Friday, June 29, 2007

3 sure signs of the coming apocalypse, my age


Three of my favorite college anthems, now being used to shill totally inappropriate products:


1. "Unbelievable" by EMF, horrifically translated as "Crumbelievable" to sell Kraft's Natural Cheese Products. Kill me.


2. Oasis doing cell phone ads. They dont even call them cell phones in England.


The most depressing:


3. "Sunny Side of the Street" by the Pogues to sell grotesque oversized repulsive Cadillac Escalade SUVs (I know I know some people NEED SUVs - they are big and can carry lots of stuff! and people! and children! My objection is to the sheer tack of the Escalade). I can only hope this is some hilarious inside joke from some ad exec. I listened to this album, "Hell's Ditch", on pretty much permanent rotation my junior year in London. There's so many songs on it that captured my mood at the time, being young and in London and obscenely happy and terrified of the huge city all at the same time. While it is not my favorite Pogues album ("If I Should Fall from Grace with God"), Hell's Ditch is pretty great (hurrah Lorca's Novena and the title song!)


My only consolation is the sheer inappropriateness of the lyrics. Imagine with me the Stepford Wife in the ad singing along with Shane MacGowan, the toothless alcoholic Irishman who fronts the Pogues (when he can get out of bed or off the bar floor)...


Seen the carnival at Rome

Had the women I had the booze

All I can remember now

Is little kids without no shoes

So I saw that train

And I got on it

With a heartful of hate

And a lust for vomit

Now I'm walking on the sunnyside of the street.


Stepped over bodies in Bombay

Tried to make it to the U.S.A.

Ended up in Nepal

Up on the roof with nothing at all

And I knew that day

I was going to stay

Right where I am, on the sunnyside of the street


Been in a palace, been in a jail

I just don't want to be reborn a snail

Just want to spend eternity

Right where I am, on the sunnyside of the street


As my mother wept it was then I swore

To take my life as I would a whore

I know I'm better than before

I will not be reconstructed

Just wanna stay right here

On the sunnyside of the street.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Huge congratulations on the wedding, Beach Brown. And the pictures look beautiful - no need for me to 'report inappropriate content' at all (except on the one where Iain looks like he's ready to flump his head onto your cleavage). Hope you'll keep your name - McFadyen On The Beach doesn't have quite the same ring to it...