Talk To Me: Some time ago I added a guestbook to Cover Freak. It was quickly overrun with spam and since I was too lazy to moderate the posts I took it down. I’ve since found a couple of nifty WordPress plugins that are supposed to curtail spam. So you’ll now see a link on the right (under the Administrative heading) for the guestbook and links below the posts to leave comments. So if you’ve always wanted to rant at me but are too shy to use the contact form, try one of those. Hopefully they won’t get infested with spam because I’d like to know what you think about what goes on here.

Update: The guestbook doesn’t seem to be working. I’m too lazy to troubleshoot it so I got rid of it. The comments are working, though.

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Valentine’s Day is almost upon us, so it’s time to get all mushy and listen to some sappy romantic music. And when you’re done with that come back here and check out some other songs about love.

Pine Valley Cosmonauts “I Want To Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart” (Patsy Montana)
Patsy Montana isn’t too well known today but she was the first female Country and Western artist to sell a million records. It’s a perky tune about the benefits of dating somebody who bathes once a month whether he needs it or not. I love the sentiment that she wants to be a cowboy’s sweetheart so she can blow a cowhand’s pay. That’s just too romantic for words. This recording features some great yodeling from the fantastic Kelly Hogan.

Frank Rogala “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)” (The Crystals)
This song has become a Valentine’s Day tradition here on Cover Freak. My wife is worried. She never was the romantic type.

And just so everybody understands the original intent of the song, here’s what Wikipedia tells us about it:

(Gerry) Goffin and (Carole) King wrote the song after discovering that singer Little Eva was being regularly beaten by her boyfriend. When they inquired why she tolerated such treatment, Eva replied, with complete sincerity, that her boyfriend’s actions were motivated by his love for her.

The song was written and intended as a sort of protest song from the point of view of an abused woman.

Which is a fine sentiment and a good intention, but the execution is somewhat lacking. I don’t think anybody who hears this song for the first time thinks that’s what it’s about.

Neko Case “Thanks A Lot” (Ernest Tubbs)
I’m not a big fan of Neko Case. People tell me that I’m supposed to like her but she just leaves me cold for the most part. She really does a good job of belting this song out though. It’s the sort of bitter, sarcastic song that makes me feel good about my marriage.

kd lang “Johnny Get Angry” (Joanie Sommers)
Here we have another song that assumes that a man doesn’t love his woman unless he gets mad at her, sung this time by everybody’s favorite lesbian crooner. I remember seeing her sing this on Saturday Night Live and being totally blown away. It’s a complete deconstruction of the whole school of songwriting that views women as fragile flowers that want a testosterone-crazed thug to protect them.

Gluebound “Where Did Our Love Go” (The Supremes)
It’s a big, swooning song with a great churchy organ and killer guitar washes. He could be singing about fried chicken and it would still be a killer song. But the fact that he’s singing about heartbreak makes it so much better.