My second Beatles cover of the week comes courtesy of the I Am Sam soundtrack. I never saw that film but apparently the whole thing was scored with Beatles songs performed by other artists, including Ben Folds, Rufus Wainwright, The Wallflowers, Sarah McLachlan and plenty more.
I Am Sam, of course, is also the film in which Sean Penn made the mistake of going “full retard,” something no actor should do according to Robert Downey Jr.’s character in Tropic Thunder. God, that was a funny movie.
It was way back at Song of the Day #2 that I last featured Ryan Adams on this blog. I’ve written about 276 songs since then, and I believe Adams has recorded that many during the same span.
And now we meet again, and I’m featuring another song from the same album I highlighted back then. Adams is perhaps the most prolific songwriter working today but I can’t get past those first two albums, Heartbreaker and Gold, which contain more than enough genius to go around.
Adams recently married Mandy Moore — bright, sunny Mandy Moore — which is kind of funny considering how messed up he comes across in his songs. He once dated Winona Ryder (as have most rock stars) and that seems a better fit.
I have a recurring thought that came to me once during an Academy Awards telecast… Stevie Wonder has no idea what Jack Nicholson looks like. I’m not sure why that rather obvious and trite concept struck me with such force.
I’ve always been fascinated and horrified by blindness… the thought of it scares the hell out of me, frankly. When I was a kid, we used to play those “Would you rather” games and “Would you rather be deaf or blind?” was an old standby. To me it was no contest. As much as I’d miss music and the sound of people’s voices, etc., it wouldn’t even come close to being eternally in the dark.
Across the Universe is simultaneously one of the most unjustly maligned and disproportionally worshiped movies in recent history. It was largely panned by critics who found it corny, earnest and shallow… and it is the favorite film of hordes of mostly teenage fans who find it the pinnacle of romance.
I find both positions extreme, but if I had to throw my lot in with one of them it would be the romantics. Yes, Across the Universe is corny, earnest and shallow, but it has a vision and a spirit lacking in most studio offerings. And it has the music of The Beatles — two hours of some of the best songs ever written sung by pretty people with pretty voices. What’s not to like?
After choosing ‘American Boy’ yesterday, I couldn’t resist the symmetrical pick of ‘American Girl’ today. And this can also serve as another exhibit in the gallery of ugly male singers.
I often joke with my wife about Tom Petty. She will instinctively say that she dislikes him intensely, yet every time a Tom Petty song comes on the radio she’s thrilled and insists that this is the one Tom Petty song she really likes. Of course she has said that about at least five different songs by now. In my book, once you love five songs by an artist, you kind of have to call yourself a fan. Sorry, Alex!
Meet Me In Montauk 