This: “You trying to talk to me about rock ‘n’ roll I don’t talk to Lou Reed” will now be my reply to every question.

“Did you remember to get the milk?”
“You trying to talk to me about rock ‘n’ roll I don’t talk to Lou Reed.”

“Dad, can you help me with my math homework?”
“You trying to talk to me about rock ‘n’ roll I don’t talk to Lou Reed.”

“Can you pick a shift on Saturday, we’re short?”
“You trying to talk to me about rock ‘n’ roll I don’t talk to Lou Reed.”

Sir this is a Wendy’s

Not a fan but the pile-on seems kind of mean. He’s 60 and he’s not gonna sound like he did when he was 20. Maybe the problem is that you’re still paying to see Bon Jovi in 2022.

Number One adjacent but earlier, this happened yesterday.

I’ll give it a 20!

In the spring of 1997- 25 years ago; how is that possible?- I was in a weird place in several ways. One was literal: after thirty years in sight of the Manhattan skyline, I was in the boondocks. There were plants and birds and rocks and things, and sometimes a week went by without seeing anyone I knew. Another was virtual: I had plunged deep into the intrigues and undercurrents of a chat room. The banter with dozens of people who read and followed the same things I did was addictive, but I was unprepared for how bizarre shit could get. My son, finishing kindergarten, was being bullied and beginning to show signs of what would eventually be diagnosed as Tourette’s and Asperger’s. And my husband worked long hours and was taking night courses, and I had no car. 

The kids in the Townhomes played on the common lawns all afternoon; I’d sit on the stoop, let Alison toddle about, try to help Kevin get along with the other little boys, and hope the easygoing mothers I liked- Lina who was Greek and from my hometown, Jen who’d moved up from Georgia- would come out and not the ones who gossiped and snooped. I was sitting on the stoop the first time I heard “MMMBop.” It was April, people had their windows open, and it came chiming out from the condo next door. Alison started to sway back and forth to the beat. Some of the little kids across the street started to dance.

I think of “MMMBop” when I think of every happy moment of that spring and summer, every time my parents or my sister or one of my friends came driving up to see us, the rides in the country to visit farmstands and waterfalls, the evenings on the deck when the deer would gather. It was always on and always delightful. It did annoy a lot of people; I could understand that reaction to “Wannabe,” which just didn’t appeal to me as a song, and to many of the pop juggernauts that would follow, but I loved “MMMBop ” from the start and still do.

One thing that we on the left should really stop doing is confusing individuals and groups. There are, objectively, differences and effects that are observed across groups. And those groups are made of individuals. But an individual is not a group, and a group is not an individual. The average household size is something like 2.5 individuals, yet no one assumes that any one household will actually have 2.5 people living there. And yet…and yet, this same type of level-of-analysis abuse happens quite often when judging individuals with their own life stories, their own lived experiences, their own quirks, and successes, and trials and tribulations. Here, Rachel doesn’t know Sigrid’s story, but she assumes she does because of her demographic indicators. There’s a word for that, and it’s no more accurate (or considerate) when progressives do it then when right wing trolls and bigots do it.

If we actually want to eliminate group-level disparities indicative of systemic racism, it ain’t gonna happen by singling out people based on some group trends. It’ll happen by sticking to the facts, staying true to our principles, and winning hearts and minds to mobilize for action.

Of course it’s a 10/10. Put it on now and I become elated, and I like being elated.

P.S. I was AWOL on Wednesday having spent most of my day working on my retirement. I might not be around much today either since a friend will be in town for the big 65.

Good write up, might give it a listen.

Hanson’s “MmmBop” top YouTube official video comments:
 

1. This song is literally telling you that you can count on one hand how many of the friends you’ll make in life will be real and actually stick by you. I love a song that can take harsh facts of life and make them something I rock out to.
2. The fact that this song has the Hanson’s rollerblading perfectly encapsulates my 90’s experience.
3. This song became number 1 when i was born. my mum actually gave birth whilst this song was playing on the radio, giving me the nickname of ‘leahbops’. 23 years later, my mum and dad still call me their little leahbops🥺 there will always be a place in my heart for this song.
4. My 8 year old Autistic son came running off the bus telling me he had to get this song by a singer named “Handsome” that the girls on the bus were raving about, they told him it was a boy and that he’d like the song. He had never expressed an interest in music before so we went out that evening with him and had him pick out the CD. He was so proud to set it on the counter and take it home. He got the Hanson poster later that month for his room. He’s 32 now and he smiles when he hears the song, he says he still likes it and it reminds him of that bus ride long ago. Music is the great equalizer, it can make a shy Autistic kid just like the other kids….

you accidentally used a photo of the Armed at the bottom

In all seriousness, I think this is the best Beach House album and one of my favourite albums ever. Yes, it was worth the wait. And I still have that god damn vinyl copy even though I haven’t had a working turntable in years. I don’t know that I can summarise what Beach House or this album mean to me, but I listened the ever living shit out of this in 2012 and it’s been an album I come back to regularly ever since. It’s a headphones album, it’s a speakers album, it’s a summer album, it’s a late-night album, it’s just perfect.