where the dogs of society howl....

Earworms of the Week

"Patterns" - Band of Skulls

There are quite a few repeat offenders in this week's list.  I haven't had a whole lot of time to sit and listen to music, so I think a few songs that have been sitting just below my conscious mind for a few weeks have started to surface of their own accord as I've been busy scooting about the office ineffectually.  I've only had the Band of Skulls album for a couple of months, but already I think it's a keeper and they're pretty much at the top of my list of bands to see live.  Perhaps at Glastonbury, eh?  As long as they're not up against a reforming Pulp, then we should be fine, eh?  This is my favourite song: there's something about that girl's voice that I really, really like.  They're often compared to the White Stripes, but Meg probably wishes she could sing like this.

"Champs Elysees" - Joe Dassin

Parked in my head a few month ago thanks to the soundtrack to "The Darjeeling Limited", and it's pretty much taken up residence.  It probably helps that it's a song that C. grew up with, and every time she hears it, she immediately breaks into song.

Tu m'as dit "J'ai rendez-vous
Dans un sous-sol avec des fous
Qui vivent la guitare à la main
Du soir au matin"
Alors je t'ai accompagnée
On a chanté, on a dansé
Et l'on n'a même pas pensé
À s'embrasser

All together now.....

Aux Champs-Élysées
Aux Champs-Élysées
Au soleil, sous la pluie
À midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout ce que vous voulez
Aux Champs-Élysées

Cheesy, bit good.

"Mr Brownstone" - Guns N' Roses

Back in the day, this was probably my favourite song on "Appetite for Destruction".  In 1988, together with Aerosmith's "Pump", that album was hardly off my stereo.  It's packed full of quality songs, of course, but there was something about this ode to heroin that really caught my ear.  I wouldn't say it was my favourite song now ("Night Train", probably), but it's still pretty good.  What the hell happened, eh?  Tell me that, Axl.

"Can You Tell" - Ra Ra Riot

As introduced to me by Mandy a few years ago as part of her shuffleathon CD.  It comes to mind at this time of year because the theme of the CD she sent me was as a soundtrack to her NaNoWriMo novel from that novel.  Very good it was too, albeit this was the standout track for me.  I've done NaNo a couple of times, although the last time I just vomited out 50,000 words in about 15 days, so I'm not sure if I really want to count that.  It featured talking animals in the city of York, as I recall.  Mandy does it every year, and she's well underway now.  A little behind schedule, but I'm sure she'll pull it back and then spend the next few months working up what she's got into a proper story.  Not that I'm jealous or anything.  Good song, incidentally.

Theme tune to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

My favourite ever "get" in the "Backwards TV theme tunes" round at the Leftlion quiz.  I've not seen the show recently, but for some reason the theme tune has lodged itself in my head.  Something to do with the guitars, I expect.  It's usually about the guitars with me.

"Au Suivant" - Jacques Brel

Prompted by a Twitter conversation between @Aravis and @Lazygal about "Seasons in the Sun" and whether or not they were talking about the Terry Jacks (inferior, saccharine) version, or the (much better, caustic) Brel version.  It got me thinking about Brel, and as per usual, this is the song that popped straight into my head.  Usually I think of the Alex Harvey version, which I love, but this time my mind settled on the original.

"Bodies" - Robbie Williams
"Greatest Day" - Take That

Nope.  No idea.  I don't even really like "Greatest Day", even though I often hear it being hailed as a modern masterpiece.  It's all a bit meh for me.  As for the Robbie Williams, I had to look up what the song was actually called, as the bit I had stuck in my head is where he goes:

All we’ve ever wanted
Is to look good naked
Hope that someone can take it

No idea why.   I had "The Road to Mandalay" in my head the other day too.  Go figure.

"Waiting for the Moving Van"- David Ackles

Wistful. Melancholy. Maudlin.  Love it.

"Follow the Yellow Brick Road" from The Wizard of Oz
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" - Elton John

I've been doing a bit of process definition work in the office.  For no good reason, I've termed the "ideal" path (which is sadly something of an exception) as being when we "follow the yellow brick road".  As the company is rather fond of abbreviations and acronyms, for my own entertainment, I've called this "FTYBR".  Amusingly it appears to be sticking.  If it makes it all the way, I may try and make sure that the launch publicity calls the department "The Friends of Dorothy", and see it that sticks too.....

That's your lot.  Have a good weekend, y'all.