Jarvis Cocker :: Don't Let Him Waste Your Time

Well, you can stay all night if you want to
You can hang out with all of his friends
You can go and meet his mother and father
Hmm, you better make sure that's where it ends


















Jarvis Cocker, "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time"

Okay so here is the thread-- the British Jarvis Cocker wrote some of the lyrics on Charlotte Gainsbourg's latest CD, 5:55 (see yesterday's post) as well as contributing to Air's most recent CD, Pocket Symphony. And, he was on the Monseiur Gainsbourg Revisited CD that was a reworking of some of Charlotte's dad's songs. This here song was originally written for Nancy Sinatra (of "These Boots Were Made for Walking" fame) in 2004. He released it last year. It starts out earnest enough, but then gets a bit snotty along the way, maintaining a solid swagger throughout and I like it. In case you didn't know, Jarvis Cocker was the lead singer of Pulp. And, perhaps more importantly, he was in the Weird Sisters, the fictional wizard band from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!

Jarvis Cocker's MySpace page :: More about Pulp

Charlotte Gainsbourg :: Everything I Cannot See

You're my life, you're my hope
You're the chain, you're the rope
You're my god, you're my hell
You're the sky, you're myself
You're the reason I'm living
You're all that I have to discover


















Charlotte Gainsbourg, "Everything I Cannot See"

Did you ever see her in Jane Eyre with William Hurt? The Franco Zefferelli directed movie? Ohh-wee, it was good. I had wanted to see it -- I LOVE that book -- but had missed it and kept forgetting at the video store (still no Netflix for me, alas) and then when I was down and out and sick and home and in bed and in need of something, anything to watch, there it was, right from the beginning and everything. Charlotte was a great Jane, plain enough, but with this air, this majesty that made you understand how Mr. Rochester falls in love with her. Anywho, you may already know that her Dad was Serge Gainsbourg (if you know who Serge is, I'm sure you know this is her daughter) but in any case, he was a famous oft-controversial French musician. And her mom is chanteuse and actress Jane Birkin. But wait, I've not told you of this bizarre song. This is typical of her lineage-- it's a boozy, hazy, whispered lament of love and it's backed, as is the whole album this is from, 5:55, by the French band Air.

More about Charlotte Gainsbourg :: More about Air

Maia Hirasawa :: And I Found This Boy

We talked about life
We talked about time
We talked about me
While he was looking around
He was searching for something new and exciting
While I was standing there right in front of him - hello!








Maia Hirasawa, "And I Found This Boy"

Don't say I'm desperate, I'm not! The best line - but unfortunately I have no idea what she's saying before or after that line so I didn't lead in with it. In fact, I'm guessing about all the lyrics to this song, she just has a few mouthfuls, a couple of complicated turns-of-phrases and with the slight accent (she's from Sweden, and is in Hello Saferide, too), well it's all too adorable. I love the back-up singers on this track too. It reminds me of Esthero's "Everyday Is a Holiday (With You)" although that one is all about rainbows and unicorns and love and how wonderful life is and well it's not, by any stretch of the imagination, a break-up song. Quite the opposite. So this song is, I think, about how she's looking for someone, even for one night (that part of the lyrics, I got) and she finds this boy, but not only does he have a girlfriend but he knows all about her exes. Am I right? I dunno. It's hard to follow, but I love this song, it's so filled with life and vigor and energy and girlish charm, and even though the video is her and a guy in a giant rat suit in a men's bathroom, I still envision a whole Singing in the Rain dance number on some wet foreign street - with canes!- when I hear it. This CD will most definitely end up on my top ten of 2007, and I can say that with confidence even though it's only April. It's all good!

More about Maia Hirasawa :: More About Hello Saferide :: Buy this CD!

Pelle Carlberg :: Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls

You should have listened to what Momma said
And walked away with someone else instead
You should have listened to what Grandma said
And married someone more like Fred



















Pelle Carlberg, "Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls"

Yesterday French, today Swedish. Pelle Carlberg makes delightful pop music, I hear he's quite well known and popular in his country and I get it. Everyone sights early Belle and Sebastian when speaking of him. Who cares, it's not like B&S created the concept of lush pop songs, they only perfected them. And frankly, Mr. Carlberg (he looks like a Mister, no?) writes exquisite lyrics and zinger song titles. "I Love You, You Imbecile" and "Go To Hell, Miss Rydell" and "How I Broke My Foot and Met Jesus" to name just a few.

This starts with those shakers and hand claps - ohh wee! I can't say enough about hand claps. Now the sentiment is a bit, well, daggy, I mean, clever boys like clever girls don't they? Of course they do. But not with the frequency as us smart girls, sadly. And certainly not in their early years. Oh those painful early years!

Pelle Carlberg's Website :: Labrador, his label

Soko: I'll Kill Her

I would have met your friends
We would have had a drink or two
They would have liked me
Because sometimes I'm funny



















Soko, "I'll Kill Her"

If no one has ever told you not to take the advice of pop songs, let me be the first. Still, some folks find it fun to exercise their imaginations and plot wildly horrible acts, in song. This songs for you! This band is French, the gal sings in English with a heavy accent which makes the chorus, "I'll kill her" just sound so darn cute! The song is an ex-girlfriend's angry (but peppy and insane) threat to take out the new girl and a longing for what could have been. Okay it's more than a longing, it's a bit psychotic. The blog Another Form of Relief suggested the narrator was never even in a relationship to break-up from and that it's more a stalker-perspective ditty. I agree. Either way, it's perfect for this blog.

Soko's My Space Page