Welcome back, music lovers. It’s Wednesday somewhere, yeah? Had to skip last week. Was a bit unexpected, but a lot was going on.
I try to mix it up here, so it’s not to predictable. This week Taylor Swift provided some inspiration. Say what you will, but she has been a force to be reckoned with in pop music for the past decade. You might know that her Instagram endorsement of Democratic candidates in her state of Tennessee made the news, and led to a huge surge in voter registration (65,000 in one day! – and y’all know many of them were young adults). On Tuesday’s AMA ceremony, she also had this to say:
Although this is tune isn’t exactly new, it is one I certainly heard enough times where someone I know used to work.
Haters gonna hate, but I’ll shake it off. In the meantime, there are midterms to think about. Enjoy the tunes, but knock on some doors, make some calls, texts, etc.
Award shows are more Neon Vincent’s beat, so hopefully didn’t tread on too much territory. In the meantime, here is a mashup of Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” with “The Perfect Drug” by Nine Inch Nails.
Glad to have you and the Midweek Cafe and Lounge back. By the time I realized that you weren’t posting last week, it was Friday, so it was no longer the middle of the week, so I decided not to sub for you.
As for you intruding into my territory, don’t worry as the AMAs are not my thing. On the other hand, the 2018 People’s Choice Awards are. Here are the finalists for Music Video of 2018.
My first choice is “This Is America.”
I plan on posting videos by finalists as long as the diary is on the rec list.
By all means post away. Last week was pretty insane – bit unexpectedly so.
My second choice is “No Tears Left To Cry.”
My third choice is “Idol.”
My fourth choice is “Back to You.”
My fifth and last choice is “Never Be the Same.”
One of the most nominated movies at the People’s Choice Awards is Black Panther, so I am going to be a good environmenalist and recycle the Black Panther Shot (Killmonger) from Midweek Cafe and Lounge, Vol. 70.
Nothing wrong with a little recycling.
Here’s a vid of Nora Jones covering an old Soundgarden classic, Black Hole Sun:
A reminder that Chris Cornell and crew were quite adept at crafting songs that could stand the test of time (or have lasting value as my father would put it).
For those of you who contribute content or comments to this series, and those of you who continue to recommend this series, you have my undying gratitude. Often pop culture gets treated as a mere frivolity on political blogs, but what gets overlooked is that the artists themselves – either overtly or covertly – are often making statements about what they experience or how they would like to see the world change. Any pretense of rock or pop having any revolutionary impact ended long ago. As a form of advocacy there is still plenty of relevance. And as we have seen, sometimes artists who have mostly avoided the fray decided to go ahead and say something very direct to their particular audience.