Saturday, February 9, 2008

Saturday



The Replacements: Alex Chilton

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Today’s pick was inspired by the first comment to yesterday’s post. It's Paul Westerberg’s homage to Alex Chilton. The lyrics don’t always make much sense, but the attitude is just right. Can you think of any other songs by one artist about the work of another?

Discuss...
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6 comments:

  1. Ramone666February 9, 2008 at 8:20 AM

    There´s loads... What immediately comes to mind: The Posies did a song called Grant Hart, Bowie did Song For Bob Dylan, Dylan wrote Blind Willie McTell, fIREHOSE had a called Song For The Singer Of R.E.M. and the Mats also did Johnny´s Gonna Die about Johnny Thunders.

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  2. GinnyFebruary 10, 2008 at 1:12 AM

    great, great song... one of my favorite 'mats songs, and that's saying a lot because they're one of my favorite bands (blah blah blah yay).

    other songs in the same vein... cat power's "song for bobby," "late" by ben folds (about elliott smith), among many others i'm probably forgetting. i think a blogger compiled an entry on the subject one time.

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  3. AnonymousFebruary 10, 2008 at 3:41 PM

    A post of songs about other artists would be a great idea. Here are a few more that I thought of and found through searching: "Buddy Holly" by Weezer, "The Ride" (David Allan Coe about Hank Williams), "Song To Woody" by Bob Dylan, both "Jelly Roll" and "Open Letter to Duke" by Charles Mingus, "Cool As Kim Deal" by the Dandy Wharhols, "Angel of Harlem" (Billie Holiday) by U2, "Bob Wills Is Still The King" by Waylon Jennings, and I'm sure there are a ton more.

    For a list of songs about the Replacements, including some by the Replacements, check here.

    Thanks for your comments!

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  4. TimFebruary 12, 2008 at 10:53 PM

    Thank you so much... For the most part, I'm totally uneducated in music like this from the late 80s-90s. This is a great song.

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  5. AnonymousFebruary 18, 2008 at 1:29 AM

    The Magnetic Fields "My Only Friend" is about Billie Holliday. John Lennon's nasty-note "How Do You Sleep? was written to Paul. Pavement has a song about R.E.M., but the title escapes me at the moment...

    Most apropos to this post, They Might Be Giants' hilarious "We're the Replacements."

    This idea begs to be a mix.

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  6. AnonymousFebruary 18, 2008 at 3:15 AM

    Just thought of another one, pretty obscure--Tobin Sprout's "The Last Man Well Known to Kingpin" is about Syd Barrett.

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