Friday Jukebox

by · May 20, 2011

Rufus F.

Rufus is a likeable curmudgeon. He has a PhD in History, sang for a decade in a punk band, and recently moved to NYC after nearly two decades in Canada. He wrote the book "The Paris Bureau" from Dio Press (2021).

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15 Responses

  1. greginak says:
    May 20, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    I would have gone with Rapture by Blondie.Report

  2. Jaybird says:
    May 20, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    From http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm

    According to Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts (1979), an Assyrian clay tablet dating to approximately 2800 BC was unearthed bearing the words “Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end. Bribery and corruption are common.”

    I have that written on my wall. It makes me feel better.Report

  3. Tony Comstock says:
    May 23, 2011 at 8:47 am

    Can you pen a f0llow-up to a song written by someone else?Report

    • Rufus F. in reply to Tony Comstock says:
      May 23, 2011 at 11:37 am

      Oh, I never noticed that before. To be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of Eve of Destruction. I like the Dickies cover of it, but the original is a bit too repetitive for me.

      I actually do think you can pen a follow up if the songwriter gives you permission. The closest I can think of is an old soul song entitled “You Cheated” and I think another singer recorded basically the same song as “I Cheated”, but she might have gotten the same band playing back up.Report

      • Mark Thompson in reply to Rufus F. says:
        May 23, 2011 at 12:35 pm

        Space Oddity ==> Major Tom (I’m Coming Home).Report

        • Mike Schilling in reply to Mark Thompson says:
          May 23, 2011 at 12:43 pm

          I’ve always thought that Steely Dan’s Only a Fool Would Say That was a response to John Lennon’s Imagine.Report

          • BlaiseP in reply to Mike Schilling says:
            May 23, 2011 at 2:32 pm

            Huh. Now that you say it, I’ll never listen to that tune the same way again. I thought the first album was more a response to Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, which is where the title’s lifted from.

            Heady times, when Dylan released Highway 61 Revisited. By 72 or 73 when Steely Dan emerged, the Kent State shootings had punctured the hippies’ earnest nonsense with 67 rounds of .30 cal ammunition and the British Army had done pretty much the same on Bloody Sunday in 72. Steely Dan had emulated the Beatniks but instead of some blissful Eden found themselves in the hellish Interzone, pressed up against the dilating sphincter of the Muzik Biz as it really was (and continues to be), fucked over by all and sundry.

            Everything on Can’t Buy a Thrill reflects the grim musings of the ex-Beatniks and their silly hangers-on, the Hippies. The tune Changing of the Guard echoes the same gun-oriented sentiments of Only a Fool Would Say That

            All the cowboys and your neighbors
            Can you swallow up your pride
            Take your guns off it you’re willin’
            And you know we’re on your side
            If you wanna get thru the years
            It’s high time you played your card
            If you live in this world
            You’re feelin’ the change of the guard             Report

      • Jaybird in reply to Rufus F. says:
        May 23, 2011 at 12:49 pm

        Mark has answered the question perfectly above… but that’s no reason that I can’t talk about remix culture and how One eskimO did a spectacular take on Candi Staton’s cover of “He Called Me Baby”.

        He Called Me Baby is a lovely enough little country song in the vein of “he called me baby all night long, he called me baby now he’s gone, now nobody calls me baby” A nice little cry into your beer number, right?

        Well, One eskimO took the sample of “he called me baby all night long” from that song and turned it into a song where the girlfriend confesses her infidelity to the boyfriend.

        Candi Staton’s song does a good, if not great, job of communicating loss… but One eskimO does a spectacular job of communicating the roil of je ne sais quoi in one of those confession conversations.

        Listen to Candi Staton here and listen to One eskimO here.Report

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