JP
@jprr.bsky.social
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JP
@jprr.bsky.social
· 1d
The Undefeated Myth of Redemption Without Reckoning
The Undefeated (1969) is about the healing process of a divided nation following years of bloody internecine conflict. How do two long-opposing warring factions come together again? In this case, Y…
pablohoneyfish.wordpress.com
JP
@jprr.bsky.social
· 2d
Oxygen Optional: Toni Braxton’s Guide to Codependent Romance
Toni Braxton’s “Breathe Again” (1993) has been called “delicate,” “yearning,” “melancholy,” “pretty,” and “haunting.” The song does sound like all those things, which I guess could make it hard to …
pablohoneyfish.wordpress.com
JP
@jprr.bsky.social
· 3d
Whitman’s Multitudes and Taproot’s Isolation: A Study in Modern Egotheism
My first instinct was to decry Taproot’s “Poem” (2002), which includes the solipsistic line “This song is a poem to myself,” for not only failing but not even trying to measure up to its presumable…
pablohoneyfish.wordpress.com
JP
@jprr.bsky.social
· 6d
Recycling the Apocalypse: From Prince’s “1999” to Miranda Cosgrove’s “Party Girl”
If nothing else, Miranda Cosgrove’s “Party Girl” (2009) truly drives home how ahead of his time Prince was. Prince released “1999” in 1982, seventeen years before the fact. He was no dummy, though.…
pablohoneyfish.wordpress.com
JP
@jprr.bsky.social
· 9d
Darkthrone’s Astral Fortress: It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Kevork of Times
Darkthrone’s 2022 Astral Fortress album boasts a few awkward, English-as-a-Second-Language turns of phrase that aim for surreal imagery and land dangerously close to non sequitur. Song titles such …
pablohoneyfish.wordpress.com
JP
@jprr.bsky.social
· 17d
From Haters to Gypsies: Hilary Duff’s Pop Totalitarianism
Hilary Duff’s “Haters” (2004) reminds me of that line at the end of Casablanca about how the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. In this song, Duff …
pablohoneyfish.wordpress.com
JP
@jprr.bsky.social
· 20d
A Hallmark Card on a Riot Shield: The Strange Case of Skillet’s Wedding Song
I cringe whenever I read the words “So-and-So’s Song.” It’s a surefire sign that schmaltz is afoot, and Skillet’s “Happy Wedding Day (Alex’s Song)” (2024) doesn’t appear to be the exception. If the…
pablohoneyfish.wordpress.com
JP
@jprr.bsky.social
· 23d
Mekong Delta: The Layout Is Not Working and I Have No Idea Why
I always thought that Fozzy’s fictional backstory was too contrived to be funny: an American rock band spends 20 years in Japan, somehow unaware that artists like the Scorpions and Ozzy Osbourne ha…
pablohoneyfish.wordpress.com
JP
@jprr.bsky.social
· Sep 20
Nickelback’s “Someday;” or, Kroeger’s Syllogism
Read my lips: Nickelback’s “Someday” (2003) is not a love song — it’s a campaign promise. In this ode to emotional procrastination and brazen denial, singer-songwriter Chad Kroeger attempts to gasl…
pablohoneyfish.wordpress.com
JP
@jprr.bsky.social
· Sep 16
How Do You Do: Hips Don’t Lie, But They Sure Can Misdirect
Shakira’s “How Do You Do” (2005) purports to give God the what-for, but its attempt at universal gravitas falters due to its abstract and politically misdirected nature. While XTC’s “Dear God” is s…
pablohoneyfish.wordpress.com
JP
@jprr.bsky.social
· Sep 15
Quirk Over Truth: The Problem with Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
There’s a good deal of Japanese actors, dialogue, and locations in Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014), but it’s not a Japanese film. It’s an American movie, written and directed by Americans. It fi…
pablohoneyfish.wordpress.com