Bacon Talk: Music

Good morning Bacon Talk fans, today is a beautiful day. I know this because Space and I are sitting on our new balcony. Wow, Space, Butch and Bruno did a great job! I’m not even concerned that we paid them with beer. I just hope they didn’t drink their pay while building it. I did see a few screws rolling around on the floor out here. They’re just extras… right? That’s what I’m going to tell myself at least. Anyway, let’s turn on some music to drown out the creaking. And since I’m too freaked out to really think of a complex topic, let’s talk about music too. Space, I know you can’t live without music, so it’s obvious that you love it.

It is a beautiful day indeed. The view from up here is incredible. Looking down on downtown Dallas from the 23rd floor of a luxury office suite is never dull. Though the wind keeps drafting through here and threatening to blow my bacon away.
Yes, I guess one could say that I do like music. I’ve always liked it. Since I was a child, I picked up on my passion for it, and – even more than I have indulged in playing it – discovered I can listen to it almost constantly. I find, in fact, that if I don’t listen to it for a few days, I’ll get something stuck in my head very easily. Even the shortest little verse I hear gets drilled into my brain if I’m not listening frequently enough. What about you, Haycomet? You ever get songs stuck in your head that you cannot get out?

Yes, that happens to me a lot! It’s usually a song that I hear my husband singing. He only sings the chorus of a song over and over because he doesn’t remember the rest. The guys at work have a song that they sing deliberately to get stuck in my head. It goes, “I’m a cat, I’m a kitty cat, and I dance dance dance, and I dance dance dance.” That’s enough to make me want to smack them. The worst time, however, is when I had an old show tune a waitress sang at a restaurant one night, stuck in my head… for a week! I was almost to the point of crying. It finally went away. Thank God! To this day I cannot remember the song; I think it was so traumatic that I made myself forget.
Oh, Space, did you play any instruments when you were growing up?

When I was a kid, my grandfather taught me some tricks on the piano. Then I started taking piano lessons, and developed an ear for it. I found I was able to pick riffs and melodies out on the piano just by ear, a lot easier than I could read music. My sister can read it like a book. I, however, still struggle. But I can usually play it by ear pretty well.
When I was in my early twenties, still in the service, I went back to piano lessons, only this time I was paying for it, and my dedication level was a lot greater. I had a fabulous teacher out there in Abilene who taught me a few tricks that helped me grasp the reading a lot quicker. And my primary focus under her direction was classical piano. I learned entire sonatas and memorized them. I could effectively walk into a ballroom or a hotel lobby that had a piano in it, and just play an entire sonata. That was pretty neat.
I started playing drums when I was around twelve and got my first kit. But when I picked up guitar and started taking it seriously, it quickly became my primary instrument. What about you, Hay? You play any instruments?

I have instruments, but I don’t play them… yet. In the house, we have drums, a ¾-size Fender electric (my daughter’s), a Fender acoustic, and a practice chanter (my husband was learning how to play bag pipes). I also have a clarinet; I played it in middle school, and I think I could still play the song “Apache”. It was the marching band’s signature tune.
I have a bass guitar; I named her Candy because she looks like she has been dipped in candy apple red coating. So gorgeous… you can see the wood grain through the glaze. I originally had a B.C. Rich Warlock bass, but it was too heavy and awkward to hold, so i exchanged it for Candy, a slim sleek Ibanez. My goal is to play bass in a band someday. Guess I better start practicing. I know you were in a band, Space, tell us about that.

I did start a band. But that’s not really how it happened, technically. I was asked to sing one gig for a band whose singer had dropped out and left them hanging before their first show. After this one show, the band would be no more. I asked the guitarist for the lyrics and he said, “Well that’s the thing. There are none.” So I had to come up with the lyrics for twelve or thirteen songs in about a week in a half. At that point, we just decided to write some new stuff, throw in some old stuff we’d long been playing together, and play the gig as a new band, rather than one that was through before it started. And that’s how it happened that for the next three and a half years I fronted a rock band.

That’s pretty awesome! Rock has to be one of my top three favorite genres. I would want to play in a rock or hair metal cover band.

I could never attach to cover bands, because they only play (and get popular for) other artists’ music. I’d rather play my own. And I think we will get it started again sometime, probably pretty soon. I’ve been getting the itch for it again, and we’re about to enter my favorite and most inspirational season: the winter. I will no doubt write a few songs before spring gets here. I’ll be ready to go.
Aside from my music though, let’s talk about the music we listen to on a day-to-day basis. What station do you keep tuned in your HayJeep?

I can’t keep the radio tuned to one station. I must change the station at least ten times before I get home from work (it’s only a 7-mile drive). I seem to go through phases. One week I’ll think, “This new song by Eminem is great!” and then next, I’ll be screaming, “What the heck was I thinking? This song sucks!! Turn it, turn it!”
I think I’m attracted to new sounds. If I hear a song, and it doesn’t sound like something else I’ve heard, then I like it. Keep in mind, I never gave Eminem a chance until recently, so now I’ve listened to some of his other songs. I really could have just put one of his songs on repeat twelve times and that would have sounded like his entire album. Ugh!! I cannot stand repetition. Oh! That’s one of the reasons I cannot stand Metallica. That, and also, long-drawn instrumentals. Most of Metallica’s songs are two to three minutes too long.
I’ve been growing tired of a lot of music lately. I’ll have a hundred songs on my mp3 player and hit the skip button on half of them, when just weeks earlier I loved every song on there.
Do you have trouble finding music you like on the radio?

It’s funny, but my answer doesn’t really belong in this column. I uh… I don’t listen to music on the radio. No seriously! Give me back my bacon!
I long ago became disheartened with the lack of talent on today’s airwaves. There’s more bad stuff on the air than there is good stuff. Seriously, I mean, I know you like Justin Bieber, but once the novelty and the infatuation wears off, you’ll find he’s really not that talented. That’s what I find with most of today’s artists. And especially whine rock. They sound like they’re just whining into a microphone.
No, I keep my station tuned to talk radio most of the time. I do, however, carry several gigs of music on my android phone though, so when I’m in the music mood, I’ll plug it into my SupaFonix Stereo in the SpaceJeep and blast my soul away.

Okay, now that you’re finished answering my question… leaps over bacon, grabs Space by arm and twists it behind his back, attempts to push him over the edge. Take it back, Space, you take that filthy nasty lie back right now! I do not, in any way, like Justin Bieber!! Ugh!!

Okay, okay! Chill out, tiny gangsta! Good Lord. That’s become the ‘yo mama’ joke of the year. It’s apparently one of the most insulting things you can say to someone. “Yeah? I don’t care if you call me a fat whore; you like Justin Bieber!” And that’s sad. I would never want my band to be thought of like that. Or my music. And sadly, a lot of people think that, yet he’s still on the radio. That’s why I stick with talk radio. It has advantages – like not having to hear the stupid schlit like Justin Bieber – but it also has disadvantages, like missing out on good new stuff. I find out eventually, of course, but I’m just a little behind on new bands that have talent. Shinedown comes to mind.
I, like you, Haycomet, though, like to use a lot of commas in my writing. Wait. No, I was going to say, I, like you, Haycomet, like all different kinds of music. I like some R&B. I like some country. Some rap. Hell, I’ll even listen to some Tejano if it sounds good. And most of the Tejano you hear on the radio has one thing in common (besides the fact that every song sounds identical): you can hear talent behind the instruments. It’s not some looping sample some uncreative idiot stole from a real artist to use on his hip-hop track. I’m getting so sick of these “artists” coming out and stealing samples from good music because they’re so talentless that they can’t come up with their own stuff. Makes me rage.
Some of my biggest influences have been Ray Charles, Patrice Pike, Dave Matthews and Elvis Costello. And that right there is a wide range of genres. Hell, if you listen to enough Elvis (he has over 25 albums and I have them all), you’ll hear a wide range of genres. He was the original punk rocker. He has blues albums, country albums, rock & roll albums and – his latest – even bluegrass. It’s ridiculously awesome. So it doesn’t really matter what genre it is to me. I like them all, so long as there is evident talent in the recording.
I do have to say, you worried me a little bit with yesterday’s column where you mentioned liking Red Red Wine by UB-40. That is one band that could catch on fire and burn out of existence – taking with them every recording and every copy of every album they’ve ever made, and – well, actually it would make the world a better place. I regret that I haven’t the diction or the control of enough vocabulary to accurately and precisely convey the passion with which I despise their music.

I hear you Space, but it is a catchy tune, and it was very different at the time. It still is. Don’t be a hater, Space, you’re the one who would choose a Nickleback concert over seeing Kiss! That is about six to twenty-six different kinds of wrong. So I’m not going to feel bad about liking that song. In fact, I’m proud to still be stuck on 80s music. I love it!
I agree with you about today’s “artists” sampling other songs and using them in their own music. The two worst rip-offs I’ve recently heard were of an Enya song, and one that sampled Imogen Heap but pitched her voice higher. Both songs just made me like the sampled artists even more. They also put the “wannabe” artists on my “do not listen to these douchebags” list.
The creaking is getting louder, so I think we should wrap this up and step back inside. One last thought before we go. Peter Schilling’s Major Tom reminds me of you. It’s not just because it’s about space, but rather how Tom is described… he sounds like you. What one song reminds you of me and why? You can’t say Brown-Eyed Girl, because that is just too easy.

I’m not sure how you got that. I mean, it doesn’t really describe him. He just asks for a drink, then says goodbye. Because he wants to live in space. I guess I could deal with that part of it. Okay. So for you? That’s easy. Spaceman by 4 Non Blondes. All righty. Let’s shuffle inside before this wind blows us off the balcony. We can rap inside if we want to. Maybe we can get Butch and Bruno to jazz up the balcony for next week. Have a good weekend, everyone.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. SahSah

    I love music!! The soundtrack of my life includes so many diverse types of music I couldn’t even begin to list them. I love to listen my wonderful son play the guitar. He plays beautifully. And my younger one seems to have perfect pitch – he can sing so sweetly. I recall transcribing 16 pages of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata for you Space… each and every note of 16 pages!! And then you listened to the CD and paired what you heard with the sheet music and you nailed it! Awesome!! I MISS MY PIANO!!!!! I love to play the piano. Need it like I need the beach – ooo! My dream is a baby grand piano next to a window overlooking the ocean – mmmmm oh and the hammock

  2. Anita

    Music on the radio sucks! That’s why there’s satelite radio. You guys are funny!

  3. Becky Riles

    Oh I’m with Space. I would rather go see Nickelback than Kiss anyday!
    (but I also like Red Red Wine too!) :)

  4. Catina

    How can you possibly like Nickleback? First you use nonstandard words and now THIS? /sigh :what:

Leave a Reply