Tuesday, April 20, 2010

I'll keep the ole back 40...

Just in case you missed it, I'm having to cut back my blogging to Mondays & Thursdays while I work on other writing projects. I know. And I call myself a writer...

That is, of course, unless there is breaking news on Debut Novel--in which case that screaming sound you hear is me. (Yes, that includes you, Overseas Readers.) But I will also post it here. And everywhere.

So those of you sweethearts who have been asking, I'm still in what's known as the purgatory of no news is no news.

But I was thinking I haven't said anything about music in a while. I thought about it today as I was jogging and songs were coming on that I liked. The one mentioned in the title of this blog, for instance. (Robert Earl Keen, fyi.)

The girls have entered a Taylor Swift phase. I blame Lori Quimby, their GA teacher, but Catherine came up to me the other day and timidly asked if we could download a few of her songs. (She has her daddy's old iPod shuffle.)

I'm a sucker for the timid request for music, so we jumped on the iTunes immediately and started scrolling through Miss Swift's offerings. I hadn't listened to any of her songs, but now that I have, they're sweet.

They're like the musical Cliff's Notes for a lot of these YA novels I've been reading lately. Update, Something, Maybe was a bit of a let-down. Hmm... Elizabeth Scott is still great at the buildup to the kiss, but wow... it took fuh-evah to get there.

Starting I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter next. And I admit, I only bought it because Ms. Carter's agent is Kristin Nelson. Ms. Nelson seems like she should be my agent; I'm curious about what she actually represents. More soon.

So back to Taylor Swift. I've been enjoying her stuff. I was a very girlie little girl (shocker...), so I understand the attraction of these songs.

Richard, on the other hand, is a merciless ridiculer. Some of you know that he sings "Tim McGraw" as "When you play Donkey Kong." (I hope you have your sweatpants on...)

I forbid such behavior when the girls are around because I like them listening to *nice* music. (I finally got them to stop asking for "Tik Tok" and "Party Like a Rock Star.")

Still, our recent trip to the beach was a test. Catherine and Laura were demanding their Taylor Swift rock block, and Richard was literally squirming in his seat from all the one-liners just NEEDING to come out.

For example, TS's song "Today Was a Fairytale" was playing. The girls were happily singing all the words in the back seat, the following was going on up front:

TS: Today was a fairytale, I wore a dress... etc. Today was a fairytale.
JRM:  (under his breath) how many times is she going to say that?
LTM: (quiet, scolding voice) Richard...
TS: Today was a fairytale, you've got a smile, takes me to another planet...
JRM: Sounds more like a science fiction story.
LTM: (cuts eyes)

Ahh... The little ladies were unaffected. And I have to say, I've reached the point where I'm recognizing the cycles in the entertainment industry.

It's OK, I am not a ridiculer. Especially when you get that rare performer who actually wrote her own songs and then is actually singing them. And I think it's awesome that there's something out there for everybody (and at every stage of the game).

I'm sure these are the character-building lessons one learns in no news is no news purgatory.

Richard's a songwriter, in case you didn't know it (most of you do). His songs have titles like, "Kiefer Sutherland's Mother," "That Dog'd Bite You," and of course, the "(Not a) Train Song." They're in the humorously unexpected genre. I'll see if I can upload one for your musical enjoyment.

As for me, I'm just trying to get all the paying gigs done so I can get back to my sophomore effort. It's going quite well, and I'm noting how little I've leaned on my musical crutch for this one. (What could it mean...?)

I'll let you know when we're ready to start Round 2.

3 comments:

JRichard said...

Thanks for the shout. For what it's worth, not ALL my songs are silly. What about my feel-good Christmas tune, "No Christmas Tree"?

Also, the actual title is "(Not A) Train Song." It ain't a song about a train.

Jenni Dismukes said...

Love it ain't a song about a train! I sang it for over a year and will now start singing it again! Can you send it to me again!!! And always great blog!

LTM said...

OMG! you guys are killin me. I'm trying to find a way to get the train song online. I can't find a place where I can upload it as an .mp3 to link to, and I tried to make it into a "video," but youtube doesn't accept .mswmm files and I can't figure out how to convert it!

I'm now thinking of Kip singing "Yes, I love technology..." Not!

Can anyone can help a tigga? Na$h??? Jon???