The movie version of High Fidelity passed into the cable realm not long ago, and I've run across it a number of times while channel-surfing. It's a bit different than the book, but basically true to the spirit of the thing, and it's a very good movie in general.
One of the mixed-blessing things about the movie is the performance of Jack Black as one of the record-store geeks. Mixed blessing because, while he's very funny in the role, this performance was largely responsible for unleashing him on the world in a large number of not-funny-at-all movies. And also because there's a bit of "there but for the grace of God go I" in the whole thing-- I have moments when I'm about this || close to being that guy.
A ready demonstration can be found in the fact that listing off the tracks on a recent mix tape reminded me of a profoundly geeky recurring idea that floats around in those moments when I find myself poring over the CD racks trying to find something to listen to. I've always been half tempted to make a tape that would have the same list of titles on both sides, with none of the songs being the same.
There are two examples in that other post-- "Hallelujah," by Jeff Buckley (which is really a Leonard Cohen song), and a different "Hallelujah" by Ryan Adams; and, of course, "Always On My Mind" by Phantom Planet shares a title with a famous Willie Nelson song. I'm just record geek enough to find the contrast amusing.
There are all sorts of possibilities for this sort of thing. Sticking with Ryan Adams, for example, you've got his "New York, New York," which could be paired up with Frank Sinatra's signature tune.
The more generic you get, the more options you have, of course. "Right Now" offers songs by SR-71 and Sammy Hagar-era Van Halen (the two I thought of), but also Chris Gaines and Lil' Kim (neither of which I can recall hearing). "Crazy" offers the obvious trio of Patsy Cline, Aerosmith, and the Afghan Whigs, but also Britney Spears (who knew?). "Gloria" gets you everything from classic Van Morrison to cheesey Laura Branigan to a whole host of religious songs which would really sort of spoil the fun.
(Though realizing that there are a number of Jewel fans out there who seem to think she wrote the "in excelsis deo" version of that tune is simultaneously funny and scary...)
There are also odd phrases that seem to be incredibly popular as song titles. I've long suspected you could fill a 90-minute tape with unrelated songs titled "Ship of Fools", and "Don't Look Back" is even more popular. I'm not sure how to count the variant spellings of "Fourth of July" (you can get it with numbers or without), but either way, there are several to choose from.
And, of course, once you start playing with Google, all sorts of interesting possibilities crop up. I was particularly amused by the idea of pairing Meat Loaf and Iron Maiden, and of course, throwing Michael Jackson into the mix only makes things weirder...
But, of course, I'm not enough of a dork to actually put such a tape together. There but for the grace of God, and a hearty "laudamus te" to that...
(Originally posted to Uncertain Principles.)
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Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
Elvis Costello wrote about that on Brutal Youth.
This is hell, this is hell, this is hell.
2 - Phillip Winn
Oh man, now I've got to try to resist the urge to actually do this. Ow! My head hurts!
Fortunately, I do all-CDs nowadays, so that removes some of the motivation. A repeating track list, or alternating tracks, just isn't as thrilling.
3 - SlackMFer
what that "don't look back search seemingly failed to produce was "don't look back it's alright" by bob dylan, which i'm sure is better than any of those other songs.
4 - SlackMFer
what that "don't look back" search seemingly failed to produce was "don't look back it's alright" by bob dylan, which i'm sure is better than any of those other songs.