Five Song Friday: Mentally Irregular
This Week: Rude Stinkers, Music Cyborgs and Oddball Dogs
Once upon a time, insane people used to be much more fun.
Back in the day, going full loony meant that you’d be cinched up in a straight jacket and carted off to a padded room. Which is sad, but here’s the thing: you’d be laughing hysterically the whole way.
I always admired that kind of passionate positivity.
“Crazy” people got naked in public fountains. They shouted their opinions at the top of their lungs in inappropriate places or they whispered to imaginary friends. Sometimes they wore their underpants on the outside.
It used to be that insanity was a kind of mental health car accident that we’d all stop and gawk at. Knock wood that it didn’t happen to us. That poor bastard.
But these days, crazy is more aggressive.
There’s less “I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs” and lots more shooting and stabbing.
More hate speech. More anger. More setting the world on fire just to watch the world burn.
We get angry and sad about it for a while. We rally and march. We ban people on social media. We vow “never again.”
But then something shinier, louder or weirder comes along and we forget. The old scary stuff gets pushed back in the timeline to make room for the new scary stuff.
We refresh and forget. Refresh and forget.
It’s really kind of insane.
For the record, I know none of these words that I’m using are useful or appropriate when talking about mental health. “Insane” has become a nothing word. We don’t say “crazy” or “loony” or “cuckoo” anymore.
I’m well aware that psychological issues are serious business.
I wanted to write about Kanye West and the way his unhinged mental episodes have become a sideshow in the pop culture conversation. How West says awful things and people get upset. How some people worry about his welfare, while others rush to defend his “genius.”
They say “Yeah, what he said was messed up, but he made Yeezus.”
Yeah, he’s anti-Semitic, but “Jesus Walks” is a banger.
Yeah, this… but that.
I was going to write about him, but then I got sad.
Because sick isn’t very funny. It’s not cool to mock the disabled.
Plus, as popular and wealthy as he is, Kanye is only one small part of the weird and wild ViewMaster of doom that is Twitter.
Twitter is like emotional Russian roulette and every pull of that handle, every scroll down is a squeeze of the trigger.
Click. Joy. Click. Despair. Click. Rage. Click. Horror. Click. Glee. Click. Sports blooper!
Enough of that and suddenly, the old-fashioned notion of a giggling lunatic doesn’t feel so OTHER. Insanity has become the baseline. Mama, we’re ALL crazy now.
So maybe there needs to be a new word. Some phrase to describe the thick fog of WTF that has settled everywhere, all at once.
Once again, there is infinite wisdom to be found within Rocky III.
When Apollo Creed takes Rocky to Los Angeles to train, Paulie is upset by the amount of… diversity. How does Balboa deal with his aggressive, alcoholic, racist and irrational brother-in-law?
By telling him not to get “mentally irregular.”
It works! And even though Paulie remains a racist alcoholic, he gets with the program and helps Rocky defeat Clubber Lang.
I guess what I’m saying is that if any of us wants a real shot at the heavyweight title, or at least a chance to survive the batshit bananas carnival ride that is life right now, we need to get “mentally regular.”
The best I can do to help is share some music.
Listen and give yourself a 16-minute and 7-second break from the madness.
But if you need some real help (or know someone who does), please go here.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
DJ CrankyPete
Five Song Friday 034
“Give Me the Beat” - Ghostland Observatory
The rock-funk-electro duo known as Ghostland Observatory are based in Austin, Texas. These boys need to learn some manners.
If you want the beat, you need to learn how to ask for it politely. “May I please have the beat?” is a good start. Or, “Would you mind passing me the beat?”
Even “I’d be happy to take that beat off your hands” is acceptable.
But if you act like a rude little stinker, stomping your feet and saying “give me, give me, give me”? You don’t deserve the beat. No beat for you!
“Yeah Yeah Yeah” - Cayucas
Cayucas are an indie pop band from Santa Monica, California made up of two men who look exactly like each other. But don’t be alarmed, because they are just twins.
I repeat, they are natural twin brothers and NOT clones from an underground government lab. They are also NOT two similar-looking models from the same pop music cyborg manufacturer that created Nelson and Kris-Kross.
Zach Yudin and Ben Yudin are human musicians who came from a womb.
“Selfish Soul” - Sudan Archives
Sudan Archives is Brittney Denise Parks, a violinist, singer, and songwriter based in Los Angeles. She also has a twin sister. At one time, they had a pop duo called N2.
Is it weird that two bands in a row involve twins? Yes. Am I a little freaked out? You bet. That’s why I’m not going to make any more twin jokes.
I don’t want to give the Property Brothers one more reason to harass me.
“On the Back Burner” - The Reytons
If you want to hurt your mouth and your brain simultaneously, try Googling “Yorkshire slang.” You’ll be tempted to speak out loud and attempt an English accent and when you do it will be horrible (or ‘orrible).
Gabbing like that is best left to the lads in The Reytons (slang for “a right one”).
It sounds great when they do it and not at all like a chimney sweep having a stroke.
“Baby Doll” - Party of One
Have you ever gone to the animal shelter in search of a pet? It’s a goddamn hard thing to do. You feel awful strolling through and looking into the sad eyes of dogs who need a home. You feel guilty because you can’t take every one home with you.
You feel bad because you’re looking for something specific. You’re looking for an animal that connects with you on a deeper level. A good boy who wags his tail and can see into your soul.
Sometimes you stumble on something unique. A dog that stands out from the rest. A hairless dog with two different shaped ears and a cockeyed smile. A dog with only three legs and an eye patch. A dog whose bark sounds like a strangled goose honk.
He runs in circles when he gets excited, but most of the day he just stands around on his hind legs and chews nicotine gum. He LOVES nicotine gum.
This song by Minnesota-based indie rock band Party of One is that dog. You might not want to take him home and have him sleep in your bed, but he’s fun to look at for a few minutes.
Listen on Spotify
Listen on YouTube Music
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!
“Virtually every writer I know would rather be a musician.” - Kurt Vonnegut