weird

People get weird when you tell them you like them
Can anyone explain that to me?
People get weird when you tell them you like them
How can that possibly be?

Futurewomyn

wrob's music videos

A list - greatest concert ever

B list - specialty occasions

C list - oblivion

A song that spent some time on A and B, but couldn't withstand the influx of new songs. I adored this song for a while, but it's probably too preachy/clumsy to score with general audiences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6hDsg_0tOg

Sexy Fuckers

wrob's music videos

A list - greatest concert ever

B list - specialty occasions

C list - oblivion

A curious little firecracker, written specifically as a concert-closer. I've never yet done my full concert, so i've only performed this once or twice. How can it have survived this long on the A list, with such meager audience-testing? Trust me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtZtrjoG3RI

Monkey Butt Dance

 wrob's music videos

A list - greatest concert ever

B list - specialty occasions

C list - oblivion

A seeming-stalwart on A, but it too finally dropped. Irresistible at the right moments, especially for kids...but adults have loved it too. One of the few songs for which i've had multiple conscripted bandmates, to do the chorus "MBD" vocal echo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O1Fr85JUhU

Hotel Biglebowski

wrob's music videos

A list - greatest concert ever

B list - specialty occasions

C list - oblivion

A parody of the Eagles' "Hotel California" and tribute to the coen brothers film, seemingly solid on the B list, as it's elicited smiles in numerous crowds. "Parody" is a bit harsh, as there's plenty of love under the humor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jmkY9XM8L4

Girly Shoes Blues

wrob's song videos

A LIST - greatest concert ever

B LIST - specialty occasion

C LIST - oblivion

How did this gem fall to C?? Too weird and disjointed? I adore this song, and it had a few sweet performances. On the chorus, i had the audience shout out "Garden garden garden", "BOOM", "Koala koala koala", and then make the sound of a porcupine. Amazingly, a couple audiences KNEW what that sound was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8635foEcL60

The Dong Song

wrob's song videos

A LIST - greatest concert ever

B LIST - specialty occasion

C LIST - oblivion

On the B-list forever, for those bawdy-beseeching crowds? It's even killed with tamer crowds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvjSWOuqPZ8

The Pupus-Aria

wrob's song videos

A LIST - greatest concert ever

B LIST - specialty occasion

C LIST - oblivion

This one verrry recently dropped from A to B. It feels too powerful a crowd-pleaser to drop lower. Or should it re-ascend? When i wrote this, i had never eaten a pupusa, but i've amended that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8rk2uW-bXU

The Ballad of Violet and Tsutomu

wrob's song videos

A LIST - greatest concert ever

B LIST - specialty occasion

C LIST - oblivion

Another that dropped from A to B to C...if i heard this song from some other artist, i'd never stop talking about how brilliant it is. It broke my heart to consign it to C. Was i right to do so?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoOdXWpoN94

Belladonna Tofana

wrob's song videos
A LIST - greatest concert ever
B LIST - specialty occasion

C LIST - oblivion

Another that dropped from A to B to C...the kind of deep cut that hardcore fans might call my best work? Or is that just bullshit self-flattery?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL3t3wkEl9Y

"The Cafe on the Edge of the World"

(a Story About the Meaning of Life)

-by john strelecky

2020

Now translated into 42 languages! (though one might have been more than enough)

I probably shouldn't hate too hard on this book...especially when a small part of my ire is that the writer is reaping huge societal rewards, despite being largely talentless. Unlike (ahem) myself.

But this book is so badly written, that one must acknowledge the possibility that it's intended as a joke, a parody of self-help philosophy. Will people desperate for meaning believe anything, the writer wonders? The dialogue is horrible...just winky and wooden. If you met people who actually talked like this, you might smack them.

Let's assume, however, it's sincere! Its core message, that we all live unfulfilled, materialistic, fear-based lives, and that the solution is to find the activity that fills you with desire and purpose, and DO that, regardless of where it goes or what it pays...

Well, that's not patently wrong. In and of itself, it's reasonably wise.

The problem is strelecky's painful simplism. Like all self-help, the book is founded on the premise that the problem is in YOU. But the problems of our culture are not individual, they're systemic, and focusing on YOU won't mean a piss against that.

Strelecky then descends into drivel, such as "we each control our own destiny, and seemingly-magical coincidences happen for those who are deeply committed to their purpose". Well, no. Humyns are social creatures, YOU do not control your destiny. And anyone who understands statistics and probability knows that "magical-feeling" things happen to everyone, about once a month. If you start to believe those things have grander, deeper meaning, you're onboard the woo-woo train.

I can understand why this book was recommended to me, by someone who thought they'd found a deep insight into MY personality. Yes, there's a seed of truth there. But if this book affects you deeply...please go deeper!

Dolphin

wrob's song videos

A LIST - greatest concert ever

B LIST - specialty occasion

C LIST - oblivion

This one went from A to B to C...plowed under by the influx of newer (better?) songs...but it still holds a special place in me. Based on a dream i had about my first childhood crush, renee morton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8krhXrCEe34

Not-Dyin' Sci-Fyin' Blues

wrob's song videos
A LIST - greatest concert ever
B LIST - specialty occasion
C LIST - oblivion

A B-lister forever! Play it for the geek you love...or the geek you wanna be. Original title? "The Not-Dyin' Sci-Fyin' Pinin'-for-the-Fjord Blues".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WddrA1A9Z90

Happy Holy

wrob's song videos

A LIST - greatest concert ever

B LIST - specialty occasion

C LIST - oblivion

A B-list stalwart. A late-night, cabaret cyclone! I did this at a bar once, and afterward a red-haired womyn approached me with laughter and praise...her sparkling eye contact was so intense, i'm pretty sure she wanted to take me home for the ass worship she's never known. But shy, polite fool that i am, i let the moment get away...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmxfVQ9NrJ8

Goin' Ape

wrob's song videos
A LIST - greatest concert ever
B LIST - specialty occasion
C LIST - oblivion
This B-lister has had some sweet performances, especially with kids or intimate crowds. But the relentless influx of new material has it on shaky ground. Should it endure?

Write in!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbDfOk4YM74

The Naked Song

wrob's song videos
A LIST - greatest concert ever
B LIST - specialty occasion
C LIST - oblivion
An abnormally long song for me, this C-lister tenaciously clung to B as long as it could, waiting for my concerts at nudist colonies. It had solid performances, but no one took their clothes off (i vowed i'd retire when that happened). Deserving of a better fate, or resolutely good-not-great?

Write in!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHI7C9sBajA

Crappy Trails!

wrob's song videos

A LIST - greatest concert ever

B LIST - specialty occasion

C LIST - oblivion

This song stayed on the A list a long time, but was demoted to B. The most memorable performance was at a boozy bar - they loved it. A nice song for retirement homes and such? Deserving of a better fate?  Write in!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEbr2e1DZb0

Never Ask

Never ask a poet about your poem

Never ask a painter about your art

Never ask a musician about your tune

Never ask family about your life

And never ever ever

ask someone who wants to fuck you

for truth