A-Side
Sometimes there’ll be a break in between shower lists, but don’t take that to mean there was a break in between showers. Though sometimes that’s true, too. Fact is, and this is a very fun fact, I’m part of the 2% of people of European descent to lack the ABCC1I gene and so do not produce body odor. I’m not rubbing my genetic superiority in your face, I’m just saying if I were to do that said rubbing would leave no stink.
But no, this three day layoff had nothing to do with my sweet smelling pits so much as I’m just not in a singing-in-the-shower way. It’d be a sideways diversion to lay out why this is, so let’s just skip ahead to the part where—when I finally wanted to hear some tunes—I kept it upbeat and comforting.
This Must Be the Place is one of my favorite Talking Heads songs, and I can honestly say—without embarrassment—that I have no idea what the words are after the first line. I even took a look at the lyrics before writing this just to make sure I hadn’t completely misinterpreted this song based on a vibe and the first line. And you know what? I can’t remember any of them, let alone what they might mean. But who cares?
I sure don’t.
Its intro is upbeat, but not aggressive. The early 80s electric drum kit gently propels the song through a loping synth-bass line, a staccato rhythm guitar, and some high-pitched, but very polite, keyboard progressions. It’s warm, welcoming, and exactly the sort of thing that should be playing when I pull up to my home after any godforsaken length of time away from it.
So when good ol’ Byrn-ee (as nobody used to call him) drops in with the line “Home is where I’d like to be” that’s pretty much all I need to hear. The rest of the song continues on while I go somewhere else, which—on this day—is where I’d really like to be.
B-sides
I promise in the future this B-sides section will be worth reading. But the rest of these tunes were just comfort listening, songs that Eye already Know. More than that: they exist in my bones (specifically, the malleus, incus, and stapes) from having listened to them so many times. Their words have lost all meaning as they’ve just become this wash of sound that acts as a security blanket. I don’t have to give much to these tracks to enjoy them, and today I didn’t have much to give.