Understanding Blister In The Sun
Vložit
- čas přidán 9. 12. 2021
- Blister In The Sun is one of those songs that doesn't really make sense, not because it's too complicated, but because it almost doesn't feel complicated enough. On the surface it's extremely simple, and that simplicity made it a hard sell to the record label that was supposed to promote it, but it also made it a hit with fans, and the song quickly took off as an underground sensation. It's a delicate balancing act of naivety and raunchy fun, but how do the Violent Femmes pull that off?
Patreon: / 12tonevideos
Merch: standard.tv/12tone
Discord: / discord
Mailing List: eepurl.com/bCTDaj
Facebook: / 12tonevideos
Twitter: / 12tonevideos
Twitch: / 12tonevideos
Instagram: / 12tonevideos
Email: 12tonevideos@gmail.com
Last: • This Scale Is Impossib...
Script: tinyurl.com/2ahzj5vr
Huge thanks to our Elephant of the Month Club members:
Susan Jones
Jill Jones
Duck
Howard Levine
Brian Etheredge
Khristofor Saraga
Len Lanphar
Ken Arnold
Elaine Pratt
William (Bill) Boston
Chris Prentice
Jack Carlson
Christopher Lucas
Andrew Beals
Dov Zazkis
Hendrik P
Thomas Morley
Jacob Helwig
Davis Sprague
Alex Knauth
Braum Meakes
Warren Huart
Hendrik Stüwe
Dan Bonelli
Kevin Boyce
Kevin Wilamowski
Grant Aldonas
Kelly Christoffersen
Scott Howarth
Luke
Donal Botkin
Stephen Cook
Symmetry
Dhruv Monga
Ken Jones
David Bartz
Obadiah Wright
Kobalent
Jason Nebergall
Carlos Rendon
Aleksandar Milojković
Kylie McInnes
Jody
Daniel Reaman
Tom
PhilRosas
Reiji Kobayashi
And thanks as well to Henry Reich, Gabi Ghita, Gene Lushtak, Owen Campbell-Moore, Eugene Bulkin, Logan Jones, Oliver, Anna Work, Adam Neely, Rick Lees, Dave Mayer, CodenaCrow, Nikolay Semyonov, Arnas, Caroline Simpson, Michael Alan Dorman, Michael McCormick, Blake Boyd, Luke Rihn, Charles Gaskell, Ian Seymour, Trevor Sullivan, Tom Evans, Elliot Jay O'Neill, Lamadesbois, JH, David Conrad, Chris Chapin, Chris Borland, Elliot Burke, Tim S., Elias Simon, Todd Davidson, Jake Lizzio, Jerry D. Brown, Ohad Lutzky, Peter Leventis, James A. Thornton, Aaron Epstein, Blake White, Chris Connett, Brian Dinger, Kenneth Kousen, James, h2g2guy, W. Dennis Sorrell, Stefan Strohmaier, Shadow Kat, Adam Wurstmann, Kelsey Freese, Professor Elliot, Angela Flierman, Richard T. Anderson, Kevin Johnson, Ryan, Rodrigo "rrc2soft" Roman, Jeremy Zolner, Patrick Callier, Danny, Francois LaPlante, Volker Wegert, Joshua Gleitze, Britt Ratliff, Darzzr, Joshua La Macchia, Andrew Engel, Alexey Fedotov, Alex Keeny, Valentin Lupachev, John Bejarano, Peter Brinkmann, Gary Butterfield, Steve Brand, Rene Miklas, Red Uncle, naomio, Alex Mole, Doug Nottingham, Nicholas Wolf, Kaisai Morihito, Robert Beach, ZagOnEm, Betsy, Tonya Custis, Dave Shapiro, Jacopo Cascioli, CoryC, Rafael Martinez Salas, Walther, Mathew Wolak, Doug Lantz, S, Lincoln Mendell, Graeme Lewis, Jake Sand, Sam Rezek, Destros, Lucas Augusto, Evan Satinsky, James Little, RaptorCat, Aditya Baradwaj, Yuval Filmus, Jigglypuffer, leftaroundabout ., Jens Schäfer, Mikely Whiplash, Austin Amberg, Juan Madrigal, Francisco Rodrigues, Elizabeth, Jim Hayes, Michael Tsuk, Scott Albertine, ThoraSTooth, Brandon Legawiec, Evgeni Kunev, Hikaru Katayamma, רועי סיני, Conor Stuart Roe, Alon Kellner, Rob Hardy, Dragix PL, Patrick Chieppe, Eric Stark, David Haughn, Gordon Dell, Byron DeLaBarre, Matty Crocker, anemamata, Brian Miller, Lee-orr Orbach, Eric Plume, Kevin Pierce, Jon Hancock, Gary Evesson, Kottolett, Dylan Vidas, Jason Peterson, Peggy Youell, Carlos Silva, EJ Hambleton, Jos Mulder, Daryl Banttari, J.T. Vandenbree, John Castle, David Taylor, Lyan Porto, Brian Davis, Eric Daugherty, Pamela O'Neill, Wayne Robinson, Gabriel Totusek, SecretKittehs, Mnemosyne Music, AkselA, Philip Miller, Thomas Morgan, Ludwick Kennedy, Sam Plotkin, David MacDonald, Nellie Speirs Baron, Charles R., Joshua Lewis, Ridley Kemp, Mark James, The Gig Farmer, Sam, DialMForManning, Wayne Weil, Michael Wehling, Brandon Peckham, Adam Ziegenhals, Mark Meckes, Amelia Lewis, sonicolasj, James, David T Peterson, PatSandmann, Kristofer Hill, William Merryman, Ryan Mayle, J Denton, Bean, A Devoted Servant, Milan Brezovsky, Edmund Horner, Daria Gibbons, NinoDoko, XCompWiz, Michael Blaby, Justin St John-Brooks, Mark Lacey, Jaren Tilford, Catherine Berry, Watch Harder, Will Derr, M. Bock, Daniel Joseph Moynihan, Niles Loughlin, Josh Witkowski, Clever Patreon, Graham Orndorff, Michael Sacksteder, Fernando Felix, Joseph Satin, Piush Dahal, Matthew Moore, Walt Seefeld, Jason McPherson, Chris Robson, A.J. Yates, Matt Moulder, Leander Tietjen, Alex Tafur, Chris Davis, William, findRED, Howl’s one-handed, Gary Backaus, Andrew Wyld, JD White, Eugen Lounkine, Fernando Gros, Jay Dharsandia, Geoffrey Barnett, and OVB_2nd! Your support helps make 12tone even better!
Also, thanks to Jareth Arnold for proofreading the script to make sure this all makes sense hopefully!
Some additional thoughts/corrections:
1) Thanks to Noah from Polyphonic for providing Gordon Gano's voice here! Now I have a clip of him saying lyrics aren't interesting that I can use for out-of-context blackmail whenever I want. I suspect you already follow his work, but if not, you really should: czcams.com/users/Polyphonic
2) I should note that, while Gano denies that he intentionally wrote the song about masturbation, the interviews I've seen imply that he's fine with the interpretation. He seems to think it's funny, which makes me more inclined to believe him.
3) Technically the C in the intro riff is a reaching tone, not an upper neighbor, since he drops down to a G before going to it, but I feel the line more as going B-C-B with an interpolated root, so despite the precise melodic shape it has more of a neighbor tone quality to my ears.
4) On the question of why the intro/vocal melody isn't the same as the main riff, another possible reason is that, as I mentioned, simplicity is important, so while the line is in the spotlight, it wants to be simplified. And that probably _is_ why the simplest version is the vocal melody, but it doesn't really explain why the other two parts exist, so even then I'd argue the desynchronization is still a relevant component. (I'm also not sure that using the bass version would actually sound all that much less simple, but your mileage may vary.)
5) Since I specifically talked about the transcription of the bass line, I should note that, for the most part, the bass and guitar in this video are not the original parts. As far as I could find those isolated recordings don't exist, and while I was able to digitally isolate the vocals and drums, the guitar and bass parts I extracted sounded too weak, so I used professional recreations instead. In fact, those recreations had some parts that were wrong, so for the most part, what you're actually hearing is me taking the tones of those recreations and manipulating them in Melodyne to make them play the right notes. While I'm pretty confident in my transcriptions, what you're hearing is a reflection of those transcriptions, not the original recordings being transcribed. Just thought that was worth being transparent about.
6) On that note, pretty much every guitar tutorial I found for this song has you play a C in bar 3, but, like, the B sounds extremely obvious to me? Especially in the first two full-band statements before the vocals come in, I hear it pretty clearly. Dunno, maybe I secretly suck at transcription but I'm pretty sure I'm right on this one. I don't have a great explanation for why so many tutorials missed this relatively obvious note, though, beyond that they may have just assumed it was a harmonized version of the intro riff and didn't bother double-checking. (Which, considering most of them also have the initial intro riff as a guitar part despite live performance videos clearly showing Ritchie playing that line, doesn't feel like a wildly unreasonable assumption.)
7) On the vocal melody, I mistranscribed it a bit: At first it sounded to me like he was ending it with a C-B-G like the intro, but while I was editing the video I realized he was actually singing a Bb there, which is really cool and I'm sad I missed it. The overall contour is the same so the analysis still roughly holds, but there's an extra… I guess bluesy element to it? I don't know, that's my default association for minor 3rds in major keys but here it doesn't feel super bluesy to me. More just out of tune, but I try to be really careful throwing that label around 'cause it sounds judgey and applies analytical frameworks to the music that may not be stylistically appropriate. Still, the vibe I'm getting is that this is _supposed_ to be a B and he just didn't want to sound like he cared if it actually was.
8) That said, in the second verse, it sounds like Gano's vocals start to line up more with Ritchie's bass part, and I think his guitar does the same at times. That seems like the closest thing we have to a "correct" main riff, but again, the guitar and vocals are more than willing to stray from that pattern when Gano feels like it.
9) On the bit where they're ad-libbing fills, I talked about how they're responding to each other, but one thing I wish I'd highlighted on that front is how Ritchie's first fill mimics the rhythm of DeLorenzo's: They both start on the and of 1, and they're both consistent 8th notes. Ritchie adds one extra at the end, but its clear that his part is informed by what he just heard. (Or at least it's clear that it's supposed to sound that way. I have no idea what was written when, or whether these lines were genuinely ad-libbed.)
Would like to comment on why so many guitar tutorials got the same thing wrong (as someone who's undergrad thesis involved transcribing 19 My Chemical Romance songs): many of these tutorials (especially the tabs on somewhere like Ultimate Guitar) tend to... Shall we say, "reference" each other for their notes. One will get it wrong and the mistake tends to propagate outward until the incorrect version is the only one you can find.
No mention of how the Femmes were, first and foremost, a busking group? Seems like a missed opportunity to expand on the need to be immediately catchy, while maintaining your own interest (through ad libs and jamouts) over hours of playing to an indifferent audience.
Anyway, really dug the deep dive. And it's totally about wanking.
Responding to 4). If you start with a "simple" version of the riff, that gives space to improv, play with, and build on it, no?
This analysis shows that sometimes rock songs that seem extremely simple are actually quite complicated, in their own speci way.
...AND WE WILL DEFINITELY BE SPENDING A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT MASTURBATION!!!
dude, I had to look it up so I could get it verbatim lol
Been learning much from your channel for a few years now, and this is definitely one of my favorite tunes.
(p.s., Have you ever considered a Misfits tune? An analysis of "Hybrid Moments" or "London Dungeon" would be soooo cool, but tbh you could analyze their entire catalogue in under 20 minutes lol)
✌❤🤘
I still can't believe this album came out in 1982. It always sounded so 90s to me
I agree, but what'll blow your mind further is that when I first heard it in the 80s it sounded to me like it was something I'd missed from the late 60s. Some avant-garde project contemporary with The Velvet Underground or early Bowie.
it’s really a timeless classic
@@PuffyCloud_aka_puffeclaude while it wouldn't sound the same if they did it, I feel like if the Sonics had come up with this song it would have fit perfectly with their style.
Hell I thought it came out this decade!!! 😂
I was 100% sure this was an early to mid 90’s song.
I never in my life expected to be listening to a music theory breakdown of this particular tune. Love it.
Somehow I seriously doubt that they thought of all of this this when making the song. I think they just started playing some riffs together and made it work.
I know exactly how you feel. In the past, music theory seemed impossibly hard. Now, it’s just really hard lol. It has always been a big hobby, music and aspects of music, obscure genres I never heard of…..the knowledge seems endless which is really cool.
Right? Such a random small piece of good music
Same.
I never expected a need for a breakdown of this particular tune.
Who else was physiologically obligated to clap rhythmically whenever the opening riff ended?
As a bassist, one of my favorite things to do is to play that riff, just to see who has the Pavlovian response to do the handclaps. 😆
I'm always to busy doing a mosh pit version of The Charleston, but I definitely play it on my air drums while I'm mid swing...
Guilty af. I slapped my thigh tho.
Well as for myself I used to air drum that tik tik
I've heard it as a ringtone in a train and had to put my baggage down.
The call and response in this song is so powerful that is actually hurt to have you play the opening riff without it so many times
Omg, finally getting that snare at 4:32 was like finally letting slip on a sneeze that's been building entirely too long.
I READ THIS COMMENT AT EXACTLY THE MOMENT IT HAPPENED IN MY ORGANIC VIEWING OF THE VIDEO 😂😂😂😂
When I was in college, there was some coverband that was playing outside for something and I stopped for a bit to listen. I cannot remember what else they played, but the one thing I realized was that neither the music, nor the band was working right together. If I didn't know better, I would have thought they were purposely dressing like different genres, but their scowls when a song that didn't fit with their clothes were played, made me think this was a band made of people who had left other bands. The lead guitarist was full hair metal, bright red V guitar and everything, the lead singer/rhythm was clearly serious alt-rock artist type, the bassist a jam band hippie, and the drummer clearly let's-have-fun-pop-punk. (Pink mohawk, pink boxers, an a smile.) IT was awful until broke into "Bister in the Sun" at which point, all four seemed to be having fun and their playing was completely tight. It didn't last past the song.
Huh.
@@CMZIEBARTH this song is a culture/genre bridge is what I think he’s saying
7:40 I have another theory, which is basically that when you hear the riff in the intro, that's what forms your impression of what the riff *is*. And then every time after that feels like an embellishment, like the riff is "more complicated than you thought it was", but because of the chaos all of that stuff never actually resets the baseline. You just get that feeling of "oh, this song is cool, it's doing stuff".
Or like the riff was played through the telephone game.
That how I read it as well. It’s sort of has a “ hey look at this cool riff” “ thats nothing, watch this” kind of feel.
The whole thing sets up a nice contrast between "What a happy silly fun song!" and "Damn, that bass player back there is a beast! Just how silly is this, anyway?"
I understand the simple origin replicated with embellishments. Half of music appreciation is guessing at what's next/ and being pleasantly surprised.
@@smalleranimals the whole band is great ! Brian is a monster no doubt, but Victor was great..he was like Ringo..totally tastteful and musical..and Gordon was great too. he isn't playing scale based pentatonic boring lead guitar solos, but he is a great and BETTER guitarist than that predictable garbage..he plays the bviloin too...GG is a "real musician"
My wife's band used to play this live. One time, when the band got quiet they went all the way to a stop. The band acted like they were moving on. They all came back in after too long of a break. The crowd went through the roof!
Wtf are you trying to say...
@@jhvibes3471 I think they were playing this song, then stopped, acting like they were going to a new song. But when they continued, the crowd got excited.
My band used to do that, too. Just stop for about 5-10 seconds before the final chorus. It always worked well. Not sure why.
They pulled a FUGAZI!
@@ordinalkirk Because the last chorus is the strongest and you're building anticipation.
I'm a music teacher, and I can never get across how important dynamics are. A good musician knows what to play, a great musician knows when to shut the hell up. Let the emotion fill the room. That said, keep playing, everyone.
this is why the grateful dead, and jerry garcia in particular are great..they UNDERPLAY if anything. Or as MILES DAVIS said, Jerry was great because of the notes he DIDN'T PLAY...VF are GREAT musicians. and people dismiss them OR think all they are in "punk", which is a total misunderstanding of how deceptively simple even a few chord song like this is to write and play successfully. And Gordon was 18 or something. He's brilliant
I'm a friend of Brian's, I'm going to show him this video! Great analysis as always 12T.
@Jedimaster420 Nah he simply said: "Gord wrote it not me, who knows what it's about?"
In regards to the video he said: "He got many details about the bass part wrong but it's still funny and cute."
I didn't push him to tell me what was incorrect.
@@colinreynolds01 Ah, man. I'd love to know. I'm not a musician myself, so 🤷
@superduperstarwars Gordon wrote it, as the son of a preacher, in high school. You really think he was writing it about heroin? No. Hell no. I'd wager that it might have been about nocturnal emissions, like and he didn't even understand them at the time, perhaps because of his upbringing.
@@colinreynolds01 Yeah people don't realize that Brian used to post on the talkbass forums about 10-15 years ago, and was pretty responsive to people on there. Always a congenial guy whenever I met him or chatted with him on there. I full believe that you know him.
@@eboethrasher Indeed! that doesn't surprise me, he was always very community-minded. I just happened to work under him at a museum he's a curator at for about 4 years.
Was anyone else shocked to hear how ahead of their time The Violent Femmes were when they first heard them?
Nope, because I first heard them in the early 80's. And they seemed right on time then. Spot on, in fact. I think people just forgot about the early 80's until the early 2000's.
@@NorthernKitty I regularly see people talk about how they were ahead of their time. You must have just been way hipper than everyone else.
@Aster Risk well yeah, true hipster. what did you think the cats pajamas meant?
@@Aster_Risk I heard them in 87 and they felt just right because of the other stuff I was listening to.
They were absolutely of their time. You are behind the times, and have been since 1982 at least.
I've never thought about John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt in relation to this song before, but that's exactly what it feels like, like you're leaning in waiting for the group to suddenly shout so you can all laugh together. I love that connection. And I love this song. This was a great video! :)
indeed, it never occurred to me before, but the moment he mentioned it, it clicked in my head
I feel like another obvious connection here is Otis Day singing Shout - a similar 'how quiet can we get' moment
I still can't believe this was written and recorded in the 80s, it sounds tailor made for the 90s. This is why OG punk music is so great. 💜
I graduated in '86 and this song was very popular with the mods and new wavers. My ex-wife (gf in high school) was one of those mods - technically she was a goth, but there was some crossover back then. She introduced me to Violent Femmes and other related music. I was a black concert t-shirt, jeans, and vans wearing rocker before that and I wouldn't have been caught dead listening to that music (at the time - teenagers are funny like that), but she opened my eyes and I actually became a better musician because of it.
I remember jumping up and down in joy when I was dancing to this at GS Vigs in Madison in 1984. What a great show!
This is crazy! I'm a huge fan of the Violent Femmes, they were a little before my time (I'm 19) but I can honestly feel their influence everywhere. With how popular folk-punk is becoming these days I'm honestly surprised people don't talk about them as much. I swear they're a direct inspiration to people like Harley Poe
(P.S. that was a cheeky little dimir symbol at 14:56, it's nice to meet a fellow UB enjoyer)
I'm glad i'm not the only one who noticed the Dimir symbol, i wasn't expecting that from this channel and it put a big smile on my face
A little? A LITTLE? lol, oh man... It's more years older than you, than you've been alive, and now I feel old, because I'm just one year younger than it!
the vocals really do sound a lot like harley poe
@@LaineyBug2020 there's always someone older. I'm several years older than the song. Nothing wrong with young fans. I just saw the femmes a few months ago and brought my teenage kids. There were all ages there. Love that band.
@@waitsbian you mean harley Poe sounds like them but yes very similar.
My freshman year of college, there were three albums that everyone in the dorm had: the Cure compilation “Standing on a Beach”, the Squeeze compilation “45s and Under”, and this one.
Which one? Self titled? Or Add It Up?
@@agitatorjr self-titled
I always thought it was about Drug addiction, in how addicts despite dying from their use i.e. "blistering in the sun" they keep going and keep using and even actively push away and fight those who try and help them "let me go on" and "my girlfriend she's at the end and shes starting to cry." I always saw the "I stained my sheets" as part of this too as Heroin addicts will often piss themselves while high. My brother was a Heroin addict for a long time and he always said that, for him it perfectly described his battle.
But I honestly think that's a testament to my own bias. Drugs ruined my childhood and took not only my brother but my father from me, and alcohol took my mom. I watched them slowly die growing up not knowing what was going on. Because of that I often have a sensitivity to drug addiction as I also see "Hotel California" being about Drug addiction with lines like "you can check out anytime you like, but you can't ever leave" to me is about how once you've become an addict you're never not an addict again, and you have to deal with it for the rest of your life.
thanks for sharing 💙 sending love to you from texas
I graduated with a BA in Vocal Performance and to this day when people ask me what my favorite song is, I say this song. It's usually really surprising to people, but it fills me with joy like no other song can! I was so happy to come across this analysis 😊
Hey! Music is wonderful. I'm blessed to be able to start sharing with my oldest kid. We've just begun playing keyboard together, and he's only 4 but he's got the knack for sure. Just thought I'd share lol. Thanks for the videos!
I love this song and it's Track #1 on one of my favorite movie soundtracks of all time, which also happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time, and one of the best integrations of soundtrack and movie ever - *_Grosse Pointe Blank_* (that'll happen when you put Joe Strummer in charge of the music)
That's one of my favourites too, I loved the soundtrack. It was perfect.
Brian Ritchie is such an underrated bassist.
People who know, know.
I think the intent was there, and the lyrics are about something, even if Gano himself didn't realize it. Anyone who's be been a reject, or had drug problems, the song expresses youthful angst. Even if he just strung together different instances from his life, they all made up a part of the way he felt, and the instrumentation is also teenage in its simplicity.
Well that's kind of what he means. As far as the author's intent went, there's no deeper meaning to it. However, if you found some deeper meaning to it, all the more power to ya.
Spotify suggested me this song, I didn't knew, early this year and I love it. Also "American Music" and now they are on my daily list most of the times. Discovering a band like this in 2021 feels weird but cool at the same time.
I like American music too.
@@falconater68 but i like american music best
Go all in on the whole album!!! It's amazing
Came for the theory, stayed for the delivery!
I find the technical theory (although way, WAY over my head) exceedingly interesting, expert, and as informative as it can be to a self-confessed noob. But there are a lot of content creators out there who fit that bill and never lead me to like, comment, or subscribe based on their technical prowess alone. In this case, I did all three after seeing this one video because your delivery is at once unique, funny, relevant, self-deprecating, and actually related to the subject at hand (vs. the usual gratuitous joke out of nowhere). Hell, you may even squeeze a Patreon membership out of this accountant, making you a literal necromancer. Looking forward to binging on this channel.
P.S.: I knew my son (who, unlike his father, is a real musician) would be interested in this channel. Turns out he already knew about it and agreed it was great, but never turned me on to it. Which really pissed me the f*ck off.
lol
This is one of your best videos yet, Cory. As you say, it almost defies serious analysis, but you analysed it just the right way. I have a friend who's an architect, and every architect can tell you something fascinating about a big cathedral or an iconic skyscraper, but it's architects like my friend, who can keep you engaged when talking about even the most basic copy-pasted social housing unit, that are the most interesting to listen to. Violent Femmes made a fun treehouse of a song, probably not thinking about it all that much, and you just explained to us why it works so damn well. I absolutely love it.
treehouse of a song ♡_♡
I love playing this on harmonica. I don't get the same splitting melody thing, but the syncopation works great. Double stops get some of that dirty, messy feel.
You should put up a cover!
@@lindboknifeandtool I second that
Great song and hilarious (over) analysis. One thing: I’d have gone with “Shout” as an example of a quiet/loud song. Never pass up an opportunity for an Otis Day reference. Or an Isley Brothers one. Talk about a great call and response song!
To me, 14:48 seems like an allusion to the Isley Brothers' song "Shout" when they sing "a little bit softer now."
My first thought too.
The hand drawing is brilliant. Adds so much.
This is an excellent analysis of the song, and you're 100% right about it being entirely about the child-like energy. That's what most of alternative music was about back in the day. Look at much of Nirvana's songs(especially the stuff from Bleach). They were super simple overall but catchy AF.
A terrific clip, thanks 12Tone.
This is the first clip about some musos I know in person and I loved hearing about one of my favourite live acts, especially Richie who always starts laughing when I dance off beats from the side.
Raucous and tight played with joy.
Great choice.
😎
jesus ... what a flashback. thanks man. had the pleasure to see them live. loved every moment of it. loved the analysis and the doodling. thank you!
I didn't hear it until Fall semester freshman year of college [1988] when Jen on 3rd floor was gushing about the VF, Erasure, and The Buzzcocks, totally different from the G-n-R and Poison and Motley Crue that I was listening to. Jen was from Chicago and she was only at my college for freshman year. I think about her every time I hear this tune.
Was doing laundry and looked down to see Jak from Jak and Daxter, my absolute favorite game series ever! That was such a nice treat. Love the videos!
This was fantastic. Legendary song in my view and I love how you explain all notes and what makes the song stand out..
14:50 “quieter” image refers to a video game called Cross Code it’s a very fun role RPG with a unique battling style and I’d encourage you check it out
lol, um no..this song is over forty years old !!!!!
Fun video! You did it Justice. One of the anthems of my youth. You missed the part about how the beets stain his sheets though. Not everyone realizes that. 🤪😂🙌🏼
Isn't this the first thing they talk about after the intro though? Or are you referring to some other thing I also missed?
@@IronFairy I also wonder. Hey aimee!
I think it's "body and beats, I stain my sheets" not beets, but who knows. Probably just stream-of-consciousness lyrics.
I always assumed "I stain my sheets" was a bed-wetting joke, like he's such a timid crybaby that he still wets the bed
I always thought it was "Friday at Pete's, I stain my sheets." Damn.
Literally every time you played that starting riff i followed it with the drum part with my hands on my desk. then you got to the communal music part and i felt like i got called out lmao.
I know very little about music making on a technical level, I'm not rythmically inclined, but I spend most of my waking time enjoying music. Hearing song broken down like this (even though I don't follow some of it) gives me an even deeper appreciation for these songs.
Same here. I have zero understanding of music theory but I dig this channel.
I live downstairs from a guy who began to play guitar a few years back. He got pretty good real quick, but then like a lot of intermediate learners he kinda stuck and didn't move forward for a time. You know where I'm going with this...
I have heard this song thousands of times, often hundreds of times a day, for four long years. The guy upstairs doesn't get bored with it and neither do I. It always cheers me up, makes me smile and brightens any dark day. Try it. You can't listen to the opening riff without nodding your head just a little.
I hate 'Another Girl Another Planet' though. Seriously. Hate it.
I find your insights into music appreciation even more compelling than the actual music theory stuff. If you can really separate them...
Great insight into a great party song. You sing along with it when you are drinking, no need to think about the words.
Love that you did a breakdown of this song! Keep up the good work.
So, by sheer happenstance, this video shows up in my feed. Until today, I had no idea what the name of this song was, but I have heard it a bunch of times as it's a mainstay of a local Alaskan ska band called Nervis Rex. Whenever they play it, it brings the house DOWN... as do most of the songs they play, but this one in particular pretty much gets everyone on the dance floor. I'm happy to have found this video ❤
I first heard this song on an episode of 'my so called life'. I thought the song was new. I was born in 82' and I am today years old finding out I'm as old as one of my favorite songs.
I love this! What a great breakdown, and super entertaining
I’ve see live videos of this song where the drummer plays it with brushes on a Weber charcoal grill
Shout out for John Jacob jingleheimer shmit😂 Blister in the sun is such a fun song. It makes me instantly happy each time I hear it.
Excellent video. Loved this song growing up in the 90s. And it wasn't till I was a teen that I realized the song actually came out before that. Still sounds so ahead of it's time. This is a really amazing analysis. Keep up the good work man.
Love your takes!! Danke
I love the end of the video - "It's message is in not having a message. Or maybe not, maybe it's just fun." :D
You always find super cool things everywhere but still humbly acknowledge that it's just your opinion. That's so important to me.
Woooow I used to be obsessed with this one back when I was a child. My mother recorded it on a VHS and I'd play the video over and over again. Nice reminder!
I wish I had this video back when I used to play this with my old band. I got it 98% right but there are so many interesting things I have learned from this. Obviously not just about the notes. Definitely one of my favorites!
I love this song. A few years ago I heard "Blues in the Closet" and was immediately struck by how similar the riff is.
This is the first video I have seen on this channel and I don't know what's more impressive, the fact that he kept me interested in an analysis of this song or the fact he did all that notation and doodling with a sharpie instead of a pencil.
When you said, "the elephant in the room," I thought you were going to address the fact that Bebop Bassist Oscar Pettiford built a time machine and travelled into the future to steal the opening riff before he went back to 1956 and published his song, "Blues In The Closet!" 🤣
"Blues In The Closet" is also known as "Collard Greens and Black Eyed Peas" and can be found on recordings by Bud Powell, among others.
Crazy how those jazz guys time travelled to steal a riff!🤣
Who cares
Wow, that is pretty crazy! Weird science!
There was an era of time when I was teaching guitar and I always included this riff in Lesson One...
Look at you! You're making music! Cool!
Fantastic video! I enjoyed the analysis and learned a lot about song writing also. Liked and subscribed!
6:13 BASED 12TONE i literally screamed laughing bc of that doodle on the “cheap throwaway” line asjansbsjskga
One of the best live shows I’ve been to! Great band
The Hawaiian Punch Guy was hilarious! Loved the break down! Long time music fan, first time watching, definitely a new subscriber!!! Thanks!!
Several people trying to make a "Shout" comparison rather than "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt," but JJJS is the better comparison: "Shout" gets "a little bit louder" slowly over several repetitions of the phrase, not suddenly like "JJJS" is often sung. f>ppp | f in "JJJS" and "Blister."
The work you put in this video deserves a like, I will give this like. I'm not into going this deep into this particular song however, you done a great job.
Fantastic video! Thank you very much!
I am a huge fan of the Femmes. When I karaoke (not really my thing) I sing the Femmes, because, as bad as I sing, I cannot ruin the song. They never meant to be taken seriously. And that is the point. I clicked on this video just because of the subject. Though I am clueless about all of the musical notey things. I still found it quite enlightening, what little I could understand.
Funny story, I almost got in a fight at karaoke. Guy in the audience asked me what I was going to sing and I said "Kiss Off" as I was walking up to the mic. He was giving me nasty looks until he realized I was actually singing the song.
Honestly I always thought it was a “twister” in the sun and that gave it deeper meaning to me because you never see a tornado when the sun is out shining brightly but it was just a guy that’s a complete wreck wrecking everything around him while it’s all beautiful. I don’t know I never knew it was about a blister.
Awesome i like your idea better
My friend had this song as her ringback tone for years, and up til today with watching this i seriously did think it was "twister in the sun" this whole time.
That was always a house party favorite in the 80s. Ps. Saw the Femmes at the Haight Street Fair in '88 FOR FREE! On mushrooms, lol! Good times.
I had literally never heard about this song until tonight, 3 hours after New Year's Eve.
Dude, in the beginning, every time you stop, my head still goes 'Ch ch, Ch ch'
I've only occasionally heard the original version of this song, so my main memory of it is having an arrangement of it we played in marching band sometimes. And hy sometimes, I mean we sucked at it because of the fast tempo. But man, that bass work is crunchy.
1:48 The best thing about the lyrics in this song, imho, is that the chorus says "Like I blister in the sun." If it said "Like a blister in the sun" it would just be so less interesting to me. But man I love this whole album start to finish.
He doesn’t? I’ve never actually looked up the lyrics and I just assumed it was the later- hearing it again, you’re right! Wow!
Well, I’ve played jazz for years and I didn’t realize that technique was called “encircling” until now. I just figured it was a thing you do.
The bass is so incredible.
Nvm I was thinking of add it up. This basslines great too tho.
Fun that you mention the "quiet game." My music classes are singing "Feliz Navidad" right now and this is the exact game we play- how soft can we sing the verse before exploding into a raucous "I wanna wish you a merry Christmas..."? Great analysis.
That's awesome that you brought up John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Not sure you knew this, but his name is my name too!
Whenever you go out, do you hear the people shout?
@@miserableunoriginal Tra la la la la la la!
I absolutely love your content
Another gem of a song I came across "left of the dial" back in the 80s.
college Radio was where it was at!
Love this song and love that you drew Jak from Jak and Daxter for this 👌🏻
Your best video yet!
Ok, as much fun as your videos are, the Hawaiian Punch GUY making an appearance towards the end, just tops it all off.
LOL, I've not even thought about that old commercial since I was a kid...whew...showing my age.
Thanks for the great lesson and a great laugh at the end. I love the Futurama reference, but I still can't get "Hey, how would you like a Hawaiian punch" quote outta my head....along with Blister stuck in there like a symbiotic ear worm....
You got a solid lol out of me with those dang monkeys. And I just realised I never played this song on bass!
Part of the music of my life. Think I first heard it in maybe in 86 and I was 15. Everyone new them . Pretty sure "Kiss off" was liked more but wow what a great album.
It's the simplicity of the Guitar and Drum with that his Great Voice that is Sonically pleasing to the Ears.
It probably says something about me and my taste in music that I had absolutely no idea what this song even was until he started bringing in the isolated lyrics… and only then did I recognise it.
my mom always told me it was about the embodiment of being a chaotic bisexual and i live by that
This made me so happy
Love this channel... 😎
I was 0 days old when I serendipitously found your channel...five videos (and every single heartstring) later and I'm beginning to think that through some karmic manifestation, perhaps your channel found me
Used to play it in our classic rock cover band. Fun song to play.
that Emi in the chorus to me, with the everything else going on sort of sounds like a phantom G6 in the context of the entire song.
Regarding the base encircling the C with the E D A B C, another thing to consider is the instrument itself, like composers writing for a trumpet or violin, the performers and writers are familiar with their guitars and basses. The sequence of encircling the C is done by playing the E D A B on the same 2 frets on 2 different strings, allowing the grove to be played with a constant hand position placement. This essentially is just a rather simple example of a rather nice one-to-one of musicality with instrument design, that I think can be interesting to point out to those not familiar with the instruments.
Great as usual
"Cheap throwaway"
>Draws NFT monke
Never change, 12tone.
"Sloppy isn't the same as bad" (As in this song)
the inverse being
"Being super polished isn't the same as good" (As in ANY overproduced song, like the Spector version of The Long and Winding road)
I prefer the Let it Be...Naked version of that song rather than the original release.
i think a lot of modern music has the problem of thinking polished=good. First example that comes to mind would be dawn of chromatica
all hail the mighty youtube recommendation algorithm which suggested this awesome and fun video; definite subscribe
I couldn't read all the comments - I scrolled down about 30 or so, but there;s not one mention of how cool the hand drawn artwork was that tells the story graphically. Kudos to the artist! Is that you 12tone? a Lefty at that! Not surprising, me being a fellow lefty.
This was a pretty chill analysis
Really enjoyed the way you did you video in the first place... but seeing a Freakazoid reference guaranteed a new subscriber
I'm pretty sure that a lot of femmes songs are light on kick drum. When I saw them live the drummer played standing up and the songs that required a kick drum had a second drummer at a 3 piece kit. He is also an incredibly entertaining drummer to watch.