the Dalaverse

Man, they hit the Beatles Night early and hard this year. I seem to remember last year it was the first or second theme, but that was on the live nights - this is still technically Hollywood Week. Or, like, the bastard stepchild of Hollywood Week, considering they're actually in Vegas and it's an extra performance round.

Anyway, my point is: when this happens, I always end up listening to nothing but the Beatles for a week straight. This is not a complaint, because...it's the fucking Beatles. I can't even talk about the Beatles coherently. I don't have the language for it. I just end up gesticulating wildly at the nearest stereo/speaker/music device and bugging my eyes out like a crazy person.

In fact, I was inspired to hunt down every cover of "In My Life" available on iTunes to tag the ones I like for future purchase. Nobody actually sang it on the show, mind, it's just my favorite Beatles song. And basically my favorite song, full stop. I don't think I'll ever collect as many versions as "Hallelujah" - I don't even know for sure how many of those I have, because some of them are multiple copies of the same track that never got sorted out properly. Forty or thereabouts? Possibly more? I have pretty much downloaded every cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" that I have ever come across. Naturally I have my favorites (Rufus Wainwright, kd lang, of course Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Late Tuesday, Allison Crowe...not Bob Dylan, bless his heart).

I'm not sure I'll be so non-discriminating toward "In My Life," though. I don't think I really need the Bette Midler or Ozzy versions. I think the only cover I actually have is Johnny Cash, which is heartbreaking to the point of I can't listen to it very often.

I also added John Lennon's cover of "Stand By Me," because somehow? Somehow I managed to get through nearly twenty-six years of life without knowing that John Lennon covered "Stand By Me." I heard it last weekend in a Potbelly, for fuck's sake. I don't even know how that happens. Maybe 'cause John's not my dad's favorite Beatle? But anyway, now I have it. Or I will, when I stop side-eying my bank account.

Honestly, I haven't been listening to music as much this year on account of my Kindle reads books or fic to me at work. And I love that, but sometimes I just need to hear one of those songs that's worked its way down into my soul. What's that whole thing from "Almost Famous" about the single "woo" in "What's Happening Brother"? That's exactly what I mean. Did that even make it into the theatrical version? I've seen the director's cut so many times now that I can't tell anymore. God, it's been awhile since I sat down with that film. Cameron Crowe could make nothing but shit movies for the rest of his life and he'll still have given us "Almost Famous," man.

I went into work last Thursday while I was still fairly sick and only lasted an hour. But while I was there, I had a sudden driving urge to listen to Simon and Garfunkel, and was most displeased to realize I don't have their Greatest Hits on my iPod. That is a criminal oversight on my part. I understand it's not even an album per se, but that was the first - well, what I think of as real music. Not just what was popular, not just what my friends were listening to, not just what I came home to on MTV and VH1. I fell in love with that CD of my dad's over a summer - I want to say it was the summer after sixth grade. I listened to it over and over and over again. Then I stole Dad's Fleetwood Mac CD - The Dance, and thank you President Clinton for making that happen btw. Then, of course, I learned how to operate the turntable and spent all those hours lying on the living room floor with my head between the speakers, listening to Joni Mitchell's Blue and Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde and Carole King's Tapestry and Elton John's Madman Across the Water and the goddamn White Album on vinyl. I got teased in high school for liking "old people music"; I wouldn't have gotten through high school without that music.

Simon and Garfunkel was the first, though. My parents went to see their last tour and I couldn't go because it was finals week of my first semester in college. I cried, y'all. I am still bitter about it.

Um. Anyway. Bob icon or Joni icon?


"What do you love about music?"

"To begin with...everything."