Song Remakes

I recently "obtained" a copy of every song from the top 500 songs as decided by Rolling Stone magazine. To my surprise, the song "Walk This Way" was on the list twice. Is it really that good? Yes, Aerosmith is an awesome band, but awesome enough to be in there twice? And if it's so good, why not stick it once somewhere higher?
Turns out one version was a cover done by Run Dmc with Aerosmith also singing some parts (the chorus). For some annoying reason, the cover (Ranked 287) was ranked higher than the original song (Ranked somewhere in the 300s contrary to my personal opinion). Why? If the cover was better, so much better than it can replace the original, why include the original at all?
The industry seems to have an obsession with remaking songs, and I don't have much of a problem with that. Some remakes are quite good. But a remake shouldn't be a band's claim to fame unless that's all they do. With Run DMC, that's not the case. If Run DMC's best song is a remake, what does it say about their music? They can't do much. Other bands that have good songs (and no, what the industry says is the best song this week isn't really the best song this week. It's advertisement bull.), some even hits that are awesome, can also have some pretty sweet covers. But they aren't known for it, and it's not all they do! I found about their covers because I found their original music was good.
The industry has this tendency to control so much about music. Is Plain White T's "Hey There Delilah" all that good? It has it's positive attributes. It's a bit depressing, it expresses feeling, and it tells a story. ish. But when I hear it on FM 93.1, realize I don't want to listen to it, switch to FM 94.7, and hear that same song, I ask myself: is this song that good? NO! No song is that amazing in the eyes of everyone that it deserves that much obscene playtime. Especially not this one.
The radio is biased as is. I know that if I say ska is awesome it's purely subjective opinion, but is it so bad in the public eye that it doesn't deserve to be heard? Or does the industry just have a problem with bands that don't want to be tied into a restrictive contract? Guess what guys: no one who really cares about music wants to be restricted this way. I legally download free indie music, and it's some of the best stuff around. Hell, I'm even listening to French Indie music. What does that say?
So where was I? Ah, yes. Song remakes. Yeah, some are good. Some are awesome. But none are defining. Get some original music then give me a call.

Lol Rationalizations

A friend of mine from another state revealed to me that she smokes marijuana. Promptly after telling me that, she began explaining why marijuana is safer than cigarettes. Apparently, they don't damage your teeth, don't have so many negative long lasting effects, and some other stuff. Joyous. If they're so amazingly fine, why did I have to hear a rationalization! Clearly there's guilt involved if she thought she had to explain to me why she did it.
People always seem to be afraid of being judged, and they'll make any sort of rationalization to try to get around it. And that'll work for most people. Most people don't really care or don't really listen. All it told me was there was some hidden fear of being judged, some hidden fear that I'd be disappointed. The only thing that disappointed me was the rationalization afterwards.

Why Advertisements Work

I went to a local Fresh Market's today because I got home and realized I needed some soda. Normally there's a bunch of soda in my house (okay, mostly diet Sprite Zero...), but for some reason there wasn't today. I went to the soda aisle at the store and saw a line of Polar soda brands. (For some annoying reason there weren't any 2 liter bottles in the aisle, but that's another story...) I ended up purchasing a 1-liter bottle of Cream Soda, a 1-liter bottle of Root Beer, and a 1-liter bottle of Tonic with Lime Flavoring.
Why would I buy tonic? I don't want any Gin and Tonic. The problem was when I purchased the soda the idea of Gin and Tonic didn't cross my mind. Nope. The only thing that crossed my mind was "mmm.... lime....". I went home to my dad asking me why I purchased Tonic water, and it was at that moment Gin and Tonic crossed my mind. Drat.
I was told that plain tonic tastes terrible, but the word "lime" was still stuck in my mind, so I grabbed a glass and tried some. Yeah, I tasted the lime. Rotten lime. No one was lying, that tonic tastes terrible. And the full bottle of Cream Soda I drank afterwards didn't get rid of the taste either.
So what did I learn? Them adding lime flavoring wasn't just to get people to buy their brand of Tonic for some Gin and Tonic, it was also for suckers like me who love anything lime flavored. And that is why advertisements work - there's always someone who isn't in the right mind, who overlooks common sense, and buys something because it has lime flavoring.