Hi, Bob: Awhile back I wrote about Bob, a client who mysteriously went missing. A few folks have since written asking what happened to Bob. He called me last week and I’m happy to say that he’s not dead. He tells me that he was helping his wife with her business and his own business got away from him. I’m not sure if I believe that, but he paid me what he owed me and is talking about new projects, so I’m okay with his story.

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Some readers may recall the difficulty I had deciding to shutter my consulting business and take a job with a large soulless corporation. I agreed to a six-month contract-to-hire deal and now that the six months are done (and the project they brought me in to work on is a smashing success) they’ve decided not to hire me after all. Yes, we’ve all been screwed by The Man at one time or another and now it’s my turn. But I don’t have to be happy about it. I’m not as enraged about it as I was last week, but I’m still in the mood for some angry music.

Most of the angry music out there is directed at former significant others, so this could also be viewed as a really early Twisted Cover Freak Valentine’s Day Post, except for the fact that this week does not feature “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss).” I can’t tell you how happy Mrs. Freak is I’m not posting that song this week.

A Day To Remember “Since U Been Gone” (Kelly Clarkson)
This cover is more guitar oriented than the original and features death-metal vocal stylings that really add to the anger. The sentiment here is that you’re gone and I’m better off but I’m still mighty pissed. That’s the attitude I’m trying to maintain toward my former corporate masters.

Jonathan Coulton “You Oughta Know” (Alanis Morrisette)
Ms. Morrisette was really quite angry back in the day. She seems to have mellowed a bit over the years. This song is notable not only for its bitterness but also for telling us far more than we ever wanted to know about her sex life. I like listening to it as a sensitive singer-songwriter tune.

Glen Hansard “Cry Me A River” (Justin Timberlake)
Glen Hansard is famous for being half of The Swell Season and the leader of The Frames. He also won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2007. The man’s a huge talent. And he does a wonderful stripped-down version of this song.

Alias Ron Kavana “If I Had A Rocket Launcher” (Bruce Cockburn)
I was a college radio disk jockey when this song came out in 1984 and I got a chance to to a phone interview with Mr. Cockburn. He was a very nice and thoughtful man. When I mentioned that this song seemed like a strange choice for the first single from the album Stealing Fire he agreed with me, saying that he thought “Lovers In A Dangerous Time” would have been a more obvious choice.

Lucky Uke “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (Twisted Sister)
I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I paid money to see Twisted Sister play. Well, I actually paid to see Iron Maiden and Twisted Sister was the opening act. They weren’t as bad as I thought they’d be. They were fun as long as you didn’t take them seriously.

This song is absolutely hilarious on the ukulele.