Counting Stars - OneRepublic

The obvious, work bums me out. I guess its all in my own attitude. I'm tired and when I'm off from work (like today), I sorta sit around and not do a whole lot. This can attributed to working 40 hours a week, or also my occasionally crippling anxiety and by association depression problems. It's all excuses though I think. I'm at least writing something so I don't feel like a total jerk and wasted my day off.

I contacted the company I work for in reference to the music they play in my store. They said it was up to the district manager what kind of music is played. Oh boy, well forget about asking her. When I was still fairly new at my job, I neglected to say "hello" to her when she came in the door because I was with a customer at the register. Needless to say, my manager wasn't pleased based on the district manager telling her I didn't greet her. The irony though is I was never officially even introduced to the district manager; she never said hello to me. This is the vicious cycle of retail or probably any workplace; you're told one thing, but shown something else entirely different. They never "practice what they preach". It's beyond infuriating. Especially when you 8-10 hours a day hearing the same songs over and over. This brings me to my next victim.

I'm really starting to relate to this song lately but unfortunately, we gotta hear the crap-fest below

I HATE

OneRepublic. I'll hear these guys' songs at least a few times a day. As of late, it's neck and neck between "Love Runs Out" and "Counting Stars" as far as repeated playings go. I can't stand hearing them, this goes for "I Lived" which is another one of their s"hits". "Counting Stars" was used in an ad for a Patrick Wilson TV show in which I don't think is even on anymore. I've also heard it without the little acoustic introduction in other stores I've shopped at. I'm guessing that portion of the song makes it more "adult contemporary"? I've noticed most of the songs I hear just sound like contemporary Christian music to me. I'm wondering if that's partly intentional or not. bleechhh. In "Counting Stars" he does say "praying" a lot though... Hmmm.. Well apparently one of this guys went to a Christian high school, so there ya go! 

ugh, I just really hate this song. I'm sure there's some sort of underlining deep meaning, but holy crap, it's just so derivative and just stupid sounding. There's that short guitar intro and then the rest sounds like a Casio demo. "Take that money/watch it burn" just *vomits*. Just make it go away! Read the words below.

"Counting Stars" 

[Chorus:]

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars

Yeah, we'll be counting stars

[Verse 1:]

I see this life like a swinging vine,

Swing my heart across the line

In my face is flashing signs,

Seek it out and ye shall find.

Old but I'm not that old

Young but I'm not that bold

And I don't think the world is sold

I'm just doing what we're told

And I I I I feel something so right by doing the wrong thing

And I I I I feel something so wrong by doing the right thing

I could lie, couldn't I, couldn't I?

Every thing that kills me makes me feel alive.

[Chorus:]

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be-we'll be counting stars

[Verse 2:]

Baby. I feel her love and

And I feel it burn down this river every time

Hope is our four-letter word, make that money watch it burn

Old but, I'm not that old

Young, but I'm not that bold

And I don't think the world is sold

I'm just doing what we're told

And I I I I feel something so wrong by doing the right thing

I could lie, couldn't I, couldn't I?

Everything that drowns me makes me wanna fly

[Chorus:]

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be-we'll be counting stars

Oh, take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

[Chorus:]

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars

Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard

Said no more counting dollars, we'll be-we'll be counting stars

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Here's some "interesting" quotes from the YouTube video: 

Read their "SameThatTune" entry where "Counting Stars" is compared to Madonna's 2005 song, "Hang Up". 

In lieu of that, my next entry will be a "like" of Madonna's "Live To Tell". 

Vance Joy - Riptide (updated-Monday April 6th)

I HATE

Ugh, ugghhhhhh. Well today's post is about a "brand new" song introduced by "The Blend". They say he's an Australian "singer/songwriter" apparently singing about a girl and a motel. This is "Riptide" by Vance Joy, which sounds more like a new kind of candy bar (Almond Joy, anyone?). I was sure hoping that this incredibly bland and irritating song would go away. As I've mentioned in previous posts, "The Blend" will add a new song, and then probably use their survey to determine if they should keep it or not. So far, I've heard "Riptide" multiple times, so I think it may have surprisingly made the cut. *barf*. Now, I gotta hear this asshole's (harsh! he's probably a really nice guy!) psuedo-indie rawk wailings everyday. I swear, there's so many of these adult pop guys trying to sound like maybe The Decemberists (not really into them much either) or to a lesser extent (because they're just not all that great to begin with) The Shins. I have a preliminary image of Joy in poofy hair and suspenders, looking like a Dexy's Midnight Runners "Come On Eileen" reject. Of course, nothing again the 'Runners, whom are supposedly a good band, although I have not researched them further than their "meh" hit song. haha.

Dexy's Midnight Runners

Let the crap-fest commence: 

There's an interesting VHS appearance by a fake film called "Velocite" in the music video. They even packaged it as a Vestron film, how funny! Apparently there's not a whole lot of debate on whether its a real film or not (I think it's fake), but I found this entertaining Google+ conversation about it. I'm guessing the age group who would listen to this song would probably be too young to even know what a VHS tape is. The music video is extremely literal to the song, but in this case, the video is way more interesting than the song itself. I would suggest just watching it on mute. haha. VHS has had a slight resurgence in the past few years. Most recently, French blogger, Julien Knez wrote a fake article about VHS tapes, with new films and Tv Shows repackaged as such. This is such a fun project. It's interesting to see the ridiculous artistry that goes into a movie poster or VHS cover. The reinterpretations of the original poster art are always interesting to see.

Vance Joy (aka James Keogh) is a 27 year old and is from Melbourne, Australia. He toured with Taylor Swift in the USA, so I'm sure that laid a hand in his growing popularity. Do yourself a favor, and just listen to the following surperior Australian artists below:

UPDATE (Monday April 6th):

I would like to say after reviewing this song again (and while at work too), this definitely a much lesser evil than the many many other songs I hear at work. My apologies to Mr. Joy. I think the first few times I heard that (I guess) vibrato type of vocal style, I was immediately annoyed. This is a case of where (as said above), the music video can really transform a song. I see it as much darker and weirder than I when I originally heard it. I also think it's pretty extraordinary that this is his first album and he's already world famous, and not from Los Angeles or New York City (or the USA for that matter, so good for him! 

I'll get to work on my next entry after typing this of something worthy of picking apart its excruciating existence. I mean, it is Senior Discount Day at my store, so I'm sure the frustrations will be plentiful! Arrghhh. 

It's Too Late - Gloria Estefan (1994)

UGH, I HATE

I really hate this cover because I love the Carole King original:

It's such a sad, yet sorta sweet sounding song. Gloria Estefan's vocal delivery is cold and unfeeling at best. I mean frankly, "something has died" alright, the emotion that was in this song. Her sing-speak of "I just can't fake it" just makes me want to throw tomatoes at her Fozzie Bear style. It just comes off as super lazy and distracted. I wondered if she was mentally somewhere else when she recorded it. Maybe she had her mind on something else. "Did I lock the front door?", "did I turn the oven off before I left the house?". She sounds so vacant from the song, just devoid of any sadness that the song originally evokes. This is yet another example of singers who don't know what they're singing about. It's also an example of older songs that can't fit into "The Blend's" time frame but the newer cover is acceptable. Other violators of such magnitude are Seal (Al Green's "Let's Stay Together"), Annie Lennox (Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You"), and Michael McDonald (Van Morrison's "Moondance"). All of these are just gawd-awful!

Maroon 5

I'm finally off today after what seemed like a marathon work schedule. I'd have to look, but I don't think I worked more than five days in a row, but when your store is one of the few in this small mountain town I'm currently in, it's always insanely busy. The past couple of days, I'd finally had a break from the register, which is what I seem to do mostly. The customers are probably 85% nice, but there's that 15% leftover of mostly mean old ladies, and they just seemed to have all joined together and said, "let's go pick on the workers at..." So, I had it with register and people just degrading me. With fitting room, there's no attendant at my store, so you have to empty all the rooms (which are always full of junk) and then put all the clothes back up in the store. I thankfully didn't have any horror stories (that I remember anyway) that fellow co-workers have expressed in the past. One time a kid peed on the floor because their mom was too caught up in her shopping to take her poor kid to the bathroom. Another time, someone dumped a bunch of clothes on the floor and someone I work with went to pick them up only to discover them dripping in urine. *shudders* People are so disgusting sometimes.

I HATE

As far as music goes, I almost have too many songs that I want to cover. I hate that when I'm at work, I'll suddenly have an idea, but I never have any time to write them down. I sometimes wish I could just write my entries right then and there, but obviously that's not going to happen. When I work fitting room, I'm more aware of the music playing in which I notice more of the repetition of songs. One of the groups most guilty of this is Maroon 5. I can't stand Maroon 5's music. There's at least 3 songs I hear every single day that I work by them; "Love Somebody", "Maps", and "Daylight". "Maps" is played like clockwork after an ad by "The Blend" that combines three music clips from songs with the word "love" in them, which incidentally includes "Love Somebody", Amy Grant's "That What Love Is For" and Faith Hill's "The Way You Love Me" (*vomits*). This happens every single time.

"Daylight" I'm wondering if it has something to do with vampires. He says, "when the daylight comes I'll have to go, but tonight I'm gonna hold you so close". I guess I'm actually romanticising his actions a bit, because for all I know, he might just have to work in the morning. Or, he could be one of those scumbags that leaves immediately after sex. I guess it depends on their individual arrangement. Did they use this song in one of those "Twilight" movies? Upon further investigation, the song's meaning isn't explained. That's fine and all because whatever writings, art, etc I come up with, it usually ends up being left up to interpretation. If you read the wiki entry for "Daylight" (linked above), you'll see much harsh criticism towards this song. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so.

"Love Somebody" makes me want to punch somebody. I'm probably misinterpreting this song also, but sounds like another asshole guy, here pressuring this girl to have sex with him. "I'm only halfway baby, but take me all the wayy". Is he referring to blue balls? Aren't blue balls a myth anyhow? I see in the text of the Wiki entry that one of those assholes (again, they're probably all really nice guys!) from OneRepublic helped write this crap-fest. I'll save my OneRepublic distaste for another entry.

uh oh!

I remember seeing Adam Levine in the first episode of the second season of "American Horror Story". I'll have to re-watch it, but if I remember right he gets killed in that episode. I'm sure he's a nice guy and blah blah blah, but damn, sometimes when hear his music enough to makes you want to kill the guy. Sorry Adam and co!

Tea Will Be Loved, get it? Remember when Snapple was good? I think it went downhill after The Snapple Lady left. Watch all those great old commercials HERE.

I used to hear another one of their songs when I worked at a beauty supply store "She Will Be Loved". That song just grates on my nerves, so at least with their newer songs, they're consistent. "Moves Like Jagger" is another one, but probably not soft enough for work radio station status. My husband had a conversation with a co-worker of his where he found out the poor guy didn't even know who this Jagger character was. hahaha MICK JAGGER!! I guess they never heard the Rolling Stones. Do they live under a rock (nice pun!)? No one "moves like Jagger", in yer dreams!

I watch "Project Runway" and one of the contestants is related to one of the members of Maroon 5. She would say something along the lines of her brother being a "rock star". Ugh, I think he'd have to play rock music to ever be considered as such. I've always hated that "rock star" term anyway. All Maroon 5 songs sound less than natural to me. I can't imagine a live band playing these songs. It all sounds like the result of a couple of keyboards and a drum machine.  Maroon 5 seems to be the new Matchbox 20 as far as soft rock stations go. They're constantly played on rotation with annoying "unique" lead vocalists. I still hear some Matchbox 20 at work unfortunately. The only thing different about Matchbox 20 though is it sounds like actual guitars, etc. I didn't think I could dislike Maroon 5 anymore because they just made me give a slight compliment to Matchbox 20. Bastards! haha. Also, there's way too many "name and number" bands out there. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any good ones. Blink 182? Nope. Eve6? Nope. Sham69? Ah, they're good from what I've heard, I don't know enough of their music though. Effiel65? Nooo.

Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars

"Uptown Funk!" is unbelievably terrible. I don't know if I'm just being a totally close minded jerk about it, but damn, the first time I heard it, all I thought was who is taking a dump on James Brown's grave? This song is first credited to Mark Ronson, who is a DJ and producer with many famous artists on his portfolio. He's worked with many random artists such as Amy Winehouse (R.I.P.), Adele, Foreigner (who include Ronson's step-dad, Mick Jones) and even Black Lips.  Bruno Mars supplies the vocals and songwriting credits along with Ronson, Jeff Bhasker and Philip Lawrence. Mars is a modern work radio station favorite, with at least two songs on rotation at my current job. I had mentioned in another post about "Locked Out Of Heaven", which I used to hear clips of at my old Target job. I'm sure he's a kool dude, etc but man, I'm always less than impressed by his musical efforts but I haven't seen any of his performances to be fair. They also play "When I Was Your Man" at work, in which he belts his best Michael Jackson impersonation. It sorta grates on my nerves, the vocal delivery, because the verses are sung LOUD and then quiet. For example, he says, "I SHOULD'VE BOUGHT YOU...flowers/SHOULD'VE GIVEN YOU ALL MY...hours"

As far as "Uptown" is concerned, it sounds a hell of a lot like Arsenio Hall's gawd-awful music project called "Chunky A". It's basically a terrible parody of Cameo. Haven't heard of it? Check out the "25 Lamest Videos" version of it below. 

I appreciate the efforts made on this song, but damn, there's just so many more superior examples of funk music. I think also this being heard while I'm at work is hurting its appeal for me. The video definitely improves this song, which pumps up the theatricality of the 1980s throwback style they seem to be going for. I'd suggest as far as modern funk and R&B goes, to check out the Daptone Records discography. Funny enough, Ronson worked with Daptone artist, The Dap-Kings on Amy Winehouse's "Back In Black" record. I'm not sure why "Uptown" doesn't sound anything like that though. I'm more into the 1960s/1970s funk sound, though Ronson is going for more 1980s. For me, 1980s R&B, is somewhat spotty. There's Prince and others that are super fun though. Here's some good funk songs that I really like below, enjoy! 

Also, there's an interesting comment section on "Uptown Funk"'s WhoSampled.com entry. 

When Smokey Sings by ABC

I used to hear "When Smokey Sings" by ABC at TJ Maxx when I worked there in 2001-2002. I think its in my top ten songs that I hate the most. I'm sorry guys, but this song is horrible. I can't even bring myself to re-listen to the song for this post. I don't think I've heard this song in 13 years. The radio feed at TJ Maxx was all their own. It wasn't commonplace for businesses to use SiriusXM at the time, even though it existed then.  I remember the first commercials I used to see for the satellite radio service featured David Bowie.

Nice Chanel guitar! *barfs*

UPDATE:
Do yourself a favor and just listen to the original Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. For cryin' out loud, the guy's still alive, I don't care what ABC was thinking.

Train, Phillip Phillips

I had three days off in a row (*whew!*), but today I have to go back to work (boo). There's two songs that they play at work that have almost the exact same "whoaaaa" type harmony sung. It took me awhile to figure out who sang one of these songs because there's so many newer groups they play on The Blend that I've never heard of. Hopefully these songs eventually go away, but I know there's a few songs that I still hear and remember hearing when they were new. One example that I need to cover is anything by Faith Hill or Shania Twain. Ugh, the worst! This time though, I'm covering "Angel In Blue Jeans" by Train and "Home" by Phillip Phillips.

Train dominates the station at my job, even though as far as I know, they only play two of their songs, over and over. "Drive By" is another crap-fest by them that I'll hear at least 3 times a day. "Angel In Blue Jeans" is also played constantly. There's only one redeeming quality to this song is the two second twang of surf guitar thrown in there randomly. Train's biggest hit is probably "Drops Of Jupiter" which I always thought was total rip off of "Don't Go Away" by Oasis, whom I'm not that a big fan of either, but I'd rather hear them than Train.

Train is a terrible band from San Francisco, who formed in 1993. According to the Wikipedia I skimmed, their songs have been used in tons of TV, movies and commercials. They're also responsible for other horrible songs such as "Soul Sister", "Calling All Angels", and others I'm probably not aware of. Make this band go away already.

Phillip Phillips I just learned is a winner from TV show "American Idol", basically the resurgence of 1980s talent show, "Star Search". It's good to see some success from those kinds of shows that promise so much, yet deliver so little. There's very few winners that have careers for themselves (Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, etc), at least as far I know, I stopped watching many years ago. Apparently, the best way to succeed from that show is to not win (Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert, Daughtry, etc) because many of the contestants who didn't have actually done better for themselves. From what I've heard its because the contract they're signing onto is extremely rigid. I believe the same can be said for other competition type shows like "Project Runway" and "America's Next Top Model". It seems like the emotional roller coaster people put themselves through to win just doesn't pay off.

Wilson Phillips/Berlin

I HATE

At work, there are many cover versions of superior original songs played throughout the day. Here's "Go Your Own Way" originally by Fleetwood Mac, redone by Wilson Phillips. Like many of the songs I hear throughout the work day, I'm not sure who sings most of the songs I hear. This one came as a surprise because it was a group I had actually heard of. I think back in elementary school either myself or my sister had a Wilson Phillips tape or CD. They play a few of their songs at my present job and I've heard their songs probably all throughout my retail "career" (*shudders*). If you're not familiar with their singing, do yourself a favor and just skip to their parents music, Brian Wilson (father of Wendy and Carnie) of the Beach Boys and Michelle Phillips (mother of Chynna) of the Mamas And Papas.

MTV had a special, or a pilot that never launched called "The 25 Lamest Videos". It starred Denis Leary, Janeane Garafalo, Jon Stewart and Chris Kattan (the only funny thing I think he ever did). I have it taped off of TV, but unfortunately it's not available in it's entirety online. Number 23 on the countdown is Wilson Phillip's "Hold On" which is hilariously torn apart. I recall such lines "Prince Valiant haircut" referring to Chynna Phillips and Carnie Wilson after harshly being called "the fat chick" is said to also have the "best personality". Soo wrong. Speaking of Carnie, have you seen her on "Celebrity Wife Swap"? Her husband was such a jerk. If anybody should "go their own way", it should be her.

Fleetwood Mac's original version of "Go Your Own Way" (released in 1977) is bitingly cruel but ended up being a huge hit song for them. The group consisted of two on again off again couples and a weird drummer. This particular song is about guitarist Lindsay Buckingham and backing vocalist Stevie Nicks' deteriorating relationship. I mean the whole time he's telling her "YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WAY" or really, "get the fu** outta here!". It's a pretty mean song despite it's upbeat sound. BUT, this is a blog about work songs, so I'm stuck with the neutered Wilson Phillips version which has about as much energy as a coma. It's almost as if they have no clue what they're even singing about. It's devoid of emotion and any sort of understanding of the lyrics. I find this true among many newer artists; it's all vocal acrobatics and absolutely no sense of what they're singing about. It's soulless and meaningless.

Courtesy of http://www.azlyrics.com

"Go Your Own Way"

Loving you

Isn't the right thing to do

How can I ever change things that I feel?

If I could

Baby I'd give you my world

How can I

When you won't take it from me?

You can go your own way

Go your own way

You can call it another lonely day

You can go your own way

Go your own way

Tell me why

Everything turned around

Packing up

Shacking up's all you wanna do

If I could

Baby I'd give you my world

Open up

Everything's waiting for you

You can go your own way

Go your own way

You can call it another lonely day

You can go your own way

Go your own way

I LIKE

"Take My Breath Away" (1986) by Berlin isn't played too often at work, but I get pretty excited when I hear it, saying "yes!" to myself. I like Berlin, although I only have their first record ("Pleasure Victim") with "The Metro", "Sex (I'm A..), etc. This song was written by soundtrack great, Giorgio Moroder and also Tom Whitlock which was used in the film "Top Gun".  It even won an Oscar for Best Song that year. My husband Jeffrey and I while traveling across California stopped at some landmark from that film in San Diego. Apparently this song caused a rift in Berlin because it wasn't written by band songwriter, John Crawford and shortly after they split up. 

"Take My Breath Away"

Watching every motion

In my foolish lover's game

On this endless ocean

Finally lovers know no shame

Turning and returning

To some secret place inside

Watching in slow motion

As you turn around and say

Take my breath away

Take my breath away

Watching I keep waiting

Still anticipating love

Never hesitating

To become the fated ones

Turning and returning

To some secret place to find

Watching in slow motion

As you turn to me and say

My love

Take my breath away

Through the hourglass I saw you

In time you slipped away

When the mirror crashed I called you

And turned to hear you say

If only for today

I am unafraid

Take my breath away

Take my breath away

Watching every motion

In this foolish lover's game

Haunted by the notion

Somewhere there's a love in flames

Turning and returning

To some secret place inside

Watching in slow motion

As you turn my way and say

Take my breath away

Take my breath away

Lady Gaga

"I HATE"

I had no idea this was Lady Gaga (AKA Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) until I looked it up. It's hard to discern every detail in a song when broadcast from the ceiling, high up, especially when you're as short as I am. This always sounded like either a lost song by Swedish pop group, Ace Of Base or just someone heavily influenced by them. Incidentally, the co-author of this song, RedOne is also from Sweden so there's that connection. I think I had an Ace Of Base "cassingle" when I was in elementary school. Maybe "The Sign"?

I love that episode of "Full House" when Stephanie forms a band called Girl Talk and they horribly cover "The Sign". Their musicianship is awful because they spend all their time getting their outfits just right instead of actually practicing. haha.

Lady Gaga is a hot topic at the moment, although I think it's water cooler appeal has worn off since it's been over a week since the Oscars. She sang a medley of "Sound Of Music" songs and everyone was "blown away" by her vocal abilities, tattoos and all. 

I swear people are blindsided by the stupidest things, such as tattoos which are hugely popular.  She definitely can sing, which is great to see in mainstream pop artists of now which seem to be all charade, auto-tune and no talent. "Alejandro" grates on my nerves, actually I think all of Gaga's music is just not something I'd be interested in (to put it kindly). She parades around in the strangest outfits which is great. I think she's more artistic spectacle than anything. 

Meat anyone? 

I find this true among many pop stars of today; they're alright if put them on "mute". Many are great eye candy where crazy outfits are concerned. This is also true of extremely irritating Katy Perry. I'd defintely take Gaga over Perry any day though. I think Gaga would be a blast to hang out with, while Katy seems like a stick in the mud. Funny enough, an indirect critisim of the "Alejandro" video was made by Perry saying, “Using blasphemy as entertainment is as cheap as a comedian telling a fart joke,”. Surrree, whatever Katy.

Lastly, let's mention that elephant in the room; the music video. It clocks in at over 8 minutes long, yet I think the song is maybe 4-6 minutes long. I've never seen the film, "The Night Porter", but somehow I'm guessing if it had the gloss over pop treatment it might look something like this.

There's an oddball mix of nazis, sex and religion, with Gaga and her barely dressed dudes in tow. Remember the Spice Girls video, "Say You'll Be There"? That was based on "Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!".

Also, almost forgot to mention, did you know that some clothing fixtures are shaped like swastikas? If look at a diagram of what they call a "four way" or a "quad", which is a four armed clothing rack, you can see it's nazi symbol resemblance looking at them from above.

Lyrics to "Alejando"

Courtesy of AZLyrics.com

"Alejandro"

I know that we are young

And I know that you may love me

But I just can't be with you like this anymore

Alejandro

She's got both hands

In her pocket

And she won't look at you (won't look at you)

She hides true love

En su bolsillo

She's got a halo around her finger

Around you

You know that I love you boy

Hot like Mexico

Rejoice

At this point I've gotta choose

Nothing to lose

Don't call my name

Don't call my name

Alejandro

I'm not your babe

I'm not your babe

Fernando

Don't wanna kiss

Don't wanna touch

Just smoke my cigarette, hush

Don't call my name

Don't call my name

Roberto

Alejandro

Alejandro

Ale-Alejandro

Ale-Alejandro

Stop

Please, just let me go

Alejandro

Just let me go

She's not broken

She's just a baby

But her boyfriend's like her dad

Just like a dad

And all those flames that

Burned before him

Now he's gotta firefight

Gotta cool the bad

You know that I love you boy

Hot like Mexico

Rejoice

At this point I've gotta choose

Nothing to lose

Don't call my name

Don't call my name

Alejandro

I'm not your babe

I'm not your babe

Fernando

Don't wanna kiss

Don't wanna touch

Just smoke my cigarette, hush

Don't call my name

Don't call my name

Roberto

Alejandro

Alejandro

Ale-Alejandro

Ale-Alejandro

Don't bother me

Don't bother me

Al-e-jan-dro

Don't call my name

Don't call my name

Bye Fernando

I'm not your babe

I'm not your babe

Alejandro

Don't wanna kiss

Don't wanna touch

Fernando

Don't call my name

Don't call my name

Alejandro

I'm not your babe

I'm not your babe

Fernando

Don't wanna kiss

Don't wanna touch

Just smoke my cigarette, hush

Don't call my name

Don't call my name

Roberto

[2x]

Alejandro

Alejandro

Ale-Alejandro

Ale-Alejandro

[Simultaneously - 2x]

Don't call my name Alejandro

Don't call my name Alejandro

Alejandro

I'm not your babe Ale-Alejandro

I'm not your babe Ale-Alejandro

Fernando

Don't wanna kiss Alejandro

Don't wanna touch Alejandro

Just smoke my cigarette and hush

Don't call my name Ale-Alejandro

Don't call my name Ale-Alejandro

Roberto

Alejandro

Alejandro

Ale-Alejandro

Ale-Alejandro

[Simultaneously]

Don't call my name Alejandro

Don't call my name Alejandro

Alejandro

I'm not your babe Ale-Alejandro

I'm not your babe Ale-Alejandro

Fernando

Don't wanna kiss Alejandro

Don't wanna touch Alejandro

Just smoke my cigarette and hush

Don't call my name Ale-Alejandro

Don't call my name Ale-Alejandro

Roberto

[6x]

Alejandro

Alejandro

Ale-Alejandro

Ale-Alejandro

[Simultaneously]

Don't call my name Alejandro

Don't call my name Alejandro

Alejandro

I'm not your babe Ale-Alejandro

I'm not your babe Ale-Alejandro

Fernando

Don't wanna kiss Alejandro

Don't wanna touch Alejandro

Just smoke my cigarette and hush

Don't call my name Ale-Alejandro

Don't call my name Ale-Alejandro

Roberto

Alejandro

Pink + Nate Ruess/Chris Issak

I work retail. I've worked retail off and on for about 17 years. My first job at Ross was my real introduction to the redundancy of what a retail radio station was. A strange mix of mostly terrible, but some good, sometimes (if you're lucky) even great songs. It was 1998 or 1999 so by then, you would still hear songs from the 1960s and 1970s over the speakers embedded into the ceiling. Nowadays, like many "oldies" radio stations across the country (if you're lucky enough to spot one), having dropped the 1950s completely, and have mostly 1960s, 1970s and jeez, sometimes even 1980s. Similarly, work radio stations are composed of contemporary songs, "bright pop" (according to "SiriusXM The Blend" which is what they play at my current job) and some 1980s and 1990s.

With each entry here, I'm going to feature one song that is horrible and then another which is at least decent. I'm fairly convinced that these stations have subliminal messages ingrained into each note, otherwise why else would they play them so often? I was told, by comparison at Target where there is no overhead music played, that the lack of music actually keeps people shopping longer. Supposedly, when songs are played, a customer becomes aware of their time spent in one store, whereas silence makes that distinction murky. I worked at Target for 7 years and the only music you would hear was on the loop tape played on the electronics department televisions. There were 3 different TV's; the main channel broadcast across all the TV's for sale, then the next two over in the CD and DVD/Blu-Ray sections with different movie trailers and new music videos snippets. I didn't know most of the songs as a whole that were played, so I'd sometimes fill in the rest in my mind. I remember doing this growing up watching music compilation commercials (which I've always loved seeing). Particularly before I first heard about Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" from a disco compilation, I imagined it being totally different, although I can't remember how specifically. More recently, I recall "filling in the blank" with Bruno Mars' "Locked Out Of Heaven", which is a really terrible and weird song. It's most notable for it's near theft of The Police's distinct sound. I'm guessing imitation is the most sincere form of flattery? This is also comparable to "Blend" (or Bland as I call it sometimes) station favorite, Maroon 5's Adam Levine, who very much imitates Sting's oddball singing style in some of their godawful songs. Whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, oh oh uh uh oh.