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March 16, 2004 #
For all my Jersey bashing I am not tone deaf to the state's contributions to rock-n-roll lore or blind to its advances in fishnet accessorizing. Both are well-documented and widely held in high regard, if not in sweaty hands as the case may be. I admit, without shame, that I spent the night in a suburban Maryland mall parking lot in 1985 to buy Springsteen tickets and for weeks after the concert proudly sported the concert shirt which was emblazoned with a big Jersey license plate. That said, I will not attempt to tread the ground once ably covered by Boro6.com's expert knowledge of All-Things-Jerz but maybe someone can explain why there is no official state song. Instead, I wish to kick some smaller stones in the potholes on the Jersey music roadmap. The Boss and Bon Jovi are surely the biggest names but hardly the loudest when it comes to acknowledging NJ in song. Here are just a few examples of some bands that lyrically reference NJ to great effect, even if it's just a passing mention. Make way for the indie/punk rock, cause Roy Orbison isn't the only one singing for the lonely. Ted Leo/Pharmacists - "Ballad of the Sin Eater" Ted Leo is a native son and has been offering his own brand of Paul Weller/Elvis Costello/etc inspired pop/soulful punk long enough to be considered a first ballot entry into the state's hall of fame if one exists. "Ballad of the Sin Eater" -- a song that instantly gained status in my all time top ten -- details the plight of a globetrotting Ugly American, a notion that is obvious the world over and presumably in a portrait somewhere in GW Bush's attic. The following line speaks, shakes, reverberates volumes and serves as an unintended reminder of a Halloween I once spent in New Brunswick: "I fell in with a Merchant Marine Who promised to take me home. But when I woke up all beaten and bloodied I couldn't tell if it was Jersey or Sierra Leone!" Chisel - "Citizens of Venus" So much for diversity in my selections but Chisel was Ted Leo's former DC-based mod/emo/punk band from the early/mid 90's but dammit he's so good he deserves the double mention. This is one of those introspective songs that makes you feel nostalgic for memories that weren't even your own. Also, it's the only time the Journal Square train station has ever appeared in verse. "I took the PATH from Journal Square That's how she taught me to get there, When I cut out for the matinée On that Mother's Day..." Operation Ivy - "Hoboken" These East Bay, California legends were the first to take two-tone and make it ten times faster with their unique combination of ska and hardcore. They spawned many copycats and their only full length release "Energy" remains one of the gold standards in punk rock. "Hoboken" is a one minute, 11 second breakneck blast about a bad relationship. (I think?) It's a bit muddled but also over before there's time to give it much thought. I'm really not sure why "Hoboken New Jersey!" punctuates the end of the thrice-repeated chorus. "Youth hostels I lodged, Kept seeing you as a mirage. Flashes of you were everywhere, Hoboken New Jersey!" Promise Ring - "Jersey Shore" The title makes this one an obvious choice though I doubt it's in heavy rotation at the NJGuido sharehouse or Temptations nightclub in Seaside Heights. Promise Ring delivers a slow rocker that doesn't exactly scream "ass-grind." Imagine the sensitive punker boy type freaking out about a girl while he's stuck at the Jersey Shore. There's even whistling. "Bored walking on the boardwalk, New Jersey Shore. If I come to New York, can I sleep on your floor? I'm picking up the habit of drinking long before four. When July is gone I'll be twenty-four, and not anymore. New Jersey Shore." Pixies - "Vamos" Fortunately I spent 3 unemployed months in South America so I can decipher Frank Black's fractured Spanish/English lyrics. (Even better is that many song lyric sites handily provide the translation.) It begins with: "Estaba pensando sobre viviendo con mi sister en New Jersy, Ella me dijo que es una vida buena alla, Bien rica bien chevere, Y voy! Puneta!" [TRANSLATION] "I was thinking about living with my sister in New Jersey, She told me it's a good life there, Very good very nice, Here I Go! Jerk off!" I read where Frank Black once lived in Puerto Rico as an exchange student and I'm guessing he has spent more time there than New Jersey. Still, the premise remains. Vamos a Nueva Jersey! Jets To Brazil - "Morning New Disease" Jersey Shore, Puerto Rico, Brazil - yes, there's a theme here and it's not entirely about shaving. Blake Schwarzenbach's position among the rock world's wittiest wrecks is somewhere between Dr Frank of Mr. T Experience and Stephen Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. Such was my desire to see JTB when they first started out that I contemplated going to a basement show at some place called "The Crackhouse" in Egg Harbor, NJ. Fortunately they played Tramps in NYC a week later. I used to play this song repeatedly in the days when I could only afford to take the bus home to Baltimore. Here's the breakdown part where it's just guitar and vocals. Like a dork, I always tried to time it as I crossed the NY/NJ markers in the Lincoln Tunnel: "I am dreaming of a life and it's not the life that's mine. In a stolen car I rocket west out past that Jersey line. And the robots in their riot-gear glimmer in my rearview mirror." Archives "The Other Page" powered by Removable Hype. RSS. Copyright © 2003 La Otra Página, Inc. All nights observed. 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