Another Day #12: Scream Day

Today is Scream Day, "an unconventional yet meaningful observance that encourages individuals to release stress, frustration, and emotional tension through a simple act—screaming."

Little Esther - Hollerin' And Screamin'

A Certain Ratio - Life's a Scream

Carrie - California Screamin'

20/20 - The Night I Heard a Scream

Moose - Screaming 

Bronski Beat - Screaming

"In a fast-paced world filled with pressure and responsibilities, this day serves as a reminder that emotional expression is essential for mental well-being."

Amen to that, brother.

Tom Waits - Earth Died Screaming

Biff Bang Pow - Then When I Scream

Robyn Hitchcock - Young People Scream

Jim Bob - Scream If You Want To Go Slower

Nut - Scream

Have a good scream on me today.

Snapshots #232: A Top Ten Fifty Songs

Now that I am 50, I no longer need to pretend to be down wiv da kidz. Still, it makes me feel slightly better to know that Curtis 'Fiddy Cent' Jackson is only three years behind me. Snoop Dogg turn 50 last year. And Eminem will be 50 in October! 

Despite being 50, I only have ten answers for you today...

10. No, your bum doesn't look big in those jeans. And I love what you've done with your hair.

They're all White Lies.

White Lies - Fifty On Our Foreheads

9. Les Enfants Terribles.

Written by Jean Cocteau.

The Cocteau Twins - Fifty-Fifty Clown

8. Holy onomatopoeia, Batman!

Biff Bang Pow! - Fifty Years Of Fun

7. Duchess meets two former presidents.

Kate is the Duchess, Bushes were the presidents.

Kate Bush - Fifty Words For Snow

6. Undergrounds.

The Tubes - Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman

5. Scouts and capitalists.

Venture Scouts or Venture Capitalists?

The Ventures - Hawaii Five-0

4. Main enema.

Unfortunate anagram.

Aimee Mann - Fifty Years After The Fair

3. Get the rope, Harry, and untangle it.

"Rope, Harry," was another angram.

Roy Harper - These Fifty Years

2. Catboy, Owlette and Gekko wear masks; Alex is Sensational without one.

Catboy, Owlette and Gekko are the PJ Masks. You've got to keep up on your kids cartoons.

The Sensational Alex... Harvey, of course.

PJ Harvey - 50 ft Queenie

1. When Owen Met Carly.

Owen Paul meet Carly Simon...

The problem is all inside your head

She said to me

Remember when we did the Hot 100 Countdown together? Seems like so long ago. Not quite fifty years, mind.

Anyway, more Snapshots next week. Unless I've taken early retirement.

My Top Ten John Hurt Songs

I'm not going to go off on one about losing another hero of my youth. Last year was a bad one, but I think we all have to accept now, this is going to happen with greater frequency as we count down to our own departures. Facts of life, and all that.

Never mind, here's ten songs in tribute to The Elephant Man, Kane, Winston Smith and The War Doctor...


10. Johnny Cash - Hurt

Let's start with the best song on the list, though in some ways the least relevant. It's a John, and he's Hurt. It seemed to fit the mood too.

9. Biff Bang Pow! - Chocolate Elephant Man

There will be more references to The Elephant Man in this list than any of John Hurt's other films. I'll explain the main reason for that shortly, but there's another reason. The story of John Merrick touched a lot of songwriters and became a metaphor for loneliness, bravery and prejudice.

Released in 1985, Biff Bang Pow!'s song was obviously inspired by John Hurt's starring role in the 1980 film.

8. Todd Rundgren's Utopia - Winston Smith Takes It On The Jaw

I read the other day that Amazon in the USA has currently sold out of George Orwell's 1984.

Todd Rundgren released this, as part of the Utopia album Oblivion back in the actual 1984. When we only had Ronald Reagan to worry about.

See also David Bowie's 1984 and 1984 (Sex Crime) by The Eurythmics, obviously.

7. Catatonia - Hooked

Very early Catatonia single which ends with the Elephant Man sleeping. Shush,

See also Rufus Wainwright's In My Arms for more Victorian hospital beds John Merrick might sleep in.

6. Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield - Nothing Has Been Proved

From the soundtrack of the movie Scandal, in which Hurt played Stephen Ward, the man who took the rap for the Profumo affair, and ended his own life as a consequence.

5. Sparks - I Wish I Looked A Little Better

Another Elephant Man reference, though Ron and Russell turn it into an ode to teenage insecurity...

Turn out the light, yeah, the light
And I might have a chance
I guess I look slightly worse
Than the Elephant Man
Whoa, oh, oh, I wish I looked a little better

4. The Beautiful South - I May Be Ugly

Paul Heaton does the same, for a slightly older man. Full of cruel jokes, masking a much deeper sadness. Which is a great metaphor for the pain we cause when we judge others by their outward deformities.

When you feel like London
And you look like Hull
You think Travolta pulled Newton-John
Who did John Hurt pull?

3. Alt-J - The Gospel of John Hurt

Sigourney Weaver recalls, "All it said in the script was, 'This thing emerges.'"

No space

L-shaped
Tetris
Tile seeking
Somewhere
Oh somewhere
To fit in
Alien

 

Oh, coming out of the woodwork
Chest bursts like John Hurt
Coming out of the woods

2. The Pogues - Sally Maclennane

As you might have guessed, The Elephant Man is my favourite John Hurt performance, and not just because it's directed by David Lynch. A lot of actors would have turned this role into caricature; he found real pathos. I cry every time I watch it.

I already did My Top Ten Elephant Songs though, which included two songs called Elephant Man. I skipped those this time for deeper lyrical references,

But Jimmy didn't like his place in this world of ours
Where the elephant man broke strong men's necks when he'd had too many pours
So sad to see the grieving and the people that I'm leaving
And he took the road for god knows in the morning

1. Art Garfunkel - Bright Eyes

And if you don't fill up every time you hear this, you didn't grow up in the 70s.

There's a high wind in the trees
A cold sound in the air
And nobody ever knows when you go
And where do you start?
Oh, into the dark

Rest in peace, Hazel.