Two years after Welcome Interstate Managers, Fountains of Wayne released a double-CD compilation of B-sides and unreleased tracks titled Out-of-State Plates. The collection was a bit of a disappointment, as those things go, stuffed with novelty tracks that probably would have better off hidden.
This album backs up my observation that Welcome Interstate Managers is about four songs too long. It seems Fountains of Wayne is a band that hits big when they hit but otherwise has a little trouble connecting with the ball. To use a football analogy, they’re like a wide receiver who makes a lot of big plays but also drops a lot of easy passes. (That reminds me of Buddy Ryan’s famous comment about Cris Carter — meant as a criticism: “All he does is catch touchdowns.”)
Oddly, the song on Out-of-State Plates that I’m most drawn to wasn’t written by the band. It’s a cover of Britney Spears’ first hit, ‘…Baby, One More Time.’ This straight-faced rendition makes it clear that, Britney’s Catholic school girl outfit and thin vocals aside, this is actually a pretty good song.
How was I supposed to know
That something wasn’t right here?
Oh, baby baby,
I shouldn’t have let you go
And now you’re out of sight, yeah
Show me
How you want it to be
Tell me, baby
‘Cause I need to know now
Oh, because
My loneliness is killing me
I must confess
I still believe
When I’m not with you, I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me, baby, one more time
Oh, baby baby,
The reason I breathe is you
Boy, you’ve got me blinded
Oh, pretty baby, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do
It’s not the way I planned it
Show me
How you want it to be
Tell me, baby
‘Cause I need to know now
Oh, because
My loneliness is killing me
I must confess
I still believe
When I’m not with you, I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me, baby, one more time
Oh, baby; baby,
How was I supposed to know?
Oh, pretty baby,
I shouldn’t have let you go
I must confess
That my loneliness
Is killing me now
Don’t you know I still believe
That you will be here and give me a sign
Hit me, baby, one more time
My loneliness is killing me
I must confess
I still believe
When I’m not with you, I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me, baby
One more time
I must confess
That my loneliness
Is killing me now
Don’t you know I still believe
That you will be here and give me a sign
Hit me, baby, one more time
Meet Me In Montauk 
Really? I was thinking, “why are these guys singing such a vapid song?” But maybe that’s just because I have such a strong distate for it, thanks to Britney. This band strikes me as the perfect candidates for a “greatest hits” collection, one of your own creation, of course. An album’s worth of songs like the ones you’ve featured the past couple of days (this one I had to turn off) would be in constant rotation on the CD player. Eventually, however, you’ll want to move on to something with a bit more depth and substance. They can’t all be doing dances in the end zone; some songs just have to get that next first down 😉
I don’t think this cover reveals the song to be well written. If anything, when stripped of the pop trappings, it exposes the banality of the lyrics. Still, I appreciate the tongue in cheek interpretation.
Yeah, the lyrics are crap, no doubt. But how many pop ditties are known for their lyrics? ‘Love Me Do’ sure ain’t poetry. But the melody is good and I like the way it builds. I bet if this song had been released by a “legit” artist and not a packaged pop queen it wouldn’t be sneered at. (I’m not saying it’s a great song, by any means, just that it’s not a bad one)
Well, I wouldn’t hold out “Love Me Do” as a good song lyrically or musically. 🙂
[…] Song Of The Day #455: ‘…Baby One More Time’ – Fountains Of Wayne November 2nd, 2009 Song Of The Day #455: ‘…Baby One More Time’ – Fountains Of Wayne […]