Pilgrimage to Play God

Everything is, everyone is, broken...

"Pilgrimage," R.E.M.
"A Pillar of Salt," The Thermals
"Pillar to Post," Aztec Camera
"Pineapple Head," Crowded House
"Pink Cashmere," Prince
"Pink Houses," John Mellencamp
"Pink Moon," Nick Drake
"Plan of the Man," The M's
"Planet Telex," Radiohead
"Play God," Chagall Guevara

Mellencamp's reach exceeds his grasp a bit on "Pink Houses," but I love what he's grasping for. The heart of the song is a genuine affection, a genuine love even, for "people and more people." It's patriotic without being chauvinistic, which is a tough trick to pull off nowadays. Contrast "Pink Houses" with Mellencamp's more recent attempt to recapture its success -- the Chevy-ad anthem "This Is Our Country." The word "our" there is, I think, intended to be an inclusive echo of Woody Guthrie, but in the current atmosphere it's difficult to hear "ours" without being reminded of the poisonous "not theirs" that the Dobbses, Malkins and Tancredos would reflexively add.

In the town of Elsmere, Del., the local councilman who has been the force behind efforts to duplicate Hazleton, Pa.'s, anti-immigrant statutes there is now also advocating new zoning laws to enforce "community standards" on the appearances of buildings and businesses. The proximate cause of this was a Mexican restaurant in town that's painted red, white and green. Little pink houses? "Those people" might go for such garish colors, but according to the Elsmere town council, that ain't America.

Comments

[Rosina]

Pink Pedal Pushers - Jerry Lee Lewis
Plastic Man - The Kinks

[Geds]

in the current atmosphere it's difficult to hear "ours" without being reminded of the poisonous "not theirs"

Actually, it's difficult for me to hear "our" there without wanting to puke. But it's just because it's a horrible song, not because it misses anything. Anyway...

"Pillar of Davidson," Live
"Pillow of Your Bones," Chris Cornell
"Pinball Wizard," The Who
"Pistolgrip Pump," Rage Against the Machine (cover of, uh, somebody)
"Pittsburgh," The Lemonheads
"Pity," Bad Religion
"Pity," Matt Nathanson (these two songs couldn't be more different. Bad Religion is punk, Nathanson is one of those indie 12-string acoustic guys.)
"Planets," Kate Rusby
"Platypus (I Hate You)," Green Day
"Play Me Something," Roddy Woomble
"Please Don't Let it Be," The Alternate Routes (yeah, it's out of the range, but The Alternate Routes are awesome)

Now that's an odd list.

[burgundy]

"Pinch Me," Barenaked Ladies
"Plateau," Meat Puppets
"Play," The Cure

[Ray]

Pin - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Pink & Blue - Outkast
Pink Bullets - The Shins
Pink Glove - Pulp
Pink Light - Add N to X
Pissing in the Wind - Badly Drawn Boy
Pitseleh - Elliott Smith
Pittsfield - Sufjan Stevens
The Placid Casual - Super Furry Animals
Planet of the Shapes - Orbital
Plastic Man - The Kinks
Plastic Man, You're the Devil - Pink Mountaintops
Plastic Sun - Sonic Youth
Play Dead - Bjork

Best of the lot is Pulp. I'd recommend Sufjan Stevens again, but you obviously don't know what's good for you...

[Peter Kim]

ours, Ours AWWRRS, my precious!

[mmack]

Fred,

Another good Mellencamp song from the same album: Play Guitar

"Forget all 'bout that macho sh*t, and learn how to play guitar!"

[Robb]

A Passage to Bangkok
Prime Mover
The Pass
Presto
Peaceable Kingdom

- All Rush edition! Everyone could use more Rush.

*****

The proximate cause of this was a Mexican restaurant in town that's painted red, white and green.

Oh. Em. Eff. Gee. Who could object to that? Except for the faux-Mission style (with stucco facade & red clay roof tiles), there is no other way that a Mexican place should look.

[cminus]

"Pilgrimage," Nine Inch Nails
"Pillars," Sunny Day Real Estate
"Pills & Smoke," The Swinging Utters
"Pinball Wizard," Pete Townshend
"Pinball Wizard," The Who
"Ping Island/Lightning Strike Rescue Op," Mark Mothersbaugh [from The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou soundtrack]
"Pinhead," The Ramones
"Pinion," Nine Inch Nails
"Pink Triangle," Weezer
"Piss On The Wall," J. Geils Band
"Pixeleen," Steely Dan
"Plainsong," The Cure
"Planet Claire," B-52's
"Planet Earth," Duran Duran
"Planet Of The Apes Medley," The Simpsons
"Planet Telex," Radiohead
"Play Dead," Bjork

The obvious recommendation would be "Pinball Wizard," but anyone who doesn't have "Pinball Wizard" by now probably doesn't want it. There's some other tracks in there that Fred might like -- in particular, Steely Dan, B-52's, Duran Duran, Radiohead and Bjork -- but nothing really jumps out. So, I'm going to cheat and recommend a song just barely outside today's range: "Play It All Night Long" by Warren Zevon.

As a Hoosier, I'm required to speak up on behalf of John Mellencamp, and not just because my brother used to cut his grass (true story). Mellencamp is a stone cold progressive who makes Springsteen seem like an agent of The Man; he combines a positive message with a hinterland populist sensibility better than anyone, including John Edwards. What's more, I'm told he's very generous in offering tips and cold beverages to the kids who mow his lawn.

[Bruce in South Florida]

There's room enough here
for science to live
and there's room enough here
for religion to forgive
and try to understand
all the people of this land
this is our country

From the east coast to the west coast
down the dixie highway back home
this is our country

And poverty could be just another ugly thing
and bigotry would be seen only as obscene
and the ones who run this land
help the poor and common man
this is our country

Not exactly the Tancredo/Dobbs/Malkin (or Huckabee!) credo, is it?

Now, if you want a song that speaks to them, it's "This Land is My Land" by Bob Roberts...

[cjmr's husband]

"Pinch Me" - Barenaked Ladies
"Pink Panther" - Henry Mancini
"Pink Shoelaces" - Patsy Biscoe -- still looking for Dodie Stevens' recording
"Piss on the Wall" - J. Geils Band
"Play The Game" - Queen
"Playing to Win" - Little River Band

Extra credit for Weird Al's "The Plumbing Song"
Adding "Pinball Wizard" to my iTunes wish list...

[vanya]

"Pilgrimage" - REM
"Pimpers Paradise" - Bob Marley
"Pinball Wizard," The Who - glad to see how many have this.
"Ping-Pong", Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - but sad to see how little jazz ever shows up here.
"Pink Moon", Nick Drake
"Pink Steam", Sonic Youth
"Pink Thing", XTC - is there a great band more unappreciated today than XTC?
"Pink Turns to Blue", Husker Du
"Pio Mentiroso" Afro Cuban All Stars
"Pipeline/Kill Time", Sonic Youth
"Piss-Bottle Man", Mike Watt
"A Pistol for Paddy Garcia", the Pogues
"Pithecanthropus Erectus", Charles Mingus
"The Place I Love", The Jam
"Planet of Ass", Scissorfight. Probably the best Boston band of the late 90s- early aughts. Much wittier than you would guess at first, and great guitar player.
"Planet of Weed", Fountains of Wayne. Worst song on an album I still find myself liking a lot more than the jaded critics seem to. Didn't crack anyone's best of list for 07, but I still prefer it to Arcade Fire. Sorry.
"Planets", Teenage Fanclub
"Plans I Make", Husker Du
"The Planners dream goes wrong", The Jam
"Plateau", Meat Puppets, & the Nirvana cover.
"Platform Blues", Pavement. Another once prominent band that no-one talks about or seems to listen to anymore. That was fast too.

[Caravelle]

As a Hoosier, I'm required to speak up on behalf of John Mellencamp, and not just because my brother used to cut his grass (true story).

John Mellencamp sounds like a great guy and the message in "This is our country" is certainly a laudable one, but I have to agree with Geds that it's a terrible song. Especially considering it was already done a thousand times better by Woodie Guthrie.

[Caravelle]

Hey what do you know ! I've just found two verses to "This land is your land" I didn't know about.

[Jack Bishop]

"Pilgrims", by the High Llamas
"Pilot Can at the Queer of God", by the Flaming Lips
"Pinball Wizard", by the Who
"Pink (A-6)", by Mitsumune Shinkichi
"Pink Panther Theme", as perfomed by Neo
"Pinocchio", by Tokyo Jihen
"Pious Orgies, Pious Airs", from Judas Maccabaeus.
"Pipeline", as performed by the Ventures
"Piper", by P-Model
"Pirate Jenny", from The Threepenny opera, sung by Lotte Lenya
"Pirates", by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
"Pixeleen", by Steely Dan
"The Placid Casual", by Super Furry Animals.
"Plastic Fantastic Lover, by Jefferson Airplane (2 versions)
"Plastic Jesus", as performed by the Flaming Lips.

[cjmr]

First playlist post in a month and I have zilch.

[Geds]

Pittsfield - Sufjan Stevens

Tell me Sufjan Stevens didn't write a song about Pittsfield, Illinois.

Wait, tell me he did. That's another one to add to his list of crimes against music. And humanity.

[Ray]

I'm guessing that yes, Pittsfield is about Pittsfield, Illionois. I's from 'The Avalanche', which is out-takes from (Come On Feel The)
Here's the lyrics -
http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858594240

[twig]

to:Geds
re: S. Stevens

you're still wrong.

[mcc]

Pillowcase - Dntel
Pinch - Can
Pink & Blue - Andre 3000
Pink Cigarette - Mr. Bungle
Pink Lemonade - Kittie
Pink Maggit - Deftones
Pink Orange Red - Cocteau Twins
Pinocchiobot - The Mathletes
Play girl - Ladytron

[Anna]

Pilgrimage - Conjure One
Pilgrims Snow - Yoko Kanno
Pinball Wizard - The Who
Pinch Me - Barenaked Ladies
Pink - Aerosmith (possibly my favorite Aerosmith song)
Pink Lemonade - Jump Little Children (Jump was the best band-no-one's-heard-of to come out of the South in a while)
Pink Triangle - Weezer
Pipe Dreams - Travis
Pirate Moon - Thea Gilmore
Pissing in the Wind - Badly Drawn Boy
Plain Gold Ring - Nina Simone
Plains of Waterloo - Kate Rusby
Planet Caravan - Black Sabbath
Plasticine - Placebo
Plastic Jesus - Billy Idol
Plastic Jesus - Flaming Lips

It's sort of funny, the Conjure One song Pilgrimage is really, really different from the REM version. REM is, well, REM, and Conjure One is the odd offspring of trance and electropop. But my recommendation here would probably be Nina Simone, who knocks "Plain Gold Ring" out of the park. The version I have is a live take that starts with her freestyling against her backing combo, and it's really remarkable. I can only imagine what it must be like to have that kind of voice.

[Linkmeister]

"Pinball Wizard," The Who
"Plastic Fantastic Lover," Jefferson Airplane

[Chris Koeberle]

Oh, good! It's another "Is Sufjan Stevens the greatest musical genius of all time?" Friday! 112 tracks for this selection, 95 remaining after removing duplicates. What's awesome? (Apart from "Pink Turns to Blue," already mentioned. And I have a cover of "Pink Turns to Blue" by Richmond Fontaine - that cover is truly, 100% awful, but falling just outside today's span is "Post to Wire" by Richmond Fontaine, which is certainly my favorite Richmond Fontaine song.)

"Pinion," Nine Inch Nails
"Pipi sous la pluie," El Manu
"Pity the Dead," Bad Religion
"Pizza Girl," Pro Midget Mafia
"A Place in Time (extended)," Amanda Abizaid
"The Planeiac," Palomar
"Plastic Jesus," Flametrick Subs
"Plastic Umbrella," Gravity's Pull
"The Plateaux of Mirror," Harold Budd & Brian Eno
"Play for Today," The Cure

I wish I could endorse "Pints Of Guinness Make You Strong," by Against Me, but the title is more entertaining than the song.

[Geds]

"Is Sufjan Stevens the greatest musical genius of all time?"

It's not a question. He's not. For one thing, Paul Simon was doing much better stuff in the same genre a good two or three decades before anybody had ever heard of the little twit...

[twig]

fwd:Geds
cc: P. Simon
re: S. Stevens

you're still wrong.

[mmack]

Geds,

It can always be worse. It could be Plainfield, IL.

[Geds]

you're still wrong.

I love these arguments. I mean, there's absolutely nothing I can say, whether I bring up Paul Simon or point out that anybody who seems to have combined prog-rock with folk (and, I content, with malicious intent), then gotten a fanbase to rival Tool in terms of people who take music way too frickin' seriously and suffer no attacks on [artist] (although, by and large Sufjan has a more pleasant fanbase than Tool. For one thing, everyone on the Sufjan side seems to know how to locate the shower and spell properly), and I'm still hit with the ol' rhetorical device of, "You're wrong, neener neener." It's fascinating.

Yep, that's it. I'm adding Sufjan Stevens to the worst music ever list. Right down there with Tool, System of a Down, Coheed & Cambria, The Mars Volta, and anything Thom Yorke did after The Bends.

[Geds]

It can always be worse. It could be Plainfield, IL.

Dude, you wanna hear the story of my afternoon in Pittsfield?

[twig]

Well, an argument is not the same thing as contradiction.

.... it CAN be!

(Seriously, your musical don'ts are just astonishing to me. Like looking at the Niagra Falls of differing opinions. I almost want to take a picture.)

[mmack]

Dude, you wanna hear the story of my afternoon in Pittsfield?

BRING IT ON! I once spent a week in Rockford one afternoon.

:^P

Can you imagine an Sufjan Stevens song about Peoria?

Oh Peoria,
You have a lovely aur-e-a
Visiting brings euphoria

=:^O

[Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little]

Robb's all-Rush edition wins my internet.

Also, if one is not particularly picky about the beginning and ending boundaries of the set, there is...

"Pi", Kate Bush
"Pictures in an Exhibition", Death Cab For Cutie
"Piece of Dirt", They Might Be Giants
"Piña Coloda In a Pint Glass," Gaelic Storm
"The Pink Panther Theme" as covered by a capella group Face
"Planet Earth", Duran Duran
"Play Me", Neil Diamond
and "Playboy Mommy", Tori Amos.

I only went on that long because I liked the juxtaposition of Neil Diamond and Tori Amos. Whee!

[Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little]

Also, "This is Our Country" sounds like it wasn't just licensed for use by Toyota for their pick-up truck commercial; it sounds like it was written for Toyota. (Unless it was Ford. I forget.) I feel similarly about U2's "Beautiful Day" and United Airlines.

[mmack]

Also, "This is Our Country" sounds like it wasn't just licensed for use by Toyota for their pick-up truck commercial; it sounds like it was written for Toyota. (Unless it was Ford. I forget.) I feel similarly about U2's "Beautiful Day" and United Airlines.

Nicole, it's used in Chevrolet's advertising. So it shows how well it works.

[Robb]

...anything Thom Yorke did after The Bends.

WHAT!?!?!?!

I can understand people who didn't like Ok Computer as much as The Bends, and most of Kid A & Amnesiac are just plain weird, but to completely disregard it all? Dude. Come ON! Ok Computer was just as great as it was hyped to be - again, perhaps some may not like it, but there's no denying it's an incredible record.

@ Nicole - Yay! Someone else who loves Rush!

RE: [that Mellencamp Car commercial song] - I'm confused: was that song written for the commerical? Or is it on one of his later albums (which I confess I have zero interest in - Pete Yorn & Tom Petty meet all my "Americana rock" needs)?

[greg]

yes exactly correct Herbalife

[cminus]

Pink - Aerosmith (possibly my favorite Aerosmith song)

I dunno about my favorite Aerosmith song, but it's probably Aerosmith's most underrated song, and now I feel the need to buy it.

'Cause, you know, it's like red, but not quite.

[cminus]

RE: [that Mellencamp Car commercial song] - I'm confused: was that song written for the commerical? Or is it on one of his later albums

It's from his newest album, Freedom's Road. While not the strongest song on the album by any stretch, I think it's better than people give it credit for -- it helps if you have TiVo and have never heard the song in a commercial setting.

(which I confess I have zero interest in - Pete Yorn & Tom Petty meet all my "Americana rock" needs)?

Okay, I'm aware that, except for Todd's desire to get Fred some Violent Femmes, we try not to be prescriptive here, but you take Tom Petty over Mellencamp in the "Americana rock" category? Nothing against Petty -- he's probably in the top 10 for the genre, at least among well-known acts -- but he doesn't belong with Mellencamp. (Pete Yorn is a defensible choice, particularly if you don't consider Dylan "Americana rock," which I don't.)

[burgundy]

I like several Tool songs quite a bit, and "Sober" has long been a favorite of mine, but I wouldn't consider myself a Tool fan per se, and I certainly wouldn't argue with anyone over it.

There's not much in music that I would argue with anyone about. I'm content to just say "opinion, whatever," even if I think they're crazy. There's only one exception I can think of off the top of my head. Anyone who thinks any other version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is better than the Jeff Buckley one is completely devoid of taste and sensibility and is flat-out wrong.

[David in no longer in Maine]

Geds, If you like "Pillow of Your Bones", you should check out Eleven, who were the backing band on that album, and who basically wrote that song (CC also has a writing credit on that one, for rearranging the lyrics to better suit his style, or something, but also I think because his is the name on the front of the album).

[borealys]

Pilgrim - Sarah Slean
Pinball Wizard - The Who
Pink Champagne - Venus Hum
The Pioneers - Bloc Party
Piranha Pool - Blue Rodeo
Plans - Bloc Party

[vanya]

there's no denying [OK Computer]is an incredible record.

Um, sure there is. I'm especially surprised to see a Rush fan saying that. Funny you brought it up, I just listened to OK Computer when I went running this morning - it's better than I remembered, definitely good but certainly wouldn't crack my top 500.

[Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little]

Nicole, it's used in Chevrolet's advertising. So it shows how well it works.

Yes. Exactly. It's that godsdamned pick-up truck commercial song.

By contrast, Seger's "Like A Rock," though used by the same company for its previous commercials (Right? Chevy, Like A Rock?), doesn't automatically sound like a commercial to me when I hear the full-length song.

Um, sure there is. I'm especially surprised to see a Rush fan saying that.

I'm always surprised to hear that out of anyone. In matters of taste, there is no "obviously" or "no denying it." Although I did once have a Rush fan chew me out (as in, "What are you, high?") when I defended a music critic's right to deliver a negative review of a Rush album. I dunno, I simply don't believe in objective measures of musical "goodness." Even if I don't entirely understand how someone couldn't like a given piece of music (i.e. about 85% of the Rush discography).

On that note (ha ha) I present a Making Light thread.

[Theo]

Pills - the New York Dolls
Pinball Wizard - the Who
Pinhead - the Ramones
Pipeline - Johnny Thunders
A Pistol for Paddy Garcia - the Pogues
The Plan - Richard Hell & the Voidoids
Planet Caravan - Black Sabbath
Planet Earth 1988 - the Ramones
Planxty Noel Hill - the Pogues
Plaster Caster - Kiss
Platypus (I Hate You) - Green Day

[Dorothy]

Pico de Gallo - Trout Fishing in America