobby Charles - Small Town Talk

6. I'm only dancing, but I'd like to get to know you well.

John, I'm Only Dancing... with Howard Jones.

John Howard - Small Town, Big Adventures

5. Swell Maps' second.

The second album by indie darlings Swell Maps was called Jane From Occupied Europe. In 1990, a short-lived band from Salisbury took that as their own...

Jane From Occupied Europe - Little Valley Town

4. Sad chimes.

The Bluebells - Small Town Martyr

3. Charles Weedon Westover did a lot of running back in the day.

He was a Runaway. He chased after Runaround Sue (though Dion beat him to her). Then he came Runnin; On Back. And his real name was Charles Weedon Westover.

Del Shannon - Little Town Flirt

2. She was the only thing not on sale.

You could buy Everything But The Girl.

Tracey Thorn - Small Town Girl 

1. Formerly a middle-aged woman who likes to chase after younger men.

He used to be a Cougar.

John Mellencamp - Small Town

SPECIAL FESTIVE BONUS SONG!

Frank Sinatra - O Little Town Of Bethlehem

Willie Nelson - O Little Town of Bethlehem

Elvis Presley - O Little Town of Bethlehem

Mark Kozelek - O Little Town of Bethlehem

If you ask me, it's still too early for Christmas songs. But maybe next week...

Of course, this week's real Number One song should have been the one below. My brain wasn't working though, and all the searches I did for "Small Town" songs failed to remind me of the "Smalltown" songs. Rookie mistake.

Neverending Top Ten #5.3: The Football Match

Yes, I found it more pleasurable to sit facing away from the pitch.

On Saturday, I went to a football game. Not a game that my son Sam was playing in, but a professional* game, in a stadium, with actual football fans.   

(*Those of you with specific allegiances may wish to question my use of this word. It was Huddersfield Town versus West Brom, after all. Have at it, I have no stake in local pride.)

Anyone who's been reading this blog for more than 5 minutes will realise the irony of Me. At. A. Football. Match. Or maybe irony's not the right word. "Cruel twist of fate" might be more appropriate. But the tickets were free and I did it for Sam. He enjoyed himself, and that's what being a parent is all about. Sacrifice.

Strangely, this is not the first time I have attended a professional football game. Back when I played in the band, I once stood on the pitch and played at half time. (Before you get excited, thinking I'm the long lost Ramone brother, it was a brass band.) Same team, very different ground, back in the late 80s... I seem to recall "shed" would have been a more appropriate term than "stadium". 

I don't really have any observations about the game itself. Town did pretty well in the first half, going 2-0 up, then got a bit complacent and let the Brommers pull it back for a draw. I think that's how Alan Partridge would have put it. (I used to work with a guy called Brommers. He wasn't from West Brom.) Maybe I have an observation or two about the crowd though. We were in the family stand, and it all started out very civilised, with lots of clapping and general encouragement. It was almost like a cricket match. Midway through the second half, when Town were no longer up, that had changed to an aura of bitter dissent, with repeated examples of loud toxic masculinity... and that was just from the women. (I joke, but some of the loudest and rudest heckles came from the ladies. We live in an age of true equality.)

I won't be hurrying back, but I'd happily accompany Sam again if the tickets were free. And there weren't any freshly painted walls that needed observing for the afternoon.  

I stumbled across this lot last week. Early 70s "Bubblerockers" The Huddersfield Transit Authority. (I presume they were taking the piss out of The Chicago Transit Authority. And Huddersfield.) Never heard of them before, but had to give them a listen for reasons of the aforementioned local pride. They're not from Huddersfield, in case you were wondering. In fact, the lead singer was Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice, of "wrote the words for Andrew Lloyd-Webber" fame. Although he didn't write the words for this. I don't think Del Shannon had much to worry about...

Snapshots #244: A Top Ten Frog Songs

A Top Ten Frog songs to enjoy before we all croak. I'm glad to see you all Kermit yourself to answering these...

10. Samuel L. Jackson promises to leave before Bonnie gets home.

What, you never saw Pulp Fiction?

Jimmie: No, no, no, no, no, don't you ****ing realize, man, that if Bonnie comes home and finds a dead body in her house, I'm gonna get divorced? All right? No marriage counseling, no trial separation, I'm going to get ****ing divorced, okay? And I don't want to get ****ing divorced! Now man, you know, ****, I wanna help you, but I don't want to lose my wife doing it, all right?

Jules: Jimmie, Jimmie, she ain't gonna leave you--

Jimmie: Don't ****ing "Jimmie" me, Jules, okay?! Don't ****ing "Jimmie" me! There's nothing that you're gonna say that's gonna make me forget that I love my wife, is there?! Now look, you know, she comes home from work in about an hour and a half. Graveyard shift at the hospital. You gotta make some phone calls? You gotta call some people? Well, then do it! And then get the **** out of my house before she gets here!

Jules: Hey, that's Kool and the Gang. We don't wanna **** your shit up. All we wanna do is call my people and get them to bring us in, that's all.

Kool & The Gang - Electric Frog

9. Sacked in America for switching off the air con.

If you were sacked in America, you might be canned. For turning up the heat.

Canned Heat - Bluefrog Blues

8. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand clues.

Yes. That's Ian McShane. And Grace Jones. Together on track three of the Slave To The Rhythm album. Although, to be fair, Ian does most of the work, reading extracts from the biography of Jean-Paul Goude, the French artist who designed Jones's album sleeves and directed her videos.

Grace Jones - The Frog & The Princess

That said, I almost preferred C's Jesus Jones answer.

7. A century clamp.

Anagram! Silhouette!

Paul McCartney & The Frog Chorus - We All Stand Together

6. Good for receiving Alecia Beth.

Alecia Beth Moore is the real name of Pink! You receive things with an aerial.

Ariel Pink - Exile On Frog Street

5. Holden's nan.

Anagram!

Del Shannon - Froggy

And if you've never heard that before, it's guaranteed to make you Runaway.

4. Created by Anne-José Madeleine Henriette Bénard.

Anne-José Madeleine Henriette Bénard is the real name of French actress Cécile Aubry, the creator of the Belle & Sebastian characters.

Belle & Sebastian - Funny Little Frog

3. Strength of God.

That's the meaning of the word "Gabriel".

Peter Gabriel - Kiss That Frog

That video pretty much shows where James Cameron got the idea for the movie Avatar. Fortunately, Gabriel's video is much shorter and far less boring.

2. Held up by Hinge & Bracket.

No, not these two...

These two...

The Doors - Peace Frog

1. When half way through the journey of our life, I found that I was in a gloomy wood, because the path which led aright was lost.

Those are the opening lines of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. But you knew that.

The Divine Comedy - The Frog Princess

Hop on back next Saturday for more...

Saturday Snapshots #106 - The Answers

I have a secret to tell
From my electrical well
It's a simple message and I'm leaving out the whistles and bells
So the room must listen to me
Filibuster vigilantly
Here are the answers to this week's Q-U-I-Z...


10. How far to Ipanema? It's I, not you.

Astrud Gilberto sang about The Girl from Ipanema, Replace the U in Astrud with an I.

How far? Some distance.

Astrid - Distance

9. Hello sunrise... is it because you're chillee, perhaps?

Shivaree - Goodnight Moon

8. Escape from Irish town, via Amitri.

Runaway from Shannon, with Del (Amitri).

Del Shannon - Runaway

7. Vole? Evol? Leo V? Arrrghh! (Somebody call for a pick-up.)

Are you hailing a van?

Van Halen - Why Can't This Be Love?

6. I won't be at the station, my sweet. The baby tickers have escaped!

Take the I from Station. my sweet?

Candi Staton - Young Hearts Run Free

5. Motionless distillery can get it on with anybody.

Motionless is still. So is a distillery

Stephen Stills - Love The One You're With

4. Debut snog for hard boy.

Kid Rock - First Kiss

3. Children of a Piper, a Borg and a Beatle.

Peter Piper. Bjorn Borg. John Lennon.

Children are young folk.

Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks

2. Gyroscopic mortality in question.

Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)

1. Adam's Dandies - Adam's Dandy.

Adam Ant was a Dandy Highwayman.

Nelson. Cash. Kristofferson. Jennings.

Jimmy Webb Is God.



Satisfy the Birdhouse In Your Soul with more Saturday Snapshots next week.