The Undeniable Music podcast and blog are an effort to recognize and define the elements that make up truly impactful music. By using my own ideas about life and art as a filter, and my own experience of the music as a case study, I believe a much more interesting perspective can be explored and articulated than that of lists seeking to rank music in a definite order. In choosing what I cover, Undeniable becomes a bit of a self-portrait and through that self portrait, a greater understanding of how music connects us all just might be reached. Latest episodes are at the top.
Introduction - 5/29/2017
Email me at Jake@UndeniableMusic.us!
I Love That Song!
ILTS! is a companion playlist to Undeniable made up of songs that I personally love but I don't feel meet the criteria of undeniability. By putting a song on this list, I am basically saying that to appreciate it, you have to already be into the genre or have some other way of personally relating to the song. They don't offer exceptional enough insight to break through and communicate to someone not already on board. If someone was to say "Oh, this kind of music sucks," or "this song sucks," in response to one of the songs on this list, I wouldn't really have an argument otherwise, other than the fact that I personally love it. Since I have love for all of these songs, I'm not really all that interested in pointing out their "flaws," but in the interest of conetextualizing, communicating, and developing my concept of undeniability, I'm going to explain what I see as the "Gaps" that made me decide to include them in ILTS! and not Undeniable.
Release: 9/24/2002
A painful break up raises questions about what we owe eachother and ourselves.
Release: 7/20/2004
I'm always charmed by the way The Red Elvises take Classic Rock & Roll, Jazz, Reggae, and Ska, blend them together, and filter it all through thick Russian accents and the Russian folk music idiom. This song pays homage to California's laid back and sometimes superficial culture by describing the scene of the Golden State's own beautiful Venice Beach. Being a California native, I'm always proud to hear about my home state in a song and I love the melody and rythm. I don't know if they're saying "Ocean looks like silver screen" or as lyric sites mostly say, "Oh, she looks like silver screen." I'm gonna keep singing "ocean," that's a great line.
Release: 9/20/2001
Don't look so surprised, lighten up ;P
Release: 9/18/1971
Jim Morrison took his music very seriously, but after his untimely death, the band went in another direction. The album, Other Voices, is much more laid back and easy listening than the rest of the Doors discography, and this song is particularly goofy. The piano is bouncy and rambling and the lead guitar riffs are sing-songy and have a haphazard magic to them. The atmosphere the music and melody creates allows the theme of loneliness to be dealt with in a way that isn't too sad or debilitating, even though the songwriter is very much debilitated. I've definitely been in the space they're singing about and this song fulfills it's purpose of relatability but it does so without becoming bogged down or wallowing in self pity. It's refreshing to see humor found in something that's usually very hard to deal with.
Release: 11/?/1955
A special and overlooked moment in the relationship between Rock and Roll and Country.
Release: ?/?/73
An undeniably funky break and set of themes made this the most important sample of all time.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
Did MKTO spy on me and write a song just to pander to me? Probably not, which I find comforting since it means I'm not the only one who grew up fixated on past decades. It's not that I resist modern things, it's just that I love all kinds of music from the past couple hundred years, the past year or 5 or 10 is just such a small part of that. But am I bitter about the seemingly perennial superficiality and crudeness of modern pop culture? Consider this quote:
"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."
Is that how you feel sometimes? Is that what your parents tell you? Well when would you guess that quote was spoken? The answer is the 5th century B.C. by Socrates. The song sings about "gentleman," is that referring to the era when segregation was legal and beating your wife was expected?
But yeah, I suppose I am what people like to call, "an old soul." I'm always impressed by people who can pay homage to those who came before them and I commonly fall into the trap of "Golden Age Thinking," the idea that things used to be better. But this song is new, it's fun, it's earnest, and it's able to turn humility into swagger.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
A true literary accomplishment dealing with the frustration that arises from alienation.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
This is one of my all time favorite feel good songs. My biggest memory of this song is playing it on rotation from the boom box sat on the edge of the GaGa pit at summer camp. It's a cover of the soulful acoustic song by Bradley Nowell of Sublime, of whom Reel Big Fish were big fans (they even opened for Sublime!). The rhymes are memorable and it achieves an exciting but still chilled out Ska vibe that's often hard to make sound interesting or unique. The reggae upstroke is in all it's glory, the lazy trumpets add a fullness to the presentation that mimics the carefree tone of the lyrics. The song may be about Saturday night, but the contentment and ease of it always made it feel like a Sunday afternoon song to me. This song is definitely nice enough to play twice.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
A terrifying sign of the times and a warning most people would not need to hear twice.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
We should all be so fortunate as to have these days.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
A sensitive and angsty, though determined, instrumental traversing through adolescence.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
One of my all time favorite make out songs.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
A unique, if slightly manic, interpretation of death and how we should or shouldn't let it affect life.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
Not one of my favorites, but nonetheless, an explosive anthem of hedonism and sexuality.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
One of the most iconic songs of the 90's, capturing disillusionment, alienation, and the beauty of solitude.
Post Script:
Scar Tissue - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Scar tissue that I wish you saw
Sarcastic Mister know it all
Close your eyes and I'll kiss you 'cause
With the bird I'll share
With the bird I'll share
This lonely view
With the bird I'll share
This lonely view
Push me up against the wall
Young Kentucky girl in a push-up bra
Fallin' all over myself
To lick your heart and taste your health 'cause
With the bird I'll share, this lonely view
Blood loss in a bathroom stall
Southern girl with a scarlet drawl
Wave goodbye to ma and pa 'cause
With the bird I'll share
With the bird I'll share, this lonely view
Soft spoken with a broken jaw
Step outside but not to brawl
Autumn's sweet we call it fall
I'll make it to the moon if I have to crawl
With the bird I'll share, this lonely view
Scar tissue that I wish you saw
Sarcastic Mister know it all
Close your eyes and I'll kiss you 'cause
With the bird I'll share
With the bird I'll share, this lonely view
Be My Baby - The Ronettes
The night we met I knew I needed you so
And if I had the chance I'd never let you go
So won't you say you love me,
I'll make you so proud of me.
We'll make 'em turn their heads every place we go
So won't you, please, be my be my baby
Be my little. baby my one and only baby
Say you'll be my darlin', be my be my baby
Be my baby now, my one and only baby
Wha-oh-oh-oh.
I'll make you happy, baby, just wait and see
For every kiss you give me I'll give you three
Oh, since the day I saw you
I have been waiting for you
You know I will adore you 'til eternity
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
She was a fast machine
She kept her motor clean
She was the best damn woman I had ever seen
She had the sightless eyes
Telling me no lies
Knockin' me out with those American thighs
Taking more than her share
Had me fighting for air
She told me to come but I was already there
'Cause the walls start shaking
The earth was quaking
My mind was aching
And we weren't faking it and you
Shook me all night long
Yeah you shook me all night long
Working double time
On the seduction line
She was one of a kind, she's just mine all mine
Wanted no applause
Just another course
Made a meal out of me and came back for more
Had to cool me down
To take another round
Now I'm back in the ring to take another swing
'Cause the walls were shaking
The earth was quaking
My mind was aching
And we were making it and you
And knocked me out and then you
Shook me all night long
You had me shakin' and you
Shook me all night long
Yeah you shook me
Well you took me
You really took me and you
Shook me all night long
At the Bottom of Everything - Bright Eyes
[Spoken]
So there was this woman and
She was, uh, on an airplane and
She's flying to meet her fiancé
Sailing high above the largest ocean
On planet earth and she was seated
Next to this man who
She had tried to start conversations
And really the only thing
She'd heard him say was to order his bloody mary
And she's sitting there and she's reading
This really arduous magazine article about a
Third world country that she couldn't
Even pronounce the name of and
She's feeling very bored and very despondent
And then, suddenly there's this huge mechanical failure and one of the engines gave out
And they started just falling, thirty thousand feet
And the pilot's on the microphone and he's saying
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Oh My God, I'm Sorry"
And apologizing and she looks at the man and she says
"Where are we going?" and he looks at her and he says
"We're going to a party, it, it's a birthday party
It's your birthday party, happy birthday darling
We love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much."
And then, uh, he starts humming this little tune and, uh, it kind of goes like this:
One, two, one, two, three, four
We must talk in every telephone, get eaten off the web
We must rip out all the epilogues from the books that we have read
Into the face of every criminal strapped firmly to a chair
We must stare, we must stare, we must stare
We must take all the medicines too expensive now to sell
Set fire to the preacher who is promising us hell
Into the ear of every anarchist that sleeps but doesn't dream
We must sing, we must sing, we must sing
And it'll go like this:
While my mother waters plants my father loads his gun
He says,
"Death will give us back to God
Just like the setting sun
Is returned to the lonesome ocean"
And then they splashed into the deep blue sea!
And it was a wonderful splash!
We must blend into the choir, sing as static with the whole
We must memorize nine numbers and deny we have a soul
And in this endless race for property and privilege to be won
We must run, we must run, we must run
We must hang up in the belfry where the bats and moonlight laugh
We must stare into a crystal ball and only see the past
Into the caverns of tomorrow with just our flashlights and our love
We must plunge, we must plunge, we must plunge
and the we'll get down there, way down to the bottom of everything
And then we'll see it, we'll see it, we'll see it
Oh my morning's coming back
The whole world's waking up
All the city buses swimming past
I'm happy just because
I found out I am really no one
Shook Down - Yuck
To collapse in a sugar cane
Suck it sweet to kill the pain
There was someone I was looking for
There is no more
My tongue is weak from a kick or two
The word is dry, I think of you
Tie my face to the back of a jet
To keep my essence there
And its been a week
And its been a week too long
There are several things that I've been doing wrong
You see the time it takes for you
Is the time it takes for me
So don't agree
If it's late then I will go
Turn the lights out, turn it slow
Like you turned me upside down
And faced the ground
Spinnin' left I spin at you
Listen girl I think of you
Back up by the back of the chair
I left you there
You can be my destiny
You can mean that much to me
Venus - Television
It was a tight toy night, streets so bright
The world was so thin between my bones and skin
There stood another person who was a little surprised
To be face to face with a world so alive
How I fell (did you feel low?)
No (huh?)
I fell right into the arms of Venus De Milo
You know it's all like some new kind of drug
My senses are sharp and my hands are like gloves
Broadway looked so medieval
It seemed to flap, like little pages
And I fell sideways laughing
With a friend from many stages
How we felt (did you feel low?)
Not at all (huh?)
I fell right into the arms of Venus De Milo
Suddenly my eyes went so soft and shaky
I knew there was pain but pain is not aching
Then Richie, Richie said
"Hey man, let's dress up like cops, think of what we could do"
Something, something said "you better not"
And I fell (did you feel low?)
Nah (huh?)
I stood up, walked out of the arms of Venus De Milo
It Was a Good Day - Ice Cube
Break me, shit, yo
Just waking up in the morning gotta thank God
I don't know but today seems kinda odd
No barking from the dogs, no smog
And momma cooked a breakfast with no hog
I got my grub on, but didn't pig out
Finally got a call from a girl want to dig out
Hooked it up on later as I hit the do'
Thinking will i live another twenty fo'
I gotta go cause I got me a drop top
And if I hit the switch, I can make the ass drop
Had to stop at a red light
Looking in my mirror not a jacker in sight
And everything is alright
I got a beep from Kim and she can fuck all night
Called up the homies and I'm askin' y'all
Which park, are y'all playin' basketball?
Get me on the court and I'm trouble
Last week fucked around and got a triple double
Freaking brothers every way like M.J.
I can't believe, today was a good day
Drove to the pad and hit the showers
Didn't even get no static from the cowards
Cause just yesterday them fools tried to blast me
Saw the police and they rolled right past me
No flexin', didn't even look in a niggas direction as I ran the intersection
Went to $hort Dog's house, they was watchin' Yo! MTV Raps
What's the haps on the craps
Shake 'em up, shake 'em up, shake 'em up, shake 'em
Roll 'em in a circle of niggaz and watch me break 'em
With the seven, seven-eleven, seven-eleven
Seven even back do' little Joe
I picked up the cash flow
Then we played bones, and I'm yellin' domino
Plus nobody I know got killed in South Central L.A.
Today was a good day
Left my niggas house paid
Picked up a girl been tryin' to fuck since the twelfth grade
It's ironic, I had the brew she had the chronic
The Lakers beat the Supersonics
I felt on the big fat fanny
Pulled out the jammy, and killed the punanny
And my dick runs deep so deep so deep put her ass to sleep
Woke her up around one
she didn't hesitate, to call Ice Cube the top gun
Drove her to the pad and I'm coasting
Took another sip of the potion hit the three-wheel motion
I was glad everything had worked out
Dropped her ass off, then I chirped out
Today was like one of those fly dreams
Didn't even see a berry flashing those high beams
No helicopter looking for a murder
Two in the morning got the fat burger
Even saw the lights of the Goodyear Blimp
And it read Ice Cube's a pimp (yeah)
Drunk as hell but no throwing up
Half way home and my pager still blowing up
Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day
Hey wait, wait a minute fool stop the shit
What the fuck am I thinking about?
X Gon' Give it to Ya - DMX
Arf arf
Yeah, yeah, yeah (Grrrr)
Uh, Yeah don't get it twisted
This rap shit, is mine
Motherfucker, it's not, a fucking, game
Fuck what you heard
It's what you hearin
It's what you hearin (Listen)
X gon give it to ya
Fuck wait for you to get it on your own
X gon deliver to ya
Knock knock, open up the door, it's real
Wit the non-stop, pop pop and stainless steel
Go hard gettin busy wit it
But I got such a good heart
I'll make a motherfucker wonder if he did it
Damn right and I'll do it again
Cuz I am right so I gots to win
Break break wit the enemy
But no matter how many cats I break bread wit
I'll break who you sendin me
You motherfucker never wanted nothin
But your wife said, that's for the light day
I'm gettin down, down
Make it say freeze
But won't be the one endin up on his knees (Whoo)
Please, If the only thing you cats did is come out to play
Get out my way
First we gonna ROCK, Then we gonna ROLL
Then we let it POP, GO LET IT GO
X gon give it to ya
He gon give it to ya
X gon give it to ya
He gon give it to ya
Ain't never gave nothin to me
But everytime I turn around
Cats got they hands out wantin something from me
I ain't got it so you can't get it
Lets leave it at that cuz I ain't wit it
Hit it wit full strength
I'm a jail nigga
So I face the world like it's Earl in the bullpen
You against me, me against you
Whatever, whenever
What the fuck you gon do?
I'm a woolf in sheep's clothing
Only nigga that you know that can chill
Come back and get the streets open
I've been doing this for nineteen years
Wanna fight me? Fight these tears
I put in work and it's all for the kids
But these cats done forgot what work is (UH-HUH!)
They don't know who we be
Lookin! but they don't know who they see
Aiiyo where my niggaz at?!
I know I got them down in the game
Give em love and they give it back
Talk to much for to long
Don't give up your to strong (What?!)
A dog to bow bow hug it
Shoutout to niggaz that done it
And it ain't even about the dough
It's about gettin down for what you stand for yo
A Poem on the Underground Wall - Simon and Garfunkel
The last train is nearly due
The underground is closing soon
And in the dark deserted station
Restless in anticipation
A man waits in the shadows
His restless eyes leap and scratch
At all that they can touch or catch
And hidden deep within his pocket
Safe within its silent socket
He holds a colored crayon
Now from the tunnel's stony womb
The carriage rides to meet the groom
And opens wide and welcome doors
But he hesitates, then withdraws
Deeper in the shadows
And the train is gone suddenly
On wheels clicking silently
Like a gently tapping litany
And he holds his crayon rosary
Tighter in his hand
Now from his pocket quick he flashes
The crayon on the wall he slashes
Deep upon the advertising
A single-worded poem comprised of four letters
And his heart is laughing, screaming, pounding
The poem across the tracks rebounding
Shadowed by the exit light
His legs take their ascending flight
To seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night
Thirty Days - Ernest Tubb
I'm gonna give you thirty days to get back home
I done talked to the gypsy woman on the telephone
She gonna send out a world wide hoodoo
That'll be the very thing that'll suit ya
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
Oh thirty days (thirty days!)
Oh thirty days (thirty days!)
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
Gonna send out a world wide hoodoo
That'll be the very thing that'll suit ya
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days.
I done talked to the judge in private early this morning
And he took me to the sheriff's office to sign a warrant
Gonna put a false charge again[st] ya
That'll be the very thing that'll send ya
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
Oh thirty days (thirty days)
Oh thirty days (thirty days)
Baby I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
Gonna put a false charge again ya
That'll be the very thing that'll send ya
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
If I don't get no satisfaction from the judge
I'm gonna take it to the FBI and voice my grudge
If they don't give me no consolation
I'm gonna take it to the United Nations
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
Oh thirty days! (thirty days)
Oh thirty days! (thirty days)
Babe I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
You don't give me no consolation
I'm gonna take it to the United Nations
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days!
Thirty Days by Ernest Tubb Transcript
Ernest Tubb is my favorite country singer and well-loved American icon. The strength of his melodies and the way that his personality comes through in the music, and of course the accompaniment of legendary guitarist, Billy Byrd, whom the Gibson Byrdland guitar is in part named for, really make him someone who stands out for me in American music. So, I really wanted to have him on here but I knew right from the get-go that his sound was very dated - I was kind of worried about having him on here because his sound is very dated and it's sort of likely that a lot of people listening to this won't enjoy it.
And that really begged the question for me of if that means it's truly great. You know, if something is esoteric or can be dated, can it then be said to have the sort of undeniable impact that this whole thing is about? But I really just decided that I think in most cases the concept of something being dated is really more of our handicap than the piece’s handicap. We're sort of conditioned to like certain things like faster cuts in movies or more bass in music. And all that's really doing is stopping us from appreciating something that just doesn't happen to follow the same conventions that are not inherently better - that is to say, more communicative. They're just more universally known and accepted currently.
So anyway, this song I chose should logically be the most accessible since it's a Rock'n Roll song written by Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry, believe it or not, was very influenced by country music and folk music growing up. And while his guitar playing certainly employs applied Blues as its main thing, his songwriting is really much more traditionally folk. And this song in particular he wrote as an homage to that side of his background. So what we have here is a rock'n roll song written in the style country music being covered by country musicians. So it's very sort of interesting thing I think.
As for the song itself, it's a whole lot of fun. It might be a little bit dated like socially, it's kind of possessive, it might even come off as little bit creepy by today's standards, but I think it's pretty forgivable. And the whole scenes of it, you know, I really love the "If I don't get no consolation I'm gonna take it to the United Nations," the whole scene of that is so absurd, you know, it's just sort of charming in its hyperbole. The call and response of the voices is really electrifying, it drives the rhythm.
And when I first heard this song I really really geeked out on Billy Byrd's solo, like so hard, because he's such an iconic guitar player and his style is so instantly recognizable. And to hear him play Chuck Berry and to not only nail it but still have it - I can, you can still hear that it's Billy Byrd, is something that's just really really special it's a really I think under appreciated moment in American music history. I really find it to be just one of the most incredible solos because it represents such a bridge between genres and styles and it's just executed so well. I mean, as a musician Billy Byrd was given this challenge of “Hey, take this, you know, really beloved, really hot currently, guitar style, and make it your own. You're already an iconic guy with your own style - do this. And he did it. And it's just, really it's amazing. It really is one of my favorite bits of guitar playing.
So at the end of the day, this song just marries Rock and Country in a way that makes it accessible to both audiences. And it's such a fun song we really buy the determination that he has to keep this person in his life. And I don't think that the energy of the Rock n' Roll is lost in the transition to Country, which tends to be not as fast and exciting.
Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen
I threw a wish in the well
Don't ask me I'll never tell
I looked at you as it fell
And now you're in my way
I trade my soul for a wish
Pennies and dimes for a kiss
I wasn't looking for this
But now you're in my way
Your stare was holding
Ripped jeans
Skin was showing
Hot night
Wind was blowing
Where you think you're going baby?
Hey I just met you
And this is crazy
But here's my number
So call me maybe
It's hard to look right at you baby
But here's my number
So call me maybe
You took your time with the call
I took no time with the fall
You gave me nothing at all
But still you're in my way
I beg and borrow and steal
At first sight and it's real
I didn't know I would feel it
But it's in my way
Before you came into my life
I missed you so bad
I missed you so bad
I missed you so so bad
Before you came into my life
I missed you so bad
And you should know that
I missed you so so bad, bad, bad, bad....
It's hard to look right at you baby
But here's my number
So call me maybe
Lost Cause - Beck
Your sorry eyes cut through the bone
They make it hard to leave you alone
Leave you here wearing your wounds
Waving your guns at somebody new
Baby you're lost
Baby you're lost
Baby you're a lost cause
There's too many people you used to know
They see you coming they see you go
They know your secrets and you know theirs
This town is crazy, nobody cares
I'm tired of fighting
I'm tired of fighting
Fighting for a lost cause
There's a place where you are going
You ain't never been before
No one left to watch your back now
No one standing at your door
That's what you thought love was for
Venice, USA - The Red Elvises
Sweat is dripping of my face
Dreams are melting in the sun
I'm rolling down on PCH
Hare Chrishna, here I come
Ocean looks like silver screen
Smile like fashion magazine
Showing of your pretty skin
Full of lotion and sun screen
Surfers look a little stoned
All dressed up in silicone
Talking bullshit on the phone
She tells me that, she tried it all
Menage á trio, and fancy drugs
She's waiting tables all night long
She know big friends of moviestars