Classics

Kyle is a music fiend. A popular music fiend. He knows all about the history of rock-n-roll and all its subsets. A very impressive mind file. During our time of cohabitation, gray CD-Rs seemed to reproduce uncontrollably. He was always burning or receiving or creating collections. It was ironic, then, when I realized that I actually missed those CD-Rs. I told this to Kyle with a laugh. Who can predict what will be important? I mean, I guess I can predict some of it, but that was a surprise.

Really, what I miss is Kyle's taste in music, his knowledge of what's happening, what's cutting edge. I care about popular music very much, and I loved having someone on staff who could be my own personal music specialist. If I wanted to hear it or hear about it, Kyle was the guy. I remember that one time I heard a story on NPR about a new band (new to me) that I liked, and within 24 hours, Kyle had me a copy of the album.

I have to Kyle to thank for introducing me to Beck, Spoon, David Bowie, the Beach Boys (as in giving them a serious listen), Son Volt, PJ Harvey, classic country (Hank Williams, Buck Owens, etc.), Okkervil River, Kula Shakur, Reverend Horton Heat, Radiohead, and probably like five dozen more amazing groups. He also showed the full scope of U2, The Beatles, Elvis and the Lovin' Spoonful. Also, I had never heard of the theremin before him.

What did I have before that? Well, ABBA from my family, Led Zeppelin from Jesse, Sarah McLachlan from myself, and assorted KCLD-inspired hits that St. Cloud offered. (When I think of "Safety Dance," I think of Sara's upstairs bedroom. When I think of Phil Collins' version of "Can't Hurry Love," it's the Lake George speakers I hear.) Allen introduced me to Lauryn Hill unplugged & made me give Wilco another notice; Todd showed me the way of Sufjan Stevens. My mother presented John Denver's clear tenor voice. From Texas A&M came Lyle Lovett. The thanks go on and on.

This summer, I've been doing some music acquisition of my own - trying some new things (Andrew Bird, the Bottle Rockets, Ingrid Michaelson, Explosions in the Sky), filling out iTunes, enjoying Prince B-sides courtesy of my Prince-tastic friend Rob, uploading my old school albums (Paul Simon!), realizing that Regina Spektor is more that just that one cool song with a B&W video (I love the whole "Begin to Hope" album), admitting that I really like Beyonce's "Crazy in Love," and falling in love with Spoon & Coldplay, after casually dating for a number of years. Now that the personal music specialist position has been downsized, I've had to take on new acquisition and R&D responsibilities.

All this listening, sorting and categorizing of music brings to mind an ongoing conversation Kyle and I used to have about this question: What makes a song a classic? Kyle believed that some songs were classics upon first listen (I put "Hey Jude," "Blackbird," "Beautiful Day" by U2 in this august category) while other songs masquerade as classics because they are merely familiar. "YMCA" comes to mind. Well, no it doesn't. Or shouldn't. Some songs become classics because of nostalgia or because they evoke a certain time and all of the accompanying feelings ("Video Killed The Radio Star," which I really like or Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me," and yes, I'm using 'classic' somewhat casually) or because they get sampled ("Killing Me Softly," anyone?).

But some songs arrive trailing perfection. It is not repeated listening that bestows greatness for these gems. They are the sounds in the empty forest of fallen trees.

"Alphabet of Nations" by They Might Be Giants is one such song for me.

* I love the piano part. Really want to learn it. It's thrilling, all those big crashing chords. It's not complicated but it is very satisfying to my ears.
* It's clever lyrically ... yet simple too. Wow.
* The video is darling. The whole homemade aesthetic of "Here Come the ABCS" (the DVD that this song comes from) charms the socks off of me AND my kids
* The vocals really complement the crashing wonderful piano part

My only complaint is that it's way too short.

But a classic nonetheless.

Here's a link to youtube - you can see this wonderful video + another video from TMBG

I should add that TMBG's albums "Flood" and "Mink Car" are impossibly catchy and should be listened to as well.
I should also ask - politely - what song was an immediate classic for you?