1. "Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before" by the Smiths
2. "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" by the Smiths
3. "This Charming Man" by the Smiths
Why is it that the UK iTunes store has the Smiths, but the US store does not? Hardly seems fair. My record player is not hooked up, so I can't play my stolen copy of Hatful of Hollow, and I need to hear "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now." Heaven knows I'm miserable now.
Not being able to hear the Smiths is actually making me more nostalgic for them than I actually am. While I had a single version of "How Soon Is Now" I never bought any of their other stuff, and I sort of thought they were a second-rate kind of band, even though an old girlfriend had a tape of The Queen Is Dead, and we played it a lot at the time. Obviously, I developed a fondness for them well after they broke up, but even now I don't rank them in my top 10 all-time bands.
It's odd the way music affects you. Sometimes hearing an old song makes you wistful for a time that you weren't even alive for. I'm sure there are some songs that I can't even remember that would unleash a flood of pent-up nostalgia, and I would only know it if I accidentally heard them on the radio. Which, say what you will about CD and MP3 players, hearing a song played at random on the radio is one of life's most capricious and magical moments. But what are my chances of hearing the Smiths played on the radio? Nil. So, c'mon, iTunes, get it together, will ya?
1 comment:
Second-rate??!
I know what you mean about suddenly hearing a great and loved song come over the airwaves... just this week I dug out an album recorded in '89-'90, and 2 days later heard a song from that very same album on the radio! Bam! You kind of get the chills, in a good way. And the song somehow never sounds just the way you think you remember it. Radio makes it different, unique. The chorus is sweeter, the pace maybe a little slower, smoother. And it's much better to hear a great song you weren't expecting than a song you could've guessed they would play, no matter how good it might be. How many times can you hear "White Wedding" and still have it make an impact?
JMK
Post a Comment