It's been not-a-hoax to me from early on. My daughters were living in one of the epicenters: Brooklyn. There was no room for doubt whether it was a real thing, not with ambulance sirens going 24/7. Not with friends who worked in hospitals reporting back on what it was like with basic protective equipment running short and beds filling to the point where patients had to be piggybacked on ventilators. In rapid succession, we knew a half dozen people who’d caught the virus; two have since died.
No surprise, I have been nurturing a craving for music that channels rage.
Twenty years ago the Dixie Chicks released one of my all-time favorite ragers: “Goodbye Earl.” It’s the tale of an abusive spouse who ends up getting his comeuppance at the hands of his wife Wanda and her best friend, Maryanne.
Those black-eyed peas, they tasted alright to me, EarlThe video is a must-watch. Jane Krakowski plays Wanda. Dennis Franz the odious Earl. SO satisfying!
You're feelin' weak? Why don't you lay down and sleep, Earl
Ain't it dark wrapped up in that tarp...
Just in time, the (no longer Dixie) Chicks have released first new music in 14 years featuring a scathing song about an unrepentant liar: ‘Gaslighter.’
Gaslighter, denierAnd another kickass video.
Doin' anything to get your ass farther
Here’s a play list of more classic revenge songs, in case you, too, are in the mood.
Nancy Sinatra - These Boots are Made for Walking (1966)
"One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you..."Carly Simon - You’re So Vain (1972)
“I’ll bet you think this song is about you…”(Turned out it was about Warren Beatty.)
Gloria Gaynor – I will survive (1978)
“Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbyeAdele – Rolling in the Deep (2010)
Do you think I'd crumble
Did you think I'd lay down and die?”
“The scars of your love remind me of us”Taylor Swift - Mean (2012)
“All you’re ever gonna be is mean – why you gotta be so mean?”Are you in the mood for a little secondhand rage? Share your playlist...
I’d have picked Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and Nancy Sinatra’s “The Boots are Made for Walking,” too.
ReplyDeleteI’d add Julie London’s “Cry Me a River” or
Kelly Clarkson: “Since U Been Gone”. . . “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” . . . “Never Again”
But since you been gone
DeleteI can breathe for the first time
Yes!
And oh my, Julie London. That one takes me back.
Oh yes, I remember "Goodbye Earl" by the Chicks when it came out.
ReplyDeleteI would add Carrie Underwood's Before He Cheats. I loved her using the baseball bat to destroy his car:
https://youtu.be/WaSy8yy-mr8
And an oldie rage song from local (Ottawan) Alanis Morissette is You Oughta Know:
https://youtu.be/NPcyTyilmYY
Cracking up - I ran Before He Cheats video and before it started there was an ad for Chevrolets. Irony?
DeleteHmmm, that was just for you then, Hallie. When I played the video, I got Harry Styles!
DeleteThat song scares me, Grace! I wonder how many people have gotten in trouble because of it. LOL
DeleteThe video is a bit over the top, especially the ending with her walking down the street and the store windows exploding behind her due to telekinesis? And quite different from the sweet persona Carrie showed in her earlier videos!
DeleteI know what you mean, Hallie. It's infuriating and terrifying out there.
ReplyDeleteI'm terrible at remembering specific songs on demand, but you've come up with good ones. Not sure it's exactly a revenge song, but the late, great Aretha Franklin singing "Respect" is a sight - and sound - to behold.
It's an anthem, that's for sure! More of a prophylactic.
DeleteThanks for the playlist Hallie! I will try to think of some to add...I find it so interesting that the Dixie Chicks dropped "Dixie" from their name. I applaud the concept, but "the chicks"?
ReplyDeleteLucy,
DeleteLet me just say that the group dropping Dixie from their name is stupid in my opinion.
And the fact that Lady Antebellum changed their name to Lady A is even more ridiculous given the statement they released never acknowledging that they were co-opting a name used by a black female blues artist for the past 20 years.
Lucy, if it makes you feel any better, fans have been calling them "The Chicks" for ages.
DeleteI think it is amusing that the topic of music covers the emotion of rage today.
ReplyDeleteI mean, being a heavy metal fan, a lot of the music I listen to every day by virtue of the lyrics or the heaviness of the music would seem to be born from rage.
Hell, one of my favorite albums of all time is the Overkill masterpiece 'The Years of Decay' which pretty much is rage personified. Song titles like "Time To Kill", "Elimination", "I Hate", "Birth of Tension" and the machine gun-like "E.vil N.ever D.ies" will wreck your neck and test the quality of your eardrums. But they sure do release any pent up feelings of rage you might have.
And all without having to eat any black-eyed peas.
Heavy metal... I just ran the video of The Years of Decay, thinking maybe all these years I've missed something. Too much noise for me. (Do I sound like Salieri commenting on Mozart's music "Too may notes"?) I was surprised by how poetic and lyrical the lyrics are... but only from reading them. The sound reminds me of Janis Joplin -- I saw her in San Francisco singing "Piece of My Heart." Raw. Loud. Mesmerizing. And yes, cathartic.
DeleteHallie, I consider the fact that you even checked out any of the songs I mentioned from 'The Years of Decay' album as having won the day! :D
DeleteAnd yes, I know most people won't but I always look at it as heavy metal makes sure any rage I might build up gets released by my enjoyment of the music. And Overkill does have some fantastic lyrics...even if you have to read them.
A buddy of mine used to be the touring drum tech for the band.
Well — How about Pink Floyd? “All in all we’re just another brick in the wall?” And The Who ! “We Won’t get fooled again!”. And Teenage Wasteland. And from another generation – – Lesley Gore’s it’s Judy‘s turn to cry.” And Connie Francis —“Who’s sorry now?”
ReplyDeleteExcellent choices! OMG I adored Lesley Gore (who had a one-octave range) and the sublime wail of Connie Francis.
DeleteLesley Gore, now that takes me back. I loved her so, even though I was just 9 and 10 when she came on the scene. Of course, she was just sixteen when she recorded It's My Party. And, Connie Francis was wonderful, too.
DeleteI'm not a huge country music listener, but I have to say, they have a strong tradition of good rage songs. One that caught my ear in recent years is Miranda Lambert's "Your Mama's Broken Heart." Another is Carrie Underwood's "Church Bells." (Interesting side note here: for years, country wasn't big on female artists. Oh, there were a few superstars, but it used to be conventional wisdom that country stations wouldn't play back-to-back songs by women, because their listeners "didn't want to hear that." Guess it's no wonder all the current rage songs are by women!)
ReplyDeleteOther than those, though, my mind jumps back to classic rock and songs like Alice Cooper's "I'm 18," and Edwin Star's "War."
It's so true that women singers across all kinds of music have been on the rise. Speaking their minds and getting their due. Pretty exciting.
DeleteThese are all great songs! Good-bye Earl is one of my all-time faves.
ReplyDeleteI've been doing the opposite and listening to upbeat music. I guess I'm still in a patriotic mood. I just watched Music Man and 1776. Up next: Hamilton on Disney+.
I may have to subscribe to Disney+... long enough to see Hamilton.
DeleteI'm in a patriotic mood, too. Patriotic and pissed. Is that possible?
I think "patriotic and pissed" is the mood that makes things change in this country. We love what it ought to be. We know that it's not what it ought to be. We get pissed off at waiting for it to come around, and take to the streets and the voting booth. It's a good way to be every now and then.
DeleteGigi, totally agree.
DeleteHallie, I just thought of a song to add to your list: Red High Heels by Kelly Pickler.
ReplyDeleteI'm about to show you just how missin' me feels
ReplyDeleteIn my red high heels
Love that image!
Linda Ronstadt: Silver Thread and Golden Needles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmQpYSBkwag
ReplyDeleteI've been listening to jazz and classical lately, just really sick of the rage I see. Can't stand to listen to the voice of the yellow-haired liar giving everyone permission to hate. UGH.
Mellow needed. I hear you.
DeleteI will listen to ANYTHING by Linda Ronstadt!
DeleteSo many great songs. I've been thinking of the (Dixie) Chicks' song "Not Ready to Make Nice" for quite a while now. Ahem. That's the song they came back with after a hiatus from performing, post GW Bush's smackdown of their airing of personal opinions about his administration.
ReplyDeleteNot ready to make nice
Not ready to back down
I'm still mad as hell, and I don't have time
To go 'round and 'round and 'round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
'Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should
It's kind of been my anthem lately.
I just watched their video of Not Ready to Make Nice - so powerful. Great choice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pojL_35QlSI
DeleteI used to have a whole playlist of what I thought of as Middle Finger Songs. They weren't all ragers, but they did have a certain attitude of defiance. Two that spring to mind are Sonny Landreth's "All About You," ("The rest of my life ain't gonna be all about you.") and Ray Wylie Hubbard's "Screw You, We're from Texas." Sadly, Mr. Hubbard's attitude is at least part of the reason Texas is leading the nation in new corona virus cases. I'm fairly sure Mr. Hubbard is staying home and wearing a mask, though.
ReplyDeleteThere's another fun Chicks song--Let 'Er Rip--with the lyric "If you're gonna say good-bye don't take all day and night."
DeleteJust checked out Mr. Hubbard's Twitter feed:
DeleteA. Mask it
B. Casket
(Hint: there is no C)
Let 'Er Rip is another one of my favorites, Gigi!
DeleteHahaha, Gigi! Middle finger songs. "Let 'Er Rip" lyrics remind me of something that's become a joke between my husband and me, as he often says he's going somewhere and takes a while to get out the door, "I can't miss you 'til you're gone." Surely, there's a song with that title. I'll have to Google it.
DeleteGreat playlist, Hallie. I'd definitely add "Before He Cheats."
ReplyDeleteI have to go with Green Day's American Idiot here.
ReplyDeleteDon't wanna be an American idiot
Don't want a nation under the new mania
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mind-f**k America
Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alien nation
Where everything isn't meant to be okay
What a timely topic! Great songs here--whenever I feel the need to vent through music, I go for anything loud, energetic, and ferocious--doesn't have to be directly tied to rage. Just killer guitar/drum solos, etc. Rock-n-roll, fer sure.
ReplyDeleteEverybody Knows. Leonard Cohen is always good for a deep rage.
ReplyDeleteOoo, good one!
DeleteHow can we forget all the protest songs of the 60's and 70's?
ReplyDeleteWar
Eve of Destruction
Give Peace a Chance
Strange Fruit
Blowin' in the Wind
A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall
In the Year 2525
DeleteAll of those!
DeleteThis reminds me of Kingston trio’s Merry Minuet (They’re rioting in Africa...)
DeleteMy thanks to everyone who posted today. I now have a playlist that I couldn't have assembled myself. One that I definitely need!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite brand new song by The Chicks - https://youtu.be/xwBjF_VVFvE
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen this yet. Thanks for the heads up because it is outstanding. Sharing with everyone!
DeleteI hadn’t seen it either - thank you!!
DeleteFor venting I always liked Eric Burden and the Animals singing We Gotta Get Out of This Place. And the Stones singing Paint It Black.
ReplyDeleteAnd for a humorous get out of my life song: My Wife Thinks You're Dead by Junior Brown.
ReplyDeleteGotta love Junior Brown. That one's a classic.
DeleteNo playlist. The Goodbye Earl is visually clear and I can follow the story even without captions. I recognized the actor husband of one of the Dixie Chicks who plays a policeman,
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am missing the message of the Gaslighter video since there are no actors and it is mostly singing.
Sometimes I get angry when I see someone NOT wearing a mask, then I remind myself that while I cannot control what other people do, I can control what I do. For example, when I go out for walks, I have learned to avoid areas where NO MASK people often stand. At least they are doing the SIX FEET social distancing. I just do not want to walk past them.
Trying to stay sane with good books to read.
So many great songs coming up here today. Hallie, I had forgotten how much I love the video for "Goodbye, Earl." Thanks for that treat today. I'm glad that The Chicks are back and giving us music again.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to think of songs not yet added. I don't think "You Don't Own Me" by Lesley Gore was added in Hank's Lesley Gore songs. In looking for some songs, I came across "Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman" by Tracy Byrd in which a wife sells her cheating husband's newish Mercedes for $700.
Take one Trump
ReplyDeletePlace his neck on a stump
One swing of an ax and then
WHUMP!
One late tune. The music is a long way from heavy metal but the words? Not so far from I Will Survive. Eliza in My Fair Lady "Without you pulling it the tide comes in
ReplyDeleteWithout your twirling it, the Earth can spin
Without your pushing them, the clouds roll by
If they can do without you, ducky so can I"
I love this! What a play list!
ReplyDelete