Wish For A Revolution?

I spent a lot of time staring at this album cover as a boy. I think I found their appearance interesting because I hadn't known anyone who looked like this. All sloppy and dirty, as a kid you look at this picture and think "someday I won't have to take baths either."

Thought I would kick off the two new features in one post, choosing one song from the '60's and another from the '90's. First up: Groovy Times with The Beatles.

It always seems like a cliche' to associate 60's Rock with The Beatles just because they were the biggest band ever in history. Their music has achieved a societal status that ranks as high as Elvis, Sinatra and Duke Ellington. But the reason I'm choosing a Beatles song isn't because of it's historical status but for personal reasons. "Revolution" was one of the first songs I ever listened to out of choice. My Mom had a Beatles album that included "Revolution" and as a kid I was really facinated with it. The loud burst of guitar at the start, the loping beat, the thought of a Revolution which to me would have been something like not cleaning my room at the time. Of course I didn't think in these terms at 7 or 8 years old, I just liked it because I did. It started loud and then the song seemed to go around and around. I have nice memories of sitting on the living room floor, staring at these four shaggy dudes on the album cover. Ultimately, I think what attracted me to the song was the feeling of freedom that is imbued in it. A feeling so strong even an atrocious Thompson Twins cover in the mid-80's couldn't kill it (but it came close). I'm glad I watched the video for this today, all these years I thought Paul McCartney sang this song.

Beatles "Revolution"

And now...Whoomp! There it is!! Even now, I have a tough time thinking of songs I like from the 1990's. So again I'll start off with a band I'm listening a bit to right now, Nine Inch Nails. I can't claim to being the Nail's biggest fan, I'm a casual listener who can take their Industrial Noise Rock in doses but not in large quantities. But while listening to their new album The Slip, I remembered I didn't have my favorite NIN song "Wish". When this song came on MTV, I found them visually tough to watch but really liked the sound. "Wish" was a dark, angry song (as all Nine Inch Nails songs are) that came at a low point in my life. It was a time where I was unemployed and the job market was really bad, I even had friends claiming it was the end of Western Civilization. Thankfully I was able to find work eventually, but the song is still good anyway. When you're out of work and things aren't going well in life, a song that starts off "This is the first day / of my last day" followed by a barrage of guitar sounds pretty meaningful.

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Sort of the yin to The Beatles yang, "Wish" was anarchic where "Revolution" said you could count them out of destruction. The peacenik 60's versus the backlash against political correctness in the 90's, a pretty decent summation of those eras. Now I'm going to do some work so I don't get all mad and throw a Revolution.

Nine Inch Nails "Wish"