This year for the 2023 A-Z Blog Challenge, I’m going to begin by listing a song or musical subject, and then see how fast and how far I can completely blow up my own “stream of consciousness,” and head “off the reservation,” by linking every real, and “Zulu Delta-imagined” fact, piece of music trivia, or not so apparent connection to what is racing around my head to that song in an “unstructured, graffiti-like” format. Complete and utter nonsense! Turn it up and turn it on, but as Van “The Man” Morrison said…….”It’s already turned on!”

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O. K…

So, this is what we are going to do for Letter X. Please xcuse….whoops, I mean excuse the “cheesy” spelling of the word “Xtra” as if it was some convenience store gas station; which by the way, it is.

We are going to take a few extra ideas, lyrics, songs, and idiotic thoughts I didn’t have time, or space to jam in the bulk of this “masterful body of literally genius (too much?),” and lay them out here. Let’s begin.

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“X “was a rock n’ roll band out of Los Angeles. They had a song called “Fourth of July.” One of the great lines in the lyrics is 

“she gives me her cheek, when I want her lips, oh but I don’t have the strength to go.” 

One of the founders of X was a man named John Doe. He already made an “appearance” in this series, but the lyric is so good, it deserves mentioning twice!

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As shown throughout this series, there is almost always more than one of each song. The song “Here Comes My Baby” by “The Tremeloes” is a great rocking song. I was surprised “ages” later when the song also showed up as an excellent version that I had never heard, in the movie “Rushmore” with a whole different “vibe” and from the original artist; Cat Stevens.

Similar to comments about the “Busy Signal” comments in a previous blog comes the lyrics from Cat;

“You never walk alone…and you’re forever talking on the phone.”

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How about the lyrics for the Cowboy Junkies “See you around?”

“I’ll save us both the both the hassle and leave
And hang out all night
In the familiar fluorescent light of Dunkin’ Donuts….”

“Lately you’ve been a half-assed activist
You’ve been seen sashaying around the picket line
Wearing scarcely any sign………….”

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Don’t forget New Jersey’s finest; “The Dead Milkmen” doing “Punk Rock Girl”“We went to the Philly Pizza Company and ordered some hot tea
The waitress said “well no, we only have it iced”
So we jumped up on the table and shouted anarchy………….”

We got into her car away, we started rollin’
I said how much you pay for this
Said “nothin’ man it’s stolen”

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Next…………….We had “talked” about the Monkees. They sang the song “Pleasant Valley Sunday” which was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. You can only imagine my “shock and awe” when I was out riding my bike listening to the song one Sunday Morning in Providence, and looked up to see this street sign.

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Back in 2003 “Fountains of Wayne” sang the hit song “Stacy’s Mom,” about a young teenager who “falls” for his classmate’s mother. It is a video that “they” say could never be made in today’s “politically correct world.” Regardless, the lyrics are hysterical and if you need a laugh for a juvenile video, I’ll leave the link !

Stacy, do you remember when I mowed your lawn?
(Mowed your lawn)
Your mom came out with just a towel on
(Towel on)
I could tell she liked me from the way she stared
(The way she stared)
And the way she said
“You missed a spot over there”
(A spot over there)

https://youtu.be/dZLfasMPOU4

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The booming voice of April Smith gives us the cover “Brand New Key (the roller skate song) about riding bikes among other things. The original song was by the singer Melanie Safka, who was banned from her high school graduation at Red Bank High School in New Jersey for having an overdue library book.

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Earlier in the series, we saw a note about Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans, whose lyrics for the song “Clap For The Couple Down The Hall” gives us this gem;

“Been staying away from all the places, she and I would go; that leaves the slag heap, the toxic waste dump, and I guess the Rodeo”

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“Bill O,”(from New Jersey), was in love with the actress Valerie Bertinelli. When she married rocker Eddie Van Halen, he almost cried.

So naturally we teased him about it all the time. He often referred to the song “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane as the “one pill makes you larger song.”

For the record, there are 5 connections in this blog to New Jersey……….though you many not get all of them…………

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Let’s leave with a beautiful song by Haley Heynderickx who has the very heavy lyrics;

“The milk is sour…..oom, oom, sha, la, la.”