***Can you get more pretentious than I am right now? Sitting at the Starbucks inside of a Barnes and Noble listening and writing about Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde. Maybe if I was writing my screenplay instead of a blog. But, come on, a blog is pretty pretentious. As a side note, I highly recommend the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake. ***
This is one of those CDs that makes me glad I'm doing this blog. I haven't listened to this whole thing in a really long time. It's quite excellent as a whole. The song Joey is, of course, in many playlists that I make, and every once in a while, I listen to Tomorrow, Wendy. This album came out at the right time for me. Concrete Blonde began to edge toward Goth with Bloodletting. I listened to this album a lot while reading The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice because it fit pretty perfectly. It's got a heavy bass presence through the whole thing. From the fairly Cure-like whistling note at the opening the bass comes in and makes its presence known right away and really drives the whole album. And it's not just the heavy bass and often brilliant guitar work that makes me think of this album as Goth. It has just as much to do with the theme of the album as a whole and it starts with its heart on its sleeve with Bloodletting (The Vampire Song). You can't get more early 90’s Goth than that. It's a song that might well have been sung ironically by Lestat himself. The rest of the album moves along at various paces. Sky Is a Poisonous Garden rocks along to a quick guitar heavy pace, which gives way to the beautifully deep Caroline. The guitar work of Darkening of the Light is some of my favourite on the album as is the drumming of I Don't Need a Hero. Days and Days has some great vocal stylings as well as excellent guitar and bass work. The choice of the partial speak-singing is fun. Then we turn to The Beast, a great goth song with beautifully tragic and haunting imagery as well as a killer guitar solo. Then we begin to close the album out with Lullabye. It could very well be a closing track but instead it begins our outbound journey and it's quite a beautiful song all around. Joey. It's the Concrete Blonde song you know, even if you think you don't know Concrete Blonde. Simply one of the best songs of the 90’s. It came on the radio in the car the other week and my wife was singing along and she doesn't listen to 99% of my music. It doesn't matter if you are male or female, this is one of those songs you just want to sing along with. Even my 14-year-old daughter sang along to it not that long ago when it was just the two of them in the car one day. It's a pretty straight forward 4-minute love song but the passion that Johnette Napolitano sings with both passion and tenderness. It's a song that comes along every once in a great while. A true classic. As good as Joey is, my favourite song on the album is the final track. Tomorrow, Wendy gives me chills every time I hear it. Every time. It's the words, the atmosphere, that echoing guitar riff. Everything about has that touchingly beautiful tragic lamenting quality that speaks. Haunting. Beautiful. Emotional. oogle Play Music and listen to this song and millions of other songs. First month free. Lyrics "This is for any of you who knows anyone whose lost anyone. This is a song about Wendy by a friend of ours named Andy Prieboy of Wall Of Voodoo. This is a song about a woman with AIDS, Which someone in this room has, A few of these people in this room has. And you'll go through it and you'll know and we should stop it This is for Wendy" It is complete now 2 ends of time are neatly tied A one way street She's walking to the end of the line And there she meets Faces she see's in her heart and mind They say, Good Try Tomorrow Wendy is going to die. Tomorrow Wendy is going to die. Underneath the chilly gray November sky We can make believe that Kennedy is Still alive and We're shooting for the moon and Smiling Jackies drivin' by They say, Good Try Tomorrow Wendy is going to die. Tomorrow Wendy is going to die. I told the priest Don't count on any second coming God got his ass kicked the first time He came down here slumming. He had the balls to come The gall to die and then forgive us No I don't wonder why I wonder what He thought it would get us Yeah, goodbye tomorrow Wendy is going to die. Only God says jump But I set the time 'cause if he ever saw it It was through these eyes of mine And if he ever suffered It was me who did his crying Yeah goodbye Tomorrow Wendy is going to die. Written by Andrew Joseph Prieboy • Copyright © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc
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