Monday's Song from Hell - March 11th

I think this classifies as such not because the song itself is so horrible or so catchy that you can't stop humming it (and I can't catch any intelligible words), but for what it has inspired so many people to do. Making 30 second videos of people dancing to the song became a viral internet sensation nearly overnight, and thankfully has started to recede nearly as fast.

15 seconds of someone in a helmet/mask dancing as if they were invisible to the rest of the room, then 15 seconds of everyone dancing, usually awkwardly and with some kind of partial costume and/or odd props.  And usually a bit of partial "nudity" and perhaps suggestive hip movements.

But it's so ridiculous that even children are convinced of how silly it is. And that is why they love it too. So this may be the most innocent version of it on the internet.  It makes it no less annoying however.

Monday's Song from Hell - February 11th

Not that this song is so catchy or annoying that you can't forget the tune or some riff from it.  Rather the lyrics and story that it tells is a bit haunting.  Powerful stuff you could say.  I think country music has a good history of telling stories that are sometimes hard to tell.

This is in honor of this song winning two Grammy's last night: Carrie Underwood for Country Solo Performance, and Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins for Country Song.

Monday's Song from Hell - December 3rd

Monday's Song from Hell - February 27th

Don't even try to deny that you both hate and love this song.

Monday's Song from Hell - November 14th

Not because it is an annoying song that you can't stop humming. Because music can sometimes cement itself in the minds of people and become a common expression of their values or opinions. That's why this song might become hell for those who stand in the way of the 99% of Americans who are not being served by our political, economic, and financial systems.

Now Makana's new song "We Are The Many" can be criticized as being from hell because of the very simple rhyming pattern of the verses (AAAA), but at least the end of the chorus makes clear the whole point of the Occupy Wall Street and 99% movement.

Lyrics below the video thanks to Honolulu Civil Beat.

We Are The Many Lyrics & Music by Makana Makana Music LLC © 2011

Ye come here, gather ’round the stage
The time has come for us to voice our rage
Against the ones who’ve trapped us in a cage
To steal from us the value of our wage

From underneath the vestiture of law
The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw
At liberty, the bureaucrats guffaw
And until they are purged, we won’t withdraw

We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

Our nation was built upon the right
Of every person to improve their plight
But laws of this Republic they rewrite
And now a few own everything in sight

They own it free of liability
They own, but they are not like you and me
Their influence dictates legality
And until they are stopped we are not free

We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You enforce your monopolies with guns
While sacrificing our daughters and sons
But certain things belong to everyone
Your thievery has left the people none

So take heed of our notice to redress
We have little to lose, we must confess
Your empty words do leave us unimpressed
A growing number join us in protest

We occupy the streets
We occupy the courts
We occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You can’t divide us into sides
And from our gaze, you cannot hide
Denial serves to amplify
And our allegiance you can’t buy

Our government is not for sale
The banks do not deserve a bail
We will not reward those who fail
We will not move till we prevail

We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

We are the many
You are the few

Song from Hell, for a Saturday

This came about from a conversation with my good friend Gayathiri. She finally got to spend some actual time with one of my acquaintances, Jason. She said that he was really nice. I totally agreed. Jason is honestly a positive person. He is an excellent people person when it's his job to listen and work with others. He has impressed several of the volunteers with whom he is working at our local Center. He is actually a joy to be around. A different acquaintance I know dislikes him, but we figured out why: that guy is a person who is just ugly, inside and out, who dislikes Jason because he is a cute, positive, and competent person.

So describing to Gayathiri, I said, "ya, he is just sunshine and lollipops all the time." UGH...that is all it took! Know I am stuck with it in my head...and now you are.

Monday's Song from Hell - April 25th

The back story on how this was pulled off in the Oregon legislature. I wish more legislative bodies treated each other with the respect required to build the kind of trust it must take to do something like this. That legislature is probably able to come to compromises

Monday's Song from Hell - August 30th

Thanks to Misty for getting this stuck in my head.