My Favorite Century — Part VII
This week's playlist is distinctly not about Usher. And yet, we need to talk about Usher.
Before his Super Bowl performance, a friend reached out to see if there'd be any Usher love in the top 100. "Yes," I answered, "but only one song." When the Super Bowl announced him as the headliner, I started to think about my Mout Rushmore of Usher songs. As many have noted, we are (I am) firmly in the "by selecting this artist, we are pandering to a certain age of people" group. Admittedly, I've never heard any songs on Usher's first album, which was somehow released in 1994. I have spent my fair share of time listening to his Sophomore album "My Way," which came out when I was 10. One key thing to note about these two albums is that one was produced by Puff Daddy (bombed), and the other was produced by Jermain Dupree (banged).
Jermain was the guy at the halftime show dressed like AC/DCs Angus Young, who is arguably most famous for ALMOST coining the term "Bling" in a 1998 song, Money Ain't a Thang, featuring Jay-Z. The song revolves around the idea that wealth and material possessions are not significant obstacles or concerns for artists like JD and Jay-Z. Instead, they emphasize their lavish lifestyles and the ease with which they can afford expensive items and experiences. The lyrics are about luxury cars, expensive jewelry, and the ability to spend money without hesitation, with a chorus that features the line: Jigga, I don't like it if it don't Gleam-Gleam.
Just imagine if he'd said: Bling-Bling!
Now I get that the song was called Money Ain't a Thang, and Bling would rhyme with Thing, so perhaps they'd have to change the entire song, but it may have been worth it to lock up a spot in the lexicography books. Instead, a year later, Lil Wayne, Bird Man (et al.) released Bling Bling, The Hot Boyz rap about their lavish lifestyles, flaunting their expensive cars, jewelry, and clothing, portraying a bon vivant attitude towards spending money. The chorus, which repeats the phrase "Bling bling! Every time I come around yo city, bling bling!" highlights the gaudy nature of their wealth and the attention it garners and kicks off 25 years of the word being synonymous with big-ass jewelry and fancy cars.
After the success of My Way, JD and Usher collaborated again to produce Usher's 8701 album, which was released on August 7, 2001 (which does not stand for August 7, 2001, according to publicists at the time). 8701 shockingly features eight (of 15 songs) that use the Letter U to replace the word You in track names, and I think we need to either give it up for that or be mad that he went halfway but couldn't figure out how to name 100% like so.
I'll leave it to U.
Most amusingly, the song U Remind Me and Nickelback's How You Remind Me both appeared in the Billboard Top 40 that year.
Big year for memories.
Usher was 25 years old when he released Confessions, arguably more impressive than Jay-Z calling it quits at 33, as discussed last week. This album was massive. It featured a song with Alicia Keys, a two-part song about impregnating a mistress, and a song about breaking up with Chili from TLC. And then, of course, it featured his most famous song and the one he ended the Super Bowl with: Yeah!
I will stop the Usher tutorial here because many of you probably knew all that, even if you didn't know any of that. Usher has released 9 albums, has countless tracks that are certified bangers, and owns a 1% stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers, which he nabbed in 2009 for $9 million and is now worth over 200 million.
Talk about a great ROI.
I don't know who the Super Bowl will get next year, but I feel confident I'll have a lot of thoughts on the songs they choose.
You may be, at this point, thinking: what in the shit is Sam going to even talk about in this entry? He is really meandering through Usher's discography and has yet to tell us a single song?
Well, that was by design.
This week's theme is Long Songs. (Though it's not "Long Intros/Slow Builds," which I think is a different week's theme.)
Check out a few songs that clock in over 7 minutes, scroll to the bottom to find out which Usher song made the top 100, and see which other 3 Usher songs I put on my Usher Mount Rushmore.
Enjoy.
Song
Bay of Pigs (Detail)
Artist
Destroyer
Released
2009
Lyric
I don't know what I'm doing
Alone in the dark
At the park or at the pier
Watching ships disappear in the rain
One Word
Erudite
More Than One Word
Destroyer is the red wine of music.
If you’ve never listened to Destroyer, I want you to take a quick moment, just five seconds or so, and imagine what you think a band called Destroyer that I enjoy is going to both look like and sound like.
Okay five seconds, go.
Did any of you have 40-something man called Dan Bejar with whacky hair who occasionally dabbles in a band called the New Pornographers, and as a solo act, writes lyrics like: “I was Clytemnestra on a good day / Dispensing wisdom to the uninitiated / The initiates brought out in tumbrels / Shat out by the dawn.” or “Hey, Snow White, it's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright. When the company goes public/You've got to learn to love what you own.”
So then how is a man who writes obscure lyrics and performs them with nonchalance a bit like red wine? A friend of Bejar’s once described him as ‘a strange equilibrium,’ and frankly that’s perfect. “He is a respected songwriter-lyricist but also an enigmatic rock star at the same time. He pushes people away and pulls them in with equal force.”
I bet that most of you aren’t reading this for one of three reasons:
1 – you have heard like 2 minutes of Destoyer and decided: this was the worst thing I’ve ever had to listen to in my life. Why would I read about Sam talking about something I hate.
2 – you have never heard of Destroyer and you’re just waiting for me to get into artists and songs you are familiar with.
3 – you love destroyer and don’t need me to explain it to you.
My wife is probably in the first camp, but substitute “2 minutes” with “countless hours.” I like to believe that Danny B will eventually break everyone down with his wit and wisdom but somtimes, people just can’t get over the hump.
And that’s what I mean about red wine. People are quick to tell me they don’t like red wine. And I am quick to say, do you mean Malbecs, because I think a lot of people hate Malbecs. When you tell me you don’t like red wine, what I think that really means is: I don’t like the types of red wine I’ve tried, so far.
And it’s the so far part of the answer that I can latch on to. There are so many varieties of red wine, and so many things to love about Desttyoer. It’s hard for me to imagine a world where you won’t enjoy him, if I don’t get you the right bit of him to embrace. But one place I can almost assure you we wouldnt start your journey?
Bay of Pigs (Detail).
Why wouldn’t I start here? Well one time when I was on a trip through Spain and Portugal with my friend Matt when we stopped into a bar in Porto. This was a cool divey place where the bartender offered us some Super Bock and the AUX cord.
There was no one else in there. It was our set to DJ. After showing enough competency with the cord and our choices, I decided to get a bit weird with it and put this on. Sure, Bay of Pigs (Detail) is a 11 minute song, so mileage may vary and "Spanish dive bar with an open aux cord" is not the right mile, but I was just trying to spread the gospel. It didn't work. The guy took the cord back long before Bejar sings "I took a walk and threw up in an English garden" and put on something shitty and to his own tastes but the first few minutes were invigorating.
I'll tell my kids about it.
Matt recently told me that the bar closed. I can’t help but think it’s because they stopped us from listening to all of Bejar that night. A real sliding doors moment for that place. Think about that next time you turn Destroyer off prematurely.
Song
Runaway
Artist
Kanye West
Released
2010
Lyric
I-I-I-I did it
Alright, alright, I admit it
Now pick your next move
You can leave or live wit' it
One Word
Candid
More Than One Word
I basically put a personal embargo on listing any Kanye West songs as long as possibly could. Part of me is willing to admit that I am holding out that one day, he will announce it was all a joke! Everything that he’s done since about 2017 I am pretty far out on. I am writing this on February 14, 2024. ChatGPT (which I use to basically fact-check my intuition) informs me that The Life of Pablo came out February 14, 2017. Seven years.
I don’t think there’s anything he’s done in those seven years that I’ve spent any time consuming.
He lives in the headline realm for me now.
A story about his partner/muse/girlfriend/wife (I am not googling who she is or what her name or title is) walking around Italy in some absurd outfit as he walks in front of her in an equally absurd outfit. A post about his appearance or non-appearance at the Super Bowl and Taylor Swift’s role in whatever it was. Someone saying that his new album crossed 1 billion streams faster than any of his previous albums. Something about Adidas. Something about Kim. Something about copyright infringement. He’s a real “it’s always something” guy.
But my God, can we remember when the something was: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy?
What an album, right? I’ll give up the goose right now and tell you that — mostly because of current climates and the aforementioned fall from grace — I am limiting my Kanye consumption and his involvement in this activity.
So this song is the ONLY song from MBDTF in the top 100. Before we get into why I like it, let’s pay homage to other bangers on the album. Monster? Power? All of the Lights? Lost in the World? The album is the definitive no skips. If you are ever in need of a podcast journey I cannot recommend the 16-episode Dissect podcast where they break down the instrumentation and lyrics and meaning behind the entire album. When you tune in, let me know what you think. It’s where I learned about the Sword of Damacles, and I think about that thing at least once a month now.
And now, Runaway!
One afternoon in Qatar, I got invited to a house party at a villa. We were pre-gaming before heading over to a big Natasha Beddingfield concert (at a golf tournament). One thing led to another and somehow I ended up putting on the Runaway long-form video on the big screen. We were all late to the concert.
I get why you’d think: why weren’t you listening to Pocket Full of Sunshine and frankly, it’s because we had already banged this song out so many times that we needed something else to cleanse the pallet.
The whole 36 minute mini-movie that this song features in is worth watching, but in the absence of that, feel free to just start with Kanye striking the E major repeatedly. The irony of this song is pretty telling when you consider the chorus:
Let's have a toast for the douche bags/Let's have a toast for the assholes/Let's have a toast for the scumbags/Every one of them that I know/Let's have a toast for the jerk offs/That'll never take work off/Baby, I got a plan/Run away fast as you can
Kanye’s been telling us the solution for over a decade now!
Maybe the best thing anyone can do when it comes to Kanye is to simply runaway.
He sucks. This song does not.
Song
Dance Yrself Clean
Artist
LCD Soundsystem
Released
2010
Lyric
Every night's a different story
It's a thirty car pile-up with you
Everybody's getting younger
It's the end of an era, it's true
One Word
Effervescent
More Than One Word
My friend Charlie likes every second of this song, except for a drum fill during the outro. The song is 9 minutes long, and at the 8-minute mark, for reasons I do not understand, and neither does Charlie, they just have a very interesting, occurring absolutely once drum fill that once you hear, you sort of always will wonder, "huh, they did that on purpose. I wonder why." Listening to this song with that in mind is kind of like playing "The Game." If you don't know about "The Game," now you do. And if you do know about "The Game," you just lost. You're welcome, and I'm sorry.
(In brief, "The Game" is a social experiment where the objective is to avoid thinking about "The Game." Once someone becomes aware of "The Game," they are considered to be playing it. The goal is to distract oneself from thoughts of "The Game" for as long as possible. However, whenever someone thinks about "The Game," they lose, and typically, they must announce their loss to others, thereby causing them to think about it as well. The cycle then continues as participants strive to avoid thinking about it again. It's mostly terrible but sort of fun. A microcosm of life, non?)
So the drum fills. This song will come on. You'll be pumped. "Oh, man! I love this song!" But after a few minutes, you'll start thinking about the drum fill and be like, when is it coming? It both heightens one's focus during the song while simultaneously ruining pure enjoyment of it. Charlie, I never knew about the drum fill until one day you told me about it, but now I do, and I think about it every time I listen to the song. That includes thinking about it in the shower. Ipso Facto, I occasionally think about Charlie in the shower.
This is the perfect song to listen to in the shower. Set the temperature for the first few minutes, get comfortable, and just vibe. Then it breaks into an absolute jam you can't help but dance around to and during. Soaping, lathering, bopping, rinsing. You literally dance yourself clean. At least, that's how I've always considered it. It's arguably too cool of a song to drive to because you want to play all the different drum bits, which can be dangerous. It's called Dance Yrself Clean, not Drive Yrself Clean, ya know?
James Murphy tells a story in the lyrics that seem to be talking about expectations, social situations, relationships, and the 'dance' we do in those circumstances to fit in, but ultimately, this song is euphoric in its release and the way it makes me just want to dance. And then there is the aforementioned absolutely unnecessary drum fill at the 8-minute mark that sticks with you to the point you're like, gosh, that song was awesome; If I listen to it again, will the drum fill go away?
It will not. It's there, even in live shows.
Song
An Ocean in Between the Waves
Artist
War on Drugs
Released
2014
Lyric
It never gets too dark to find
Anybody at any time
I'm at the darkened hillside
And there's a haze right between the trees
And I can barely see you
You're like an ocean in between the waves
One Word
Driving
More Than One Word
I spend not an insignificant amount of time thinking about Search Engine Optimization. I also ponder what I would name my band if I had any musical talent other than the ability to find the off-beat, which my second-grade teacher found very impressive. That said, I wonder if it makes Ronald Reagan a bit sad, in his grave, that he’s lost the SEO battle when it comes to the War on Drugs. I ran this test on three different browsers and in incognito mode just to ensure I wasn’t being served up targeted information based on listening to this song a lot lately in preparation to write about it.
When you Google The War on Drugs, the first entry is the band’s official website, the second hit is the band’s Wikipedia entry, and the third is Reagan’s failed War on Drugs. According to that Wikipedia entry, the War on Drugs is still ongoing.
This seems like an oversight more than an intentional action by the US Government.
I feel like every once in a while, you’ll read a story about someone living deep in the jungles of Cambodia or Vietnam who is discovered, and they explain that they’ve been fighting the imperialists for the last 50 years despite no conflict going on for about the same period. Who’s still out here fighting the war on drugs?
Sort of a “results are in, amigo, what’s left to ponder” situation, isn’t it?
I’d like to imagine the way that the boys from Franz Ferdinand low-key set out to fuck up Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s SEO, the guys from The War on Drugs had a master plan to do the same to the Reagan. If you’re not familiar with TWoD and are still reading, this is one of the coolest bands.
If Dance Yrself Clean was the perfect showering song, this is the perfect driving song. There is a pulsing rhythm that doesn’t quit for the entire song, plus a gnarly guitar solo. I’ll accept a counterpoint to this band that says they’re sort of boring!
Personally, I think this word is wrong. I think there’s something identifiable about their music, but people who say “identifiable” use it as a pejorative. “Sounds like Bruce Springsteen or something.” I guess that’s what I mean when I say they’re one of the coolest bands. We simply don’t really make bands like this anymore. Maybe we’ve lost the ability to appreciate large ensemble bands with great instruments anymore. Why enjoy one The War on Drugs song when you can listen to six 10,000 Gecs. or King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard songs in the same period?
And my answer is because one is good, and the others are short. This song is not short, but that’s because you should take time to savor it.
Song
Pyramids
Artist
Frank Ocean
Released
2012
Lyric
The jewel of Africa, jewel
What good is a jewel that ain't still precious?
One Word
Duality
More Than One Word
I climbed the Pyramids one time. The thing you may miss just from looking at the pyramids is that they're big-ass steps. The Egyptian government doesn't really love you climbing the Pyramids, and maybe they've tightened up the protocols in the fifteen years since I was there. But in 2008, it was a veritable anything-goes type of place. We approached the Pyramids on a camel because when you're there, someone will ask if you want to ride a camel, and you're going to say "Sure" because you're 21, and it seems like the right thing to do. There are other ways to get to the Pyramids, such as taxis and maybe even a bus.
It's taken for granted just HOW CLOSE to this megalopolis the Pyramids are, and even from the right angle, they can look like they're in the middle of the desert. But when you check out Google Earth or rent a room at the Marriott Mena House, you can see that Pyramids, in modern times, are more like the entry to the desert instead of "the middle of the desert."
So anyway, you've ridden your camel through the desert and parked that thing somewhere adjacent to the tiny Sphinx, and you walk towards the Giza guy, and it hits you. Wow, those are not pyramids like Mr. Schutt taught you about in high school geometry class; instead, they're just big steps. According to a recent report, a significant undertaking is happening at the pyramids as they try to "restore" some of the granite block exterior to the pyramids, which I guess will make it less step-like and, potentially, less… historically accurate-like? When asked for comment, UNESCO said they were unaware of the undertaking.
I am not saying that UNESCO is the end-all for Wonders of the World renovation. The Egyptians should have some agency in deciding what they want to do to their history. Still, I guess I come down a little more sympathetic to the historians and archeologists who say THIS IS A BAD IDEA and call this "completely unscientific."
So I guess they're taking some of the blocks that have "fallen" (maybe because people can climb the pyramids and have been doing so since 4500 years ago) and trying to lift them back onto the Pyramid. Just about no one thinks this is a good idea.
I wonder, though, what Frank Ocean would think about it. Or John Mayer, who comes in at like the 8-minute mark of the music video for Frank Ocean's song "Pyramids" to play a ripping guitar solo. The song tells two stories, one of a modern-day stripper who works at a club called the Pyramid and one of a historical Cleopatra, who, much like in the bally-hoo’d Netflix show is Black. he Frank Ocean verse is not about the controversy. Still, the song juxtaposes these two narratives to explore themes of power, desire, and the passage of time. It's a complex and multi-layered song that offers social commentary while weaving together history, mythology, and modern cultural elements. And again, it's about Cleopatra, a stripper, and features a John Mayer guitar solo. Mayer catches a lot of strays in culture and is not going to end up in the top 100, so let me just quickly say that I don't know what he did to Taylor Swift, but I wonder if she has ever heard his guitar work on Frank Ocean's song Pyramids.
Song
You Make Me Wanna
Artist
Usher
Released
1997
Lyric
Now, what's bad is you're the one that hooked us up
Knowin' it should've been you
And what's sad is that I love her, but I'm fallin' for you
What should I do?
One Word
Indeciscive
More Than One Word
I honestly don’t know if I have more words to write about Usher at this point. I don’t want anyone to think I am giving him short shrift. So I will quickly give you my Usher Mt. Rushmore
Nice and Slow
This one is perfect if you need to put a baby down for a nap. Babies love this song. Weird thing to sing to a baby, sure. But I can’t argue with the results.
My Way
Iconic. I do what I do, my way. WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Confessions II
My chick on the side had one on the way! Oh man.
You Make Me Wanna
I'll admit that Usher not naming this "U Make Me Wanna" is sort of criminal. But for me, as a ten-year-old… it was unimpeachable. As you can see, Usher played a more significant role in forming my musical identity than I was ready to admit. Who woulda thought Seth Cohen and Usher would each get 2,000-word entries almost unto themselves? So why, rather than those others, this song, and before even mentioning Climax, Yeah! Or Love in the Club?
Does anyone remember the Chris O'Donnell film "The Bachelor"? Most of the plot eludes me, but I know he was very nervous about asking his girlfriend to marry him. And then, and I am not looking this up, she must've said no? This sends him, somehow, into a world where thousands of women are throwing themselves at him in an attempt to be the one he marries instead?
Anyway, thinking back on my proposal experience, it boggles the mind that Chris O'Donnell, or anyone for that matter, proposes and doesn't know the answer going into it. Like, okay, sure, we can be talking SURPRISED, but saying No? Unbelievable.
So, how does this relate to Usher? Well, I think that young me was a drama fan, and this song plays to that. Loving two women equally. HOW WILL YOU EVER MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION? This song, for me, represents that nativity in love and relationships. I am a sucker for a good story, and ultimately, Usher, I think, was guilty of it too, and many of his songs speak to an inability to decide, or a fear of getting involved, or lament for doing something wrong. Usher songs are a lot like quicksand in that I spent a lot of time thinking I'd have to know what to do if I ever crossed paths with quicksand. It was a plot on A Lot of television shows, and now I've been an adult for a minute here and never once came across quicksand. Usher songs are the same.
Love doesn't have to be this hard, Usher. To put a bow on my Usher praise from above and this theory here, Usher, after his Super Bowl halftime appearance, headed over to the Little White Chappel and married his long-time girlfriend. Maybe Usher came to the same conclusion I just did. Find the one you love, set up a convoluted scavenger hunt, leading to clues that, when collected, and the first letter of each clue is read aloud, ask them to marry you, then marry them. End of Story.
Thanks for coming out. Let me know what your Usher Mount Rushmore is until next week.
